With up-and-coming actors working alongside Hollywood veterans in the new "Hunger Games" prequel film, "Sunrise on the Reaping" reflects a "dream" cast for its filmmakers.
"You kind of can't believe it when they say yes to you," producer Nina Jacobson exclusively tells USA TODAY about the movie's cast, which boasts a handful of Oscar nominees. "But I really credit that both to Suzanne [Collins] as an author and writing these really meaty characters that actors can see how much depth there is."
Director Francis Lawrence, who has helmed all but the first "Hunger Games" film, is confident in the characters' casting.
"When you pick right, and luckily I feel like we really did with this one, it's super-fun to watch what these people do with their roles,"
he says.
The prequel (in theaters Nov. 20), based on the 2025 Suzanne Collins book of the same name, is set 24 years before the events in the first "Hunger Games" film and stars Joseph Zada as District 12 tribute Haymitch Abernathy.
The 21-year-old Australian actor plays the younger – and less world-weary – version of the character played by Woody Harrelson in the original films from 2012 to 2015.
On Thursday, Oct. 15, Lionsgate is rolling out official character posters for the ensemble on the studio's social media channels, starting with the franchise's major antagonist: President Coriolanus Snow, played by Ralph Fiennes. Keep an eye on Lionsgate's Instagram and TikTok for new poster reveals, and check back here for the full list with insights from Lawrence and Jacobson on each character.
The casting of Glenn Close came from a 'very unexpected' email
Fiennes was "our dream" to play Snow, Jacobson says − a character previously embodied by the late Donald Sutherland in the original four movies, then Tom Blyth in the 2023 prequel "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes."
Jesse Plemons, whose Plutarch Heavensbee helps produce the televised spectacle of the games, was another star they'd sought out, per Lawrence, while Kieran Culkin (TV host Caesar Flickerman, previously played by Stanley Tucci) was one of the actors "who was at the top of our list," Jacobson says.
Glenn Close was a surprise for the filmmakers, as she had reached out with "a very unexpected email" detailing why she wanted to be Drusilla Sickle, the snotty escort for the District 12 tributes.
"We were just so wowed and struck by the fact that somebody like Glenn Close would go and put her heart on her sleeve to us to want to play this character," Jacobson says.
Joseph Zada was 'put through the wringer' to become Haymitch
Another actor who was not on the team's radar was Zada, who was discovered by casting director Debra Zane. As the lead, "there was a lot that was expected" from Zada, Lawrence says. "We really put him through the wringer in terms of casting and testing."
Aside from bringing a "Texan twang" out of the Australian, Lawrence emphasized Zada was not tasked with doing "an impersonation" of Harrelson.
"Part of the story is the origin story, right? So we actually have to see him in a very different light," the director says. "He's a very different person in the beginning of this movie than the Haymitch we meet that Woody portrays."
The advice given to actors playing younger versions of 'Hunger Games' characters
Though a number of actors are tasked with portraying younger versions of staple characters who appeared in the original films, Lawrence emphasized to his cast that their job was "not at all about trying to copy what somebody else has done in another film."
He'd instructed Fiennes: "Don't make yourself sound like Donald Sutherland." And he repeated the directive to Elle Fanning, who took the baton from Elizabeth Banks in portraying District 12's pinch-hitter stylist Effie Trinket, and Culkin, too.
"I want you to find your own voice," Lawrence remembers telling them.
"They all really find a way, whether they're playing a character that's new to the screen like Drusilla or a character who you're meeting a younger version of," Jacobson says. "Each one of them really makes it their own."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How 'Sunrise on the Reaping' landed its 'dream' cast | Exclusive
