Apparently while I was on vacation, there was a lot of casting news released! The one that I'm most invested in, of course, is Jennifer Lawrence winning the lead role of Katniss Everdeen in the "The Hunger Games."At first, I wasn't thrilled. JL is too old. She's too tall. She's blonde, for crying out loud. And, she's too -- dare I say it? -- fat (Katniss is literally starving in most of these books, so I'm truly not being mean here). Then again, I saw "Winter's Bone" and JL can definitely act, which is incredibly reassuring. I can get over physical differences if it means getting someone with talent. And then I read interviews with JL, director Gary Ross and the book's author, Suzanne Collins, and now I'm behind JL 100 percent!
Director Gary Ross spoke exclusively with Entertainment Weekly about why 20-year-old Lawrence is the right actress, at the right age, to bring Katniss to life on the big screen.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: 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.
Gary Ross: 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 quickly.
Suzanne Collins, who created Katniss, told MTV.com this:
"Jennifer's just an incredible actress," Collins said. "So powerful, vulnerable, beautiful, unforgiving and brave. I never thought we'd find somebody this perfect for the role. And I can't wait for everyone to see her play it."
Jennifer Lawrence finally released her own statement to the fans, which was awesome, and gave an interview to EW, too. After reading it, I truly heart this girl. She's gonna kick butt as Katniss! Here's what she said to the fans:
“I couldn’t be happier about being a part of Hunger Games and to play Katniss. I have a huge responsibility to the fans of this incredible book and I don’t take it lightly. I will give everything I have to these movies and to this role to make it worthy of Suzanne Collin’s masterpiece.”
Plus, she loves Peeta as much as I do.
EW: What character besides Katniss are you fondest of, and what is it about them you love?
JL: Peeta. He’s good and nice in a world that’s harsh and unkind.
Now, the search is on to cast Peeta and Gale. I expect we'll be hearing news soon. The movie starts filming in a couple of months! Yay!
Photo Credit: Fanmade artwork found on the fansite The Hob. Check it out. It's my favorite Hunger Games site out there.
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