The Three Musketeers Are Back!

Based on Alexandre Dumas' 1844 novel, The Three Musketeers is the classic tale of good versus evil. It tells the story of Porthos, Athos and Aramis, three Musketeers who have a strong allegiance to their king. However, when they get word that a plot has been created to overthrow their leader, the three Musketeers along with D'Artagnan, an aspiring musketeer, team up on a mission to protect their king and save their country. It truly is, "all for one and one for all" in this battle against a trio of villains.

Although a multitude of film adaptations have been made of this 19th-century novel, this latest version is surely going to stand out from the rest as it is shot in 3-D, offering an amazing visual experience, and has a much lighter tone than you might expect. Youthink was lucky enough to spend some time with Logan Lerman (Percy Jackson & the Olympians) who plays the role of D'Artagnan to talk about how he prepared for his role and what he thinks teens will enjoy the most about this movie.

YT: How did you prepare for your role and how familiar were you with the story of The Three Musketeers?
LL: I was a big fan of the movies. I grew up watching them and I loved the films. So I reviewed them, tried to take aspects of certain performances I enjoyed and tried to combine them with my ideas of what I wanted to do for this film. It was kind of funny trying to get into the mindset of someone who’s more impulsive and arrogant. It wasn’t a really hard transition but definitely it was a little awkward at first. The hair extensions helped and they just completely change your personality - but they were really uncomfortable.

YT: Were you at all hesitant about taking on the role because there have been so many other adaptations?
LL:  It was intimidating at first for me because I didn’t audition [because] they just offered me the film. It’s always validating to go through the audition process and earn it because then they know what you are going to bring and you feel like they respect your initial idea. I didn’t have that so I just had to discover some sort of confidence in myself. If I didn’t feel that I was right for it, I wouldn’t have done it. But I felt like I had something to bring and so I ended up going for it.

YT: How do you feel this version of the movie is different from the others?
LL: In terms of what makes the movie different, it’s not as melodramatic as some of the more recent adaptations. It’s lighter and more fun where the Musketeers are seen as the James Bond of their time and they get more gadgets and more fun things to play with. It’s definitely a very fun visual movie.

YT: What were the most challenging aspects about shooting this film and how was the overall experience for you?
LL: The main challenge of filming The Three Musketeers was having to learn the fight choreography and becoming physically capable. But the whole experience was incredible for me. It was a great time and I got to live in Germany for about five months, so it was just a great chapter of my life for me.

YT: Did you have to learn how to fence for this film?
LL: I did, I mean, not real fencing, just learned the moves and then the choreography, which was like learning a dance. It was really difficult to learn, took a lot of time and training to become physically capable to be able to perform these intricately detailed fights. But I wasn’t at that place to do it at the beginning so I had to work really hard to be able to do it. I mean, I still can’t touch my toes.

YT: The movie was shot in Germany. How was that experience and what did you enjoy most about the country?
LL: I loved it there! It was a completely new experience for me and I was kind of wide-eyed and taking in everything that was introduced to me. I was just blown away by the culture. I really loved it. Fell in love with it easily. Can’t say that there was a favourite thing but in terms of a city, I really loved Berlin a lot. I liked the quality of life there, it was really nice. It seems like a generally happy place. I just had a great time everywhere. We got to shoot from castle village to castle village, travelling around, which was an incredible experience as well.

YT: Being quite young compared to most of the cast, was there any actor in particular that you really connected with?
LL: I spent a lot of time with the Musketeers and the younger guys and we all got along really well. Outside of work I’d socialize with the younger cast mostly. But we all had a really fun time sharing that experience.

YT: What aspect of the movie do you feel teens will enjoy the most?
LL:  We shot the film on the same camera rigs that they shot Avatar on [so] that made the 3-D experience of this film an incredibly immersive experience. Because there wasn’t as much CGI as you’d expect and we were fortunate enough to shoot on location throughout Germany, those cameras really brought out the details in all those places and just takes you into that time period. It’s a fun experience visually.

YT: You seem to be drawn to movie adaptations of novels as you were in Percy Jackson... and the upcoming film Perks of Being a Wallflower. What excites you about The Three Musketeers and these types of films?
LL: I think it’s just coincidence that they happen to be based off of books. It’s kind of the way it works nowadays to get movies made. They have to have some sort of following to begin with. I just liked the stories. I felt like I was right for the roles and that I could bring something to them. It just seemed to be the right timing and everything just worked out.