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Tag: Petra Arkanian

Hailee Steinfeld on Petra and Strong Female Roles

In an article on the “new wave of strong female-led sci-fi” published yesterday by the Los Angeles Times, Hailee Steinfeld speaks up about what attracted her to the role of Petra in Ender’s Game. According to the article, it wasn’t easy for her to find a challenging enough project after her highly acclaimed performance as Mattie Ross in True Grit (2010). The role of Petra Arkanian seems to have changed that.

When ‘Ender’s Game’ came along with Petra, I found that I’m really attracted to the strong female roles. Not only do you have to look harder for those parts but you have to fight for them. But fighting for what you want is the best part of the job. It’s what I love.”

The rest of the article focuses on other strong female characters in young adult franchises such as Divergent, The Mortal Instruments, and The Hunger Games. While many fans of Card’s novel are tired of Ender’s Game constantly being compared to The Hunger Games, Hailee nevertheless has something to say about which kind of impact the Hunger Games movie had on her and the rest of the young cast during the filming of Ender’s Game:

We all sat in the theater and we were all in awe. Most of us had read the book and we were excited. It was cool to see that ensemble cast just bring it 110%. It motivated us to really come together and make a great movie.

Check out the entire article HERE!

Source: LA Times

July 13, 2013
PHOTO: Petra and Ender in Training

It’s a little weird that I was just writing another article speculating about Ender and Petra and then this pops up as well. What do you think is going on in this photo? Is this perhaps when Petra warns Ender that he’s in danger?

Since we’ve seen in the trailer that the kids train in these outfits, it’s safe to say that’s what they’re dressed in here. And hey look, Adidas survived the Formic Invasion!

Source: Collider

July 12, 2013
PHOTO: Ender and Petra at the Gate

Thanks to a slideshow put up by Entertainment Weekly for their Comic Con 2013 preview, we’ve got a new look at Ender (Asa Butterfield, right) and Petra (Hailee Steinfeld, left) holding hands as they’re about to jump into the Battle Room.

The photo gives us a better look at the flash guns, as can be seen on Petra’s hip, but it also brings up an inevitable question: are Petra and Ender a “thing” in the movie?

In the book, Petra acts more like a tough older sister to Ender when he first joins Salamander Army under Bonzo. But Ender was around 7 or 8 at that point while in the book he’ll be around 10 or 11. When we first saw Petra in the trailer, she was giving a sly smile to Ender.

Now in this photo we see them holding hands as they get ready to go into the Battle Room, something that Ender has presumably already done himself because we’ve seen him in the Battle Room wearing launchy colors. So what do you guys think? Do Petra and Ender have a different type of connection in the film? And if they did, how do you feel about it?

Source: EW.com

July 12, 2013
Five ‘Ender’s Game’ Character Posters Revealed

Early this morning, five new characters for Ender’s Game hit the web, showing major characters Ender Wiggin, Hyrum Graff, Mazer Rackham, Gwen Anderson, and Petra Arkanian. Click the images for larger versions.

UPDATE: These may not be official posters. Will update when I know more.

UPDATE 2: These posters have been confirmed as drafts and were unintentionally leaked. To which all I can say is, yay, more posters coming later? 🙂

UPDATE 3: The posters have been removed at the request of Summit.

June 30, 2013
Fan-made Friday: Petra and Bean by Zethia

It’s Friday and therefore time for some fan art! Check out this digital drawing of Bean and Petra by Zethia on Deviantart! Technically incorrect since Petra was never in Dragon, but still a great image regardless.

Since I’m reading Shadow of the Hegemon now, I can appreciate the meaning behind it a whole lot more than I would have last week.

May 31, 2013
Fansite Exclusive: New ‘Ender’s Game’ Movie Still of Salamander Army

Now that you’ve seen EnderWiggin.net’s exclusive reveal of the official Salamander Army logo, as well as the logos for Dragon, Rat, and Asp armies, it’s time to show you why that was just a teaser for today’s reveal. (make sure you enter to win a set of Ender’s Game army magnets or pin buttons HERE)

I’m very happy to be one of four fansites revealing the second official still from the Ender’s Game movie, which, as of today, is 253 days from release. This new still is chock full of amazing new content for fans who have been dying for more since December, when we got our first look at Colonel Graff staring down young Ender Wiggin.

Without further ado, here is a first look at the Battle School mess hall with Salamander Army:

Not only do we see Asa Butterfield as Ender Wiggin again, you get your first look at Hailee Steinfeld as Petra Arkanian (left), Khylin Rhambo as Dink Meeker (right, next to Ender), and Moises Arias as Bonzo Madrid (end of the table on the left). Since there’s a whole lot more going on besides these four characters (see the Battle Room sphere on the board!?), be sure read my still breakdown article coming later today.

In the meantime, I get to dish a little bit more about our visit to the set last year.

