‘You’ve got to put your mind outside of the room and embarrass yourself a little bit,’ Lerman says. By Eric Ditzian Logan Lerman Photo: MTV News Best Fight might be the most deceptive of all the MTV Movie Awards’ categories. What fans see up on the screen — those weapon-wielding brawls, knees to the groin and bloody-gash-opening body blows — certainly looks badass, what goes into creating them on set is quite often the opposite. And that, perhaps, is what make a cinematic fight truly great: you cringe at every punch, feel your stomach turn as the blood flows, you simply believe it, despite knowing it’s all make believe. It’s in this context that we approach this year’s Best Fight nominees , in particular Logan Lerman and Jake Abel’s throwdown in “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.” “It was awkward,” Lerman laughed during an interview with MTV News. “I felt really stupid doing it. You’ve got to put your mind outside of the room and embarrass yourself a little bit and feel comfortable to be in the moment.” Lerman plays a dyslexic high school kid who discovers he’s actually the son of Poseidon and is pulled into a world-saving mission in which he battles snake-haired villains, nefarious demigods and a few terrifying beasts. The climatic scene — the one for which he’s nominated — sees him facing off against Abel on the rooftops, and in the skies, of New York City. They fly, they clash, they crash, they fly some more, until Lerman uses his powers to manipulate water and lay down some serious hurt. “That was about a month of filming just to do that one sequence,” Lerman explained. “We learned so much. We had to learn how to fly, be in wires and make it look good. Go down rooftops while having to swing at invisible lightning bolts being shot at you. It was a pretty crazy experience and I was completely blown away when I saw it onscreen. I’m so glad it got nominated — and pray that it wins!” His competition is stiff, and he’s most worried about Beyonc
