The Hunger Games

[ComicChick]

I hear that Steinfield is also 5'8" and she isn't a waif either.

Why do people keep saying that Pettyfer is so attractive? He's not ugly but there is nothing special about his looks.

i don't see it either. he's alright looking sure enough, but i'm not gaga for him or anything.

 

[ComicChick]

i'm not gonna complain on Jennifer too much especially when i have nothing to base it on. she's an oscar nominated actress so i can appreciate that. when x-men comes out this summer, we'll get a little glimpse of how she can do athletic stunts and whatnot.

and speaking of her character mystique, she literally goes through hours of makeup and stuff for the film everyday, which i take to mean when she does a role she fully commits. that's reassuring in that i wouldn't be surprised to see her try to learn to really shoot a bow and arrow, and to become an agile climber, more athletic type.

as for her height, i'm 5'7 too. i never pictured her as someone who was 5 feet or 5'2, and i never pictured her 5'10 or 6 feet either. 5'7 isn't overbearingly tall and in the red carpet photos and such, she's wearing heels which make her look taller. katniss won't be wearing heels except when on parade for the capital so that really doesn't bother me so much. she's not chubby or anything by any means, but i think we can expect her to tone up or lean up, whatever you want to call it in preparation for the role.

i also saw on another site that since she's 21 (right), she'll roughly be about 25 or so by the trilogy's end. there is a less likely of a chance for her to have a massive change in looks than say someone cast younger who goes through a big growth spurt, body change etc. i thought that was a decent point

 

[kvz5]

Interview with Gary Ross:

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2011/03/17/hunger-games-gary-ross-jennifer-lawrence/

'Hunger Games' director Gary Ross talks about 'the easiest casting decision of my life' -- EXCLUSIVE

This afternoon Lionsgate announced that The Hunger Games had finally found its hero. Oscar nominee Jennifer Lawrence (Winter’s Bone) will play Katniss Everdeen, the embattled tribute from District 12 who goes on to lead a revolution in Suzanne Collins’ best-selling trilogy. Director Gary Ross spoke exclusively with EW about why 20-year-old Lawrence is the right actress, at the right age, to bring Katniss to life on the big screen. (Warning: Some spoilers follow.)

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: When did you know Jennifer Lawrence was your Katniss?
GARY ROSS: First I saw Winter’s Bone, and I just thought she was phenomenally talented and just kind of riveting and amazing and had so much power. And then we had a meeting and I found her to be just a completely compelling, intelligent person. But then she came in and read for me and it just knocked me out. I don’t want to go into too many details, but we did a scene from the movie and it was so amazingly powerful that it was sort of stunning. You glimpsed every aspect of the role and the potential of the whole movie.

There’s already quite a bit of hand-wringing that, no matter how good an actress Lawrence is, at 20 she’s simply too old for the role.
First of all I talked to Suzanne extensively about this. Suzanne saw every single audition. And not only did Suzanne not have an issue with Jen’s age, she felt you need someone of a certain maturity and power to be Katniss. This is a girl who needs to incite a revolution. We can’t have an insubstantial person play her, and we can’t have someone who’s too young to play this. Suzanne was incredibly adamant about this. Far from being too old, she was very concerned that we would cast someone who was too young. In Suzanne’s mind, and in mine, Katniss is not a young girl. It’s important for her to be a young woman. She’s a maternal figure in her family. She’s had to take care of Prim and in many ways her mother since her father’s death. She’s had to grow up pretty quick.

Was the opportunity to side step any child labor laws an added bonus?
That’s not the reason. I absolutely cast the right person for the role and in my view there wasn’t even a question who the best Katniss was. It was the easiest casting decision I ever made in my life.

In the books, Katniss is described as being olive-skinned, dark-haired, possibly biracial. Did you discuss with Suzanne the implications of casting a blonde, caucasian girl?
Suzanne and I talked about that as well. There are certain things that are very clear in the book. Rue is African-American. Thresh is African-American. Suzanne had no issues with Jen playing the role. And she thought there was a tremendous amount of flexibility. It wasn’t doctrine to her. Jen will have dark hair in the role, but that’s something movies can easily achieve. [Laughs] I promise all the avid fans of The Hunger Games that we can easily deal with Jennifer’s hair color.

How will this inform the rest of your casting, in terms of age, look, everything?
Now that we have Katniss, we see who feels good with her both as Peeta and Gale and the rest of her family.

Have actors already started reading with her?
No, but we’ve read a lot of people for a lot of roles. Obviously we have to make sure that the cast balances and makes sense. We’re very close. I have very, very good ideas about who I want in a lot of other roles. So I think there’ll be a lot of stuff coming pretty quickly.

Have you had conversations with her about the enormity of stepping not just into a franchise like this, but a character that is already so beloved by the world? How do you prepare a young person for that?
Oh god, have you ever met her? [Laughs] Don’t worry about Jen Lawrence. She’s a very powerful person. Jennifer is from Kentucky. I think she feels such a complete connection to who Katniss is, the way many people do, but this just seems like a very good fit to her. I think she’s very confident about the role, I think it feels very organic to her. She’s ready to dive in. She goes to archery class next week. Yeah, she’s going to start shooting arrows next week! I think by the end of the week she’s going to be learning to climb trees. She’s a very strong, confident young woman. She’s very confident in her own talent and who she is as a woman, and I think that all these things make her want to dive into the role.