We’d been given a list of people we might be seeing and Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld, and director Gavin Hood’s names practically screamed themselves from my laptop. I was pretty pumped. We’d also be talking to Conor Carroll (Bernard), Khylin Rhambo (Dink), Aramis Knight (Bean), and Suraj Partha (Alai).

I went into the set visit expecting to see and speak to these seven people, which made me unprepared for all the other people we got to spend time with that day. One of the first surprises of the day was when we were introduced to producer Roberto Orci, which almost made my head explode.

I’d only seen photos of him and hadn’t a clue he’d be there on the set, much less that we’d be spending the day with him. And while it sounds odd to be a “fan” of a movie producer, you have to keep in mind that I’m a huge fan of things like LOST, Fringe, the Star Trek reboots, the Hawaii Five-O reboot, all of which he’s produced or written. I see his name everywhere. And since I have a young son, I’ve seen or been forced to listen to the Transformers movies at least two dozen times which, again, he wrote.

We were in a room whose walls were covered in concept art and storyboards and I almost felt like I should avert my eyes because I’m so used to not seeing such things until a DVD release. A presentation began and we met several producers from Odd Lot Entertainment.

They told us so much in that first hour and a half that I admit I was confused. I’d never expected them to be so open and passionate about the movie, rivaling us fansites. It was like sitting in a room with fans who were 10 times the fans you were. It was humbling to say the least.

After the presentation, they took us on a set tour that included the Launchie barracks that we saw in the first still, Ender’s private quarters, and the infirmary. We were taken to the video village where we saw some scenes being filmed. Garrett Warren, the film’s stunt coordinator came by to talk to us and was so fun to meet.

We headed over to interview the very well-spoken and lovely Hailee Steinfeld, a very intense but also very nice Asa Butterfield, and director Gavin Hood. While it was amazing to interview the young actors who would be playing Ender and Petra, it was eye-opening to talk to Gavin Hood. It was immediately plain to us that he’s a huge fan of the book and after talking to him, I personally felt like the film was in great hands with him.

Having been a fan of Game of Thrones for over ten years, it was surreal when the monstrously large Nonso Anozie (Sergeant Dap in Ender’s Game and Xaro Xhoan Daxos in Thrones) walked– or rather, hunched over — to get into the room. Getting to then discuss movies and Pop Tarts with him was just amazing. We met a lot of the Battle School cadets, including Bean, who all seemed to be great kids who were huge fans of the novel and extremely excited to be a part of the film.

Our tour continued after lunch with a meeting with costume designer Christine Bieselin-Clark, who actually let us touch the flash suits. Nerd out!

We continued on to the props department, which was really cool because even that guy could bring up scenes from the book as if it was nothing. We then talked to set designers Ben Procter and Sean Haworth, who immediately passed our now standard Did-You-Read-Ender’s-Game Test. We were back to sitting in the Launchie barracks again and with that scenery around us, I think the sole question in all of our minds was just, “How do you build something like this from the ground up?” It was a continual thought in my mind as we walked through the Battle School and Eros sets.

And with that, yes, we did get to walk around on Eros. We were actually very fortunate in that they were at the point of production where they were filming Ender’s final battle scene. We stood on that set and I had to resist the urge to turn to my fellow tourists and shake them senseless in excitement. All I will say at this point is that the finale scene that I’d imagined seemed like a shriveled raisin compared to what they had in production.

As if that wasn’t enough, towards the end of our day, they told us they were able to get us 10 minutes with Sir Ben Kingsley. Let me tell you, sitting in a dark Formic room frantically trying to think of questions to ask a knighted actor is a whole lot of pressure.

Those of you that have been reading my site for a while have probably wondered why I seem so on board with the film despite some the changes (which are inevitable with a book to film adaptation). Hopefully this gives you a better idea of why. Everyone we met from the crew to the actors to the producers were all fans of the book and were all so excited to be working on the movie.

As you’ve probably noticed, I’ve left out specific details and quotes, as that’s all still to come as we approach the movie’s release come November 1st.

To stay up to date with all the latest news about the movie, the actors, and upcoming book releases in the Enderverse, be sure to follow EnderWiggin.net, available on the following social media networks:

If you’ve been looking for an Ender’s Game podcast, be sure to check out the podcast EnderCast, which I co-host with Kelly from Ender News.

February 20, 2013
Hailee Steinfeld in Negotiations for ‘Ender’s Game’ Movie for Petra Arkanian

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the young star of last year’s True Grit is in talks to join the cast of Ender’s Game.

Although she was nominated for an Academy Award, Steinfeld has yet to follow up her stunning performance with additional work, but this role would put things back in motion for her in February of next year.

Steinfeld is negotiating for the role of Petra Arkanian, Ender’s lone female soldier in Dragon Army. Ender first meets Petra when he arrives in the Battle School and the two children become friends, training together for years.

