Thursday, January 27, 2011

The Hunger Games Fantasy Casting

If you haven't yet read The Hunger Games trilogy (The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay), I highly recommend you step away from your computer, go buy them & start reading immediately. They are so awesome!! I like them as much as Twilight & they're not nearly as cheesy as Twilight, so I think they are appealing to a wider audience. Here's the plot description from the book website:
Twenty-four are forced to enter. Only the winner survives.

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. Each year, the districts are forced by the Capitol to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the Hunger Games, a brutal and terrifying fight to the death – televised for all of Panem to see.

Survival is second nature for sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who struggles to feed her mother and younger sister by secretly hunting and gathering beyond the fences of District 12. When Katniss steps in to take the place of her sister in the Hunger Games, she knows it may be her death sentence. If she is to survive, she must weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

Lionsgate has acquired the rights to the movie adaptation of the books and they recently announced a release date of March 23, 2012! No casting decisions have been announced, so I decided to do my own fantasy casting. I've never done one of these before and I'm only doing the main characters because doing these things really stresses me out! I have such a hard time picking just one person for each role. I did Katniss, Peeta, Gale, Haymitch, Cinna, President Snow & Effie.

All character descriptions are taken from Wikipedia.

Katniss Everdeen: Katniss is sixteen years old and is described as having long, black hair, usually in a braid, gray eyes, and olive skin. She is small in stature and light for her age, being one of the smallest tributes in her games, but due to her outdoor life, she is strong for her size. Collins has described Katniss as being an independent survivalist, lethal, but good at thinking outside the box.

My pick: Emily Browning
Strangely enough, she was also my original pick for Bella in Twilight. She'll have to get a tan, but I think she could totally pull off the hardcore, but fairly naive thing.


Peeta Mellark: Peeta has blue eyes, and is described by Katniss as being "medium height, stocky build, blond hair that falls in waves over his forehead." Peeta thinks very well on his feet and has a very likable personality and a flair for showmanship.


My pick: Hunter Parrish
He was who I pictured through the whole book. I know he's not "stocky," but he could gain some weight. I love him in Weeds & I loved him being so cute in It's Complicated & I just think he'd do really great!


Gale Hawthorne: Gale has the common look in District 12: black hair, olive skin, and gray eyes. When he first met Katniss at the age of fourteen he was already over six feet tall. He is described as being very handsome and masculine. Gale is good at keeping things under control and does not get angry very often, though he often rants and mimicks the Capitol.Katniss describes him as "a rebel since birth".

My pick: Michael Trevino
He plays Tyler on Vampire Diaries & I love Vampire Diaries!! I just think he'd do good for this part, too. Seeing him be the werewolf on Vampire Diaries shows that he can be more strong & defiant, plus he could definitely be all angry at the Capitol. He's been pretty broody on the show.


Haymitch Abernathy: Haymitch is described as a "paunchy, middle-aged man." He is often not sober due to his drinking problem. Haymitch's most notable trait were his grey eyes, and black hair as almost every member of the Seam. Haymitch can sometimes be extremely rude when he is intoxicated. However, he displays much kindness and honesty toward Katniss, and often tells her exactly what might happen without worrying about scaring her. He is often used as a comic relief in a way with his sarcasm.

My pick: Joaquin Phoenix
Just read that description again & I feel like I need no further explanation as to why I see Joaquin for this part. He's perfect!


Cinna: Most people who live in the Capitol follow very absurd fashion trends. This is not the case for Cinna, who normally wore simple black clothing. His one strange fashion choice was gold eyeliner, which brings out the gold flecks in his green eyes. Other then that, Cinna looked very normal, with close cropped natural dark brown hair. Cinna is described as being a very sweet, lovely, enigmatic person who takes pride in his work. He is also a very caring person. (Description from The Hunger Games wiki)

My pick: James McAvoy
He is just different enough to be from the Capitol, but just normal enough to be as kind as they describe him. He's clearly intelligent & after Wanted, I think he definitely has that strong quality that Cinna shows in later books. I think he'd be really fun in this part!


President Snow: The main antagonist of the series, President Snow is the extremely evil ruler of the Capitol and all of Panem. Though laid back, he is full of sadistic thoughts. President Snow is described as having very puffy lips which was most likely from an appearance altering operation that is very popular in the Capitol. Katniss describes him as exuding a smell of blood and roses.

My pick: Tim Curry
He would completely creep me out in this role! He's got that fake nice thing going on - remember him in Home Alone 2 or Annie?? He's also totally creepy & he's got not super tiny lips like some of the other people I've seen suggested. He could pull this off in a wonderfully awful way!


Effie Trinket: Effie has bright pink hair, speculated to be a wig - as she gives speeches, she constantly has to get it under control. She is very strict about manners and is always punctual.

My pick: Meryl Streep
Think The Devil Wears Prada mixed with pink hair. I love it!


Here's my favorite site right now with some casting picks! I found some inspiration on there & chose others on my own. Several of them I just had in my mind throughout the books!

Who are your casting pics??

2 comments:

Megan said...

i love your choices for these characters. my brother and i spent a lot of time over Christmas break discussing who would cast in what roles... it is so fun when the characters are so deep! i have not heard of/seen a couple of your choices but they definitely look the part! casting Joaquin Phoenix as Haymitch=genius! as long as Dakota Fanning doesn't get cast as Katniss i will be A-OK!

Maria said...

I like all of your choices! Could definitely see all of those in those roles. I cannot wait for the movie!!!

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