Will you indulge in the blogs and message boards over the next few days to gauge fan reaction to the casting news?
I think one of the wonderful things about The Hunger Games is that everyone has such a personal relationship to the material that they feel they have a very specific idea about the character and who the character is. And that’s wonderful. And I think a lot of the debate that has gone on about who Katniss is is fantastic, because people feel very passionately that their take on the character is unique and correct. But the one that I’ve honestly listened to the most has been Suzanne, who conjured this girl out of her own imagination. To Suzanne, Jen is the perfect realization of the character who is in her head.

 

[ComicChick]

Have you had conversations with her about the enormity of stepping not just into a franchise like this, but a character that is already so beloved by the world? How do you prepare a young person for that?
Oh god, have you ever met her? [Laughs] Don’t worry about Jen Lawrence. She’s a very powerful person. Jennifer is from Kentucky. I think she feels such a complete connection to who Katniss is, the way many people do, but this just seems like a very good fit to her. I think she’s very confident about the role, I think it feels very organic to her. She’s ready to dive in. She goes to archery class next week. Yeah, she’s going to start shooting arrows next week! I think by the end of the week she’s going to be learning to climb trees. She’s a very strong, confident young woman. She’s very confident in her own talent and who she is as a woman, and I think that all these things make her want to dive into the role.

i called it

 

[Project862006]

another thing on jen is that she looks her age she looked 18 in winter bone and she was 18 and that was in 09 she is turning 21 soon

think they will age up katniss?

 

[MadVillainy]

no I dont think they will

 

[Project862006]

my suspension of disbelief will only go so far LOL

but jen is supposedly great actress i shall go find winters bone

 

[ComicChick]

i dont think they'll age her up. but honestly, i'm 25 and i know some teenagers who look older than i do. considering what she's grown up with (dad's death, taking over head of house, hunting, etc) i expect her to look older than her years, she's had to do so much growing up so young

 

[Octoberist]

I'm 27 and I look like i'm 20

 

[dark_b]

i am looking at Hialee Steinfield and i see round cheecks. she in no way looks skinny or starved.

 

[dark_b]

another thing on jen is that she looks her age she looked 18 in winter bone and she was 18 and that was in 09 she is turning 21 soon

think they will age up katniss?

didnt they say that its harder to find a young male actor so thats why they also cast Lawrence? so i guess everyone will be older.

 

[Project862006]

i am looking at Hialee Steinfield and i see round cheecks. she in no way looks skinny or starved.

round cheeks does'nt mean you are not skinny

Spoiler

 

[dark_b]

those pics are prooving that she is more skinny? both have almost the same % of fat under the skin .

 

[Crockett]

Good article with Ross explaning the desicion of Jennifer playing Katniss, and anyway when it comes to casting for me it's better to have a actor/actress who can play the role well than getting a actor/actress that fits the description in the books. Katniss will be a strong female character in the movie just like she was in the books and I believe Jennifer will deliver a great performance. Now if only they will cast a equally good actor for Peeta.

 

[Project862006]

those pics are prooving that she is more skinny? both have almost the same % of fat under the skin .

jen has much wider hips

which i like Miss Lawrence can get it

 

[Project862006]

Good article with Ross explaning the desicion of Jennifer playing Katniss, and anyway when it comes to casting for me it's better to have a actor/actress who can play the role well than getting a actor/actress that fits the description in the books. Katniss will be a strong female character in the movie just like she was in the books and I believe Jennifer will deliver a great performance. Now if only they will cast a equally good actor for Peeta.

Hunter Parrish is the best Actor for Peeta imo

 

[Crockett]

Hunter Parrish is the best Actor for Peeta imo

Well from his resume I've only seen 17 Again o) and I don't really don't remember him there, but I guess he can do good as Peeta.

 

[Project862006]

he is on the show Weeds he is pretty good

 

[ComicChick]

hailey and jen aren't that much diff in height

 

[Hush]

After hearing Ross talk about Lawrence I think he did a good job, he seesm to get the character and I think we may have finally found a replacement for Potter.

 

[ComicChick]

what kind of rating are we hoping for this film? i'm just curious how much of the Hunger Games they're actually going to show

 

[flash13]

I think Ross said it was going to be PG13

 

[Hush]

At PG13 I can see the movie not showing all the violence, and there is a lot, but I do not see how this can be a hit if you don't make it PG13 and Lionsgate is banking heavily on this. Now if we get a Directors cut that is R I'll be one very very pleased fan but this is already going to be a very dark film thematically I mean the core of the story is 12 year old children beating each other to death as a reminder to the people of the world of who is in charge. So if Ross is going to shoot a PG-13 film, he is aiming for this, I just hope they keep the dystopian style world and theme in there and if we have to sacrifice a bit of violence for the theme to be right then I guess I'm ok with that. I just hope the core story isn't lost.

 

[Project862006]

yeah he said pg 13 because he did'nt want the younger audience who read the book to not be able to see it

 

[Crockett]

Yeah, alot of the fans of the series are teenagers and it would suck if they can't watch the movie. It doesn't need to be overly graphic to capture the essence of the story, and also Collins penned the first draft of the screenplay.