The Hunger Games Casting Revealed

Jennifer Lawrence

So... Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen, Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark and Liam Hemsworth as Gale Hawthorn! What are your thoughts on the castings for the Hunger Games? I know I'm excited but I'm only partially excited. Most of all I'm trying not to judge the actors and actress before I actually see them in action; starring in The Hunger Games as I want to remain open minded and not get all negative about a film that I'm so, so excited for.

For those of you who don't know; The Hunger Games is the first book in a fantastic, dystopian trilogy, by Suzanne Collins, which is in the process of being made in to a film to be released in 2012. The director is Gary Ross who has already set about casting the three main characters. The news is now focusing on the fans' reactions to these castings and possible castings for the other major characters.

Josh Hutcherson

OK, first I'm going to talk about Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss. This piece of casting was made official a couple of weeks ago now and I confess that, when I first saw the article, I was surprised and disappointed. Jennifer Lawrence doesn't fit any of the criteria I had in mind for the perfect Katniss casting. Katniss is a character with very dark hair and olive skin and Jennifer Lawrence is freaking blonde with really pale skin! Of course they can work wonders with makeup, hair dye and such but her facial features doesn't say Katniss to me either.  Jennifer Lawrence is also a lot older than Katniss, who is sixteen (as well as being described as young looking for her age). At the age of twenty, this makes Jennifer four years older than The Hunger Games protagonist. I suppose this isn't really a problem though as Katniss is a complex character and it may require a great deal of maturity to play her and, as I said earlier, they can work wonders with makeup. Maybe once they are done with her Jennifer Lawrence will be the perfect Katniss. The main thing, however, that made me change my mind about her was all the news articles reporting on Jennifer Lawrence's acting ability and the fact that Gary Ross said that casting Lawrence was the easiest casting choice he has ever made. Also, the fact that she doesn't look much like Katniss, shows that she was chosen purely for her acting ability...which is surely a good thing?

Liam Hemsworth

Now, Josh Hutcherson as Peeta. I was incredibly concerned about the casting of Peeta as I had a very clear image of what he should look like and I also think he's a very complicated, almost misunderstood character whose image could have been destroyed by some pretty-boy actor with soft, flowing blond hair playing him in the film. But, I have to say, at this stage I am very happy with Josh Hutcherson as Peeta; I really see Peeta in his face and some of the expressions he makes so, provided his  performance is up to scratch, I think he has the potential to be a fantastic Peeta!

I confess I'm not entirely sure what's up with Liam Hemsworth as Gale. He isn't how I imagined Gale at all...I mean Gale's meant to be good looking. Of course, again, you can never tell until you see them in action so maybe he'll look right in the film- we shall see. I've never been particularly fond of Gale as a character though so this slightly dodgey casting doesn't really upset me much. Not at this stage of the process anyway...