If you thought Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket was great casting, wait 'til you find out which character Stanley Tucci has signed on to play in Gary Ross's 2012 adaptation of The Hunger Games. First hint: It's pretty much perfect casting. Second hint: No, it's not Haymitch.
In a huge development for this week's Movieline interviewee Wes Bentley, the actor has landed a high-profile gig in Gary Ross's 2012 adaptation The Hunger Games! The role marks Bentley's first major advancement since bouncing back from career-threatening personal demons, and pits him against the likes of Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson as sinister foil Seneca Crane, the Head Gamemaker in charge of devising deadly obstacles for heroine Katniss Everdeen and her fellow tributes. More on Seneca Crane and what this means for Bentley after the jump.
Say what you will about Lionsgate's slow trickle of a casting roll-out, or director Gary Ross and novelist Suzanne Collins' choices -- Elizabeth Banks might just be the most perfectly chosen member of the Hunger Games cast thus far. Tweeting today to confirm her official involvement, Banks' enthusiasm leaped off the Twitter page as she quoted her soon-to-be onscreen alter ego, Effie Trinket.
Hot on the heels of today's confirmed Hunger Games casting of Katniss and Prim Everdeen's mama (to be played by Paula Malcolmson) comes a bit of rumormongering: According to Vulture, John C. Reilly has been offered the part of District 12's victor-turned-lush-turned-middle aged mentor, Haymitch Abernathy. Chime in, mockingjays -- would Reilly fly as your big screen Haymitch?
You've got your new Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence), Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) and Gale (Liam Hemsworth) -- now it's time to start fleshing out the rest of the Hunger Games cast. Lionsgate announced today that they've selected newcomers Dayo Okeniyi and Amandla Stenberg to play Thresh and Rue, respectively. So who are these two future tributes from the Southern climes of District 11?
Chris Hemsworth, the Norse god Thor himself, revealed recently that he helped brother Liam rehearse for his Hunger Games auditions by reading the part of Katniss aloud. Liam eventually landed the part of Gale, one of two young men in love with Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) in Lionsgate's 2012 adaptation of Suzanne Collins's YA novels, but lest you assume that means the elder Hemsworth is unequivocally on Team Gale, think again. Talking with Movieline he explains his ties to Liam's future on-screen rival, Josh Hutcherson, and how they've landed him firmly in the middle of the Peeta-Gale conflict.
Alright, Hunger Games fans. After director Gary Ross defended the choice to cast blonde, curvy Jennifer Lawrence as the underfed brunette Katniss Everdeen in Lionsgate's adaptation of Suzanne Collins' beloved dystopian novel series, it seemed imperative that Collins explain her position on the matter herself. Today, she finally took to the interwebs to officially throw her support behind the casting move. But is her letter enough to put Hunger Games fan concern at ease?
On the heels of today's confirmation that 20-year-old Oscar nominee Jennifer Lawrence will play Katniss Everdeen, the 16-year-old heroine of Lionsgate's The Hunger Games adaptation, EW caught up with director Gary Ross to get his explanation of the casting move. According to the interview, Lawrence's age and her blonde hair -- details that raised fan eyebrows when the Winter's Bone star first emerged as a front-runner -- are of no matter to Ross, who says the choice was "the easiest casting decision I ever made in my life." And if it makes any difference, Suzanne Collins apparently agrees.
As the YA-addicted world awaits the conclusion of The Twilight Saga, internet storms are a-brewin' over the next teen franchise with Twilight-level potential: Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games trilogy. But with casting speculation at a fever pitch (director Gary Ross should anoint his chosen ones any week now), it's time for some real talk: Most of your favorite young thespians aren't going to make the cut.
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