Although their screen time was much less than their characters time in the book, of course, Thomas Mann (Link) and Zoey Deutch (Emily Asher) still got to know their ‘Beautiful Creatures‘ co-stars fairly well, spending time together off set and for these two, even touring for the movie itself.  Here’s an interview they did with Just Jared Jr. in which they talk about food issues during production, trying to get pictures of Ravenwood Manor, and getting to know the authors of the Caster Chronicles, Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl.  

JJJ: Thomas, Emmy Rossum talked to us about your “faux” dates with her during your down time. Did you freak out over the rats we heard about?

Thomas Mann: “No, I didn’t freak out. It was just a really nice touch to a really romantic evening. [laughs] No, I’m just kidding. We would go out and bond with our cast mates, so me and Emmy went out one night and literally sat with our feet dangling like over the edge of the side of where the Mississippi River is. It was super late at night, it was like drizzling rain, it was really picturesque and really nice. Then all of a sudden I see something and I’m like, ‘What is that a bird over there?’ And [Emmy] was like, ‘What are you blind? That’s a rat!’ There was a few of them! Yeah, we had some nice times together, for sure.”

Zoey Deutch: “Yeah, it always felt good for the rest of us when we would all be hanging have a great time and y’all would just split off and be like, look we’re the cool ones and we love each other! What? I’m not mad! I’m not bitter, you crazy loon! (laughs)”

Alden Ehrenreich as Ethan Wate and Thomas Mann as Link

JJJ: What was the funniest thing that happened on set?

TM: “Alden [Ehrenreich] getting food poisoning was pretty funny.”
ZD: “That’s really compassionate of you. Probably my favorite quality of Thomas is his ability to really feel for others, exhibited right there.”
TM: “It was funny though! It was really funny!”
ZD: “You had stomach issues as well, do you want me to tell all of the world about that, too? One day we were on the plantation, and…”
TM: “I had my fair share of Pepto Bismol on the set.”
ZD: “We got really close. It just all happened really quickly, and we were all best friends, and you were ill.”
TM: “It’s just like they make all this great food on set for in the mornings, and you’re just like, I’m not gonna pass this up. Even though I just woke up and my stomach is kind of ugh, so I’m drinking coffee and eating this spicy omelet thing. It just killed me inside, so I had to take something, and that was sort of what happened with Alden. Except he had to leave after every take to go use the restroom.”
ZD: “I was walking across the street and I saw Thomas and Alden and they were like, ‘Oh you wanna come out? We’re gonna go get some food, some Mexican food.’ I was like no, I’m gonna pass. I think I had like a psychic premonition, I just had a psychic moment. It’s supposed to be a very haunted city, maybe I just took over something. And Alden had food poisoning the next day, and I was like what if I had gone? What if? Think I would still be here today?”
TM: “I went with him and I didn’t get food poisoning from that place.”
ZD: “Thomas. Okay. (laughs)”

Macon tries to get through to Lena

JJJ: Were you able to get to go inside Ravenwood Manor?

ZD: “We got in trouble because we went in and tried to take a picture.”
TM: “They were still building it and were trying to take pictures of the staircase and stuff. The production designer was like, ‘Hey! Uh-uh.’”
ZD: “Direct quote. (laughs) ‘Hey, uh-uh. Give me those pictures!’ The sets were so, so beautiful, and the world is so specific, and when I read the script I was excited to see how they were gonna create this environment. Richard LaGravenese and Philippe Rousselot who is the [Director of Photography] did such an amazing job of keeping a consistent tone, aesthetically speaking. I found that I didn’t want to leave the world at the end of the movie, which is always a wonderful feeling to leave a movie and feel that close to it’s world.”
TM: “It’s a very specific world, and it’s a very specific part of the world. The region that we’re in, South Carolina, it has all it’s own quirks.”
ZD: “I was talking in terms of the magical aspect, how they were gonna create…”
TM: “Seeing them build everything and Richard’s attention to detail, all the thought and the decisions he had to make just based on the aesthetic of those giant set pieces alone was just insane.”
ZD: “When I walked onto the set of the table, the spinning table, there was no vagueness involved. It was all so specific, and I don’t have any other word to describe it because everything was so thought out. I think that’s also true of the story, and Richard, being the writer and the director, you would be worried that they would be married to the words or something. Richard was so involved in just trying to make it the best story that he could. In every scene he would just try and talk to everyone and see their opinion and try and find the core of the scene. You would do some improv and he always kind of embraced that.”
TM: “Yeah, he was very open to suggestions from people.”
ZD: “He gives you permission to feel comfortable, which is very rare I feel. And he’s a very kind person, he was great to work with.”

Zoey Deutch & Kami Garcia

JJJ: You have been going on this book tour with authors Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, how close have you gotten with them?

TM: “Pretty close. It’s always great to see them, and they are so excited to finally see their baby come to life on the big screen. We’re happy to make that happen for them. Every time I see them we’re always doing something for the movie anyway, and we actually got to have dinner with them while we were on the press tour and that was really nice. Their enthusiasm for the movie and for us being in the cast is really supportive, so that’s all we can ask for.”
ZD: “They’re amazing. I can only imagine how emotional it would be to write something, to create a story, to create a world, to create characters, and then for people to want to bring it to life. For that to be what’s happening, I mean, they’re so excited and that’s really awesome to be around. Because we’re excited as well, very excited!”

You can read the full article at Just Jared Jr..