Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games trilogy is set to hit theatres next spring. The wildly popular young adult book series about a deadly reality TV competition in a post-apocalyptic world has fans predicting who will be cast and picking favorites. Lionsgate has now
confirmed three of the film's stars: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, and Liam Hemsworth.
Jennifer Lawrence stars as Katniss Everdeen, "Girl on Fire." Lawrence was relatively unknown until her role in
Winter's Bone last year, which earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress (she was the second youngest actress to be nominated, ever). Lawrence's role as Ree Dolly in
Winter's Bone is not unlike the role of Katniss: both leading ladies are stubbornly loyal and take on the responsibility of their families. Additionally, Katniss becomes the rallying point for the revolution that could save her country (a post-apocalyptic North America). Director Gary Ross said that in Lawrence's audition "You glimpsed every aspect of the role and the potential of the whole movie." Author Suzanne Collins
assured fans that she "watched Jennifer embody every essential quality necessary to play Katniss."
Josh Hutcherson first appeared on television at age ten. Last year he starred in
The Kids Are All Right, and other notable credits include
Bridge to Terebithia,
Journey to the Center of the Earth, and the adorable romance
Little Manhattan (he also voiced "Hero Boy" in
The Polar Express. Cool.). Hutcherson will play Peeta, the eloquent artistic romantic with an unsuspecting tough side. Hutcherson, a huge fan of the book series, has been lobbying for the role for a while, and his passion for the character seems to have paid off. Collins
said: "Josh totally captured Peeta's temperament, his sense of humor and his facility for language. I'm thrilled to have him aboard." Some fans are upset that Hutcherson has brown hair and brown eyes rather than Peeta's described blond hair blue eyes combo, but hopefully they'll calm down when they see him
act the part as suitably as I have complete confidence he will.
Lawrence was cast before I began to read the books, and as soon as I heard that Hutcherson wanted to play Peeta I supported him 100%. However, I had never heard of
Liam Hemsworth until he was mentioned on a list of possible Gales. Since his character is the most important one in the film (well...according to me. To be fair he probably won't be in this one as much as the other two, and certainly not as much as Katniss or Peeta.), hopefully he will take this immense responsibility seriously. Gale is Katniss's intelligent and fiercely brave hunting partner-in-crime. He does not compete in the Hunger Games, but plays a key role in the revolution. Producer Nina Jacobsen said: "Gale's journey across the three books transforms him, and Liam's performance left no doubt that he would take us there." (So that's good.). Hemsworth is most known for his role opposite Miley Cyrus in
The Lost Song, which, to be fair, I haven't seen. Maybe it was awesome. That doesn't matter, as long as
he is awesome.
Peeta :)
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