In THE HUNGER GAMES production notes, the producers and director reveal how they went about choosing the right actors for Katniss, Peeta, and Gale, and creating Panem through the eyes of Katniss. Find out how the production team went about designing the games, the intense training for Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, the other tributes, and other challenges for the filmmaking team.
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
In the ruins of the land formerly known as North America, the annual Hunger Games are about to get under way – and 16-year-old contender Katniss Everdeen has only the remotest chance of beating the fearsome odds. Like most of the nation of Panem, Katniss lives in one of twelve enslaved districts, ruled over by a mystery-shrouded Capitol, which after decades of chaos and war, now suppresses the people under the thumb of a harsh yet decadent dictatorship. Every year, on Reaping Day, each of the districts must choose, by lottery or volunteer, one boy and one girl to represent them in the Capitol’s twisted idea of grand entertainment that proves its total control, while also giving the famished populace the faintest ray of hope to hang onto. These are the Hunger Games -- an intense gladiatorial competition between 24 adolescent warriors known as Tributes, broadcast live on TV until only one survivor remains . . . and once Katniss is entered there is no turning back.On this day, in District 12, the unthinkable happens – Katniss’ little sister, Primrose, whom Katniss has helped to feed and care for much of her life, is chosen for the Games. In a brave, self-sacrificing move that she knows might seal her fate, Katniss volunteers to take her sister’s place. Instantly, she and her new co-Tribute, the baker’s son Peeta Mellark, are taken into custody, whisked to the Capitol, thrown into glamorous makeovers and grueling training, readying themselves to be pitted against the ruthless “Career Tributes,” who hail from the wealthier districts and have prepared for these Games their entire lives. In the days to come, under the mentorship of drunken former victor Haymitch Abernathy, Katniss will sharpen her instincts, hone her archery skills and focus her growing strength and will on what seems to be the task at hand: stay alive at all costs.
But as she enters the forested outdoor arena as a surprise leading contender in the Games, Katniss begins to see that far more than the promise of fame, fortune and existence itself are on the line. For if she is to win, she will have to make decisions both defiant and heart-rending, weighing survival against humanity, safety against trust and life against love.
THE HUNGER GAMES is directed by Gary Ross, with a screenplay by Ross and Suzanne Collins and Billy Ray, and produced by Nina Jacobson’s Color Force in tandem with producer Jon Kilik. The executive producers are Robin Bissell, Collins and Louise Rosner-Meyer. The film stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Wes Bentley, Toby Jones, Alexander Ludwig, Isabelle Fuhrman, Amandla Sternberg, with Stanley Tucci and Donald Sutherland.
The behind-the-scenes team includes Oscar®-nominated director of photography Tom Stern (THE CHANGELING, MILLION DOLLAR BABY); editors Stephen Mirrione, an Oscar® winner for TRAFFIC; and Juliette Welfling, an Oscar® nominee for THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY; production designer Philip Messina (OCEAN’S TWELVE, OCEAN’S THIRTEEN); 3-time Oscar®-nominated costume designer Judianna Makovsky (SEABISCUIT, HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE, PLEASANTVILLE) and composers T Bone Burnett (Oscar® winner for CRAZY HEART) and eight-time Oscar® nominee James Newton Howard.
THE HUNGER GAMES PHENOMENON
Welcome to the intense reality of 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who must try to survive – by sheer wits and will alone – a future world that is at once high-tech and apocalyptic, glitzy and primal, unsettlingly dangerous and a telltale mirror to our own. Unfolding entirely through Katniss’ intimately personal POV, THE HUNGER GAMES reveals how this miner’s daughter from a dark future transforms from a mere pawn in a lethal televised contest to a soulful, sacrificing heroine who comes to realize that she has even more to protect and fight for than her own family.
Few who have encountered Katniss have been able to resist the visceral excitement of watching her find her strength, resolve and heart while under the most extreme pressure a teenager could imagine. This was certainly true for the production executives at Lionsgate Entertainment. For them, Katniss’ journey jumped off the pages of Suzanne Collins’ literary sensation THE HUNGER GAMES with such beauty and force, they felt instantly it deserved to be captured on screen.
When producer Nina Jacobson had bought the rights to the novel in 2009, THE HUNGER GAMES was just beginning to find a devoted audience. Jacobson brought it to Lionsgate’s film executives Joe Drake and Alli Shearmur, among other studio executives, and they instantly became obsessed with Katniss and her journey. