Korean Teen Actor KI HONG LEE Stars as Elite Runner in "THE MAZE RUNNER"

Korean actor Ki Hong Lee has obviously set a firm pace to stardom starring opposite Dylan O'Brien in the upcoming book adaptation of "The Maze Runner."  By the looks of it, the recently concluded Greenies Screening in the Phils. had the girls giggling after the movie, charmed by his notable presence and performance in the movie.

                Thomas (O'Brien) wakes up in a lift, moving slowly upward. As the box grinds to a halt and the doors open, he finds himself among a colony of boys who welcome him to the Glade – a large open expanse surrounded by enormous concrete walls. Thomas’ mind is blank. He has no knowledge of where he is, doesn’t know where he came from, and he can’t remember his parents, his past, or even his own name.

               

                 Thomas and his fellow “Gladers” don’t know how or why they got to the Glade.  Thomas learns that each resident of the Glade has a role to play, from gardening to construction to being one of the elite runners who map the walls of the Maze that keep them captive and change configurations every night. Maze Runners race the clock to cover as much ground as possible before the end of the day when theMaze locks down and the deadly biomechanical Grievers roam the corridors of the concrete structure.

                The elite among the Gladers are called Runners, whose athleticism propels them through the Maze each day, which helps them compile a map of the foreboding structure and, maybe, figure out a way to escape.  Their captain is Minho, played by Ki Hong Lee.  The young actor grew to understand his position of leadership among the Gladers in a very individual way.  “I looked at the Marines and the Army and, and I consider Minho like a general of the Gladers,” Lee explains, “It’s his job to rally the troops.”

Meet the Nooglers of THE INTERNSHIP

Both trying to catch up with the digital world, Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn did not look far for reference in the tech-comedy "The Internship." Instead, admittedly they drew from their own experience how it's like to swim in the digital age.

                “This was not a difficult role to prepare for.  I don't know that much about computers, only in the past few years, I discovered how to work the internet,” says Wilson.  “And Vince had to be one of the last people in the world to get a cell phone, so he might be even further behind than me.We’re both trying to catch up with the digital world.”

                Confronted with that world’s lightning-fast pace, Billy and Nick must somehow excel at Google amidst an army of today's breed of geeks and super-achievers.

Up and coming young star Dylan O’Brien portrays Stuart, a Noogler who is too cool for school. “Stuart is the cynical one,” says O’Brien, who recently landed the central role in 20th Century Fox’s thriller "The Maze Runner." "He doesn’t want anything to do with the life around him. At the beginning, he is very much only involved in his technology,” says O’Brien. “Bill and Nick teach Stuart to live amongst the world and everyone around him.”

One Noogler with a keen disinterest in Billy and Nick (apart from his quest to humiliate them) is Graham.  Everyone loves a juicy antagonist, and Graham is as opportunistic, if not downright mean, as they get. “He is the kid in class who is the know-it-all," says Wilson. “Graham is the evil intern who is trying to sabotage their plans,” says Max Minghella, who portrays Graham.

Holding her own against Graham, as well as her own teammates, Neha Patel, played by Tiya Sircar, is a closeted nice girl with a deceptive naughty streak.  “Neha tends to say things that make people raise their eyebrows,” explains Sircar.  “She says some pretty crazy things, but it’s all talk.  Neha is actually a good, studious girl." Like her counterparts, Neha, is displeased when the team is saddled with the technologically inept salesmen.  “The younger members of the team feel like they are working with two dead weights,” she points out.

Another teammate of Nick and Billy’s is Yo-Yo Santos, played by (Fil-Am) Tobit Raphael in his film debut.  Yo-Yo is an anxiety-riddled perfectionist and a dutiful son. “He has a very oppressive Asian mother who wants him to succeed and wants him to have that perfect job,” says Raphael. “And he takes out a lot of it on himself.” Through Yo-Yo’s relationship with Billy and Nick, he conquers his inner demons to emerge as a confident young man.

The filmmakers selected the young actors who would reflect the generational divide, embody the Google personae, and possess a comedic constitution that complements Vaughn’s and Wilson’s improvisational dexterity.

                “The Internship" is also about these two generations melding and the culture of Google.  We wanted a supporting cast that adds strength to the duo at the center,”says Vaughn.

                Take a peek into the world of Google when "THE INTERNSHIP" opens August 14 in theaters from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.