What do you think of her being Petra? There’s absolutely no doubt she can act and she’s only slightly older than Asa Butterfield, who looks younger than his 14 years, so their youthfulness matches up nicely with the books.

December 2, 2011
Casting Calls Go Out for Ender Wiggin and More

According to io9, casting calls have gone out for the film adaptation of Ender’s Game, which is a strong indication that things are finally moving for the movie going into production.

An obvious concern is finding quality actors at such a young age and while Ender is only 5 when he’s recruited, that’s obviously an incredibly difficult age to cast for such a crucial and “smart” role. The script indicates that Ender is 10 instead of 5. While this is a significant jump in age, it’s an understandable change.

Details on the characters they’re casting:

Ender Wiggin: He’s depicted as smart and sensitive, but also incredibly ruthless. There are a few scenes where he worries about being like his cut-throat brother Peter, and confides in his sister Valentine. Just like in the book, he dishes out a rough treatment to Bonzo Madrid, his former platoon leader, when Bonzo tries to bully him too much. And then he feels bad about it. The screenplay also includes some scenes where Ender has weird nightmares about the buggers — and he tries to understand where the buggers are coming from, and what their children are like. Ender is pissed at Graff because he keeps changing the rules in the war “exercises.”

The scene where Ender finds out that his final victory was not, in fact, a game is pretty intense, and features Ender and Graff both trying to talk at the same time. Ender is saying “They came to establish a colony, we chased them away… in fifty years they have never returned,” while Graff is saying, “It makes no difference now,” and then Ender is saying “Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds,” at the same time as Graff is saying “What are you talking about?” Finally, Ender is saying “I will bear the shame of this xenocide forever,” at the same moment as Graff is saying, “You will be remembered as a hero.” It ends with Ender getting an injection, knocking him out.

Bean: We get to see Bean watching a heavily edited video of Mazer Rackham’s famous victory over the formics, in which Mazer fires his nuclear warhead into the formics’ exhaust system. And Bean is so thrilled he throws his hands in the air and shouts with joy — until Ender bursts his bubble, explaining that the video is edited so we don’t see Mazer die. (And later, Ender also hints that Mazer’s victory might have had a darker side, that’s also edited out.) In another scene, Graff shows Bean and Ender to the famous zero-gravity training room, where they float around with a bunch of other kids. Ender explains to Bean that there’s no “up or down” in zero-G, and then they discover their weapons actually freeze anyone they shoot at, by causing the spacesuits to swell up. They team up to go freeze some of the other kids.

Peter Wiggin: Ender’s brother is fully a psychopath in this version of the screenplay. He’s insanely jealous that Ender was chosen for the battle school, and completely enraged when it seems like Ender has washed out of the program. At one point, he locks their sister, Valentine, out of the room and forces Ender to put on a Formic mask so they can play Formics and Astronauts, which basically consists of Peter beating the crap out of Ender.

Valentine Wiggin: She’s the gentler, sweeter member of the Wiggin family, who’s always there for Ender — except for when the people in charge of the school won’t let Ender communicate with her. She tries to protect Ender from Peter, but mostly fails — and just like in the book, she convinces Ender to return to the school when he tries to drop out after he hurts Bonzo Madrid. She explains to Ender that what makes us human is our brains, and we didn’t evolve those brains so that we can lie around lakes — we evolved them for killing, or else we wouldn’t still be around. We’d have been killed by wild animals. She alone grasps that Ender has to understand his enemy to defeat them, and in understanding the enemy, he grows to love the enemy — right before he destroys it.

Bonzo Madrid: Just like in the book, he’s a swaggering idiot whose platoon has won most of its most recent battles, and he resents being saddled with a useless, untrained snot like Ender. He orders Ender to stay out of the way during battles, and not even use his weapon. Later, he takes a group of his homies to try and ambush Ender in the shower.

Rose the Nose: The commander of Rat Army, where Ender gets traded after he leaves Bonzo’s toon. Rose has a high opinion of his own leadership skills, even though he knows that his platoon leader, Dink, is “God.” Rose has a terrible fear of losing, but can’t face the fact that he’s winning thanks to Dink and Ender.

Dink Meeker: In the script pages we read, Dink is one of the characers who befriends Ender in the Rat Army, helping to protect him a bit and showing him how to go float in the zero-G chamber to relax.

Petra Arkanian: The only girl in Ender’s first toon, she also befriends Ender and tries to protect him — and when Bonzo decides to keep Ender out of combat, Petra offers to help him train in their spare time. Later, she and Dink are both in Ender’s Jeesh, and she’s a key part of the final assault on the bugger planet.

Alai: Just like in the book, he’s a gentle Muslim boy who moves Ender with his friendship and his professions of peace.

Mick: He’s a heavyset boy who just wants to make it through this school in one piece and get home — and he’s happy to help himself to other people’s desserts.

Source: io9

September 28, 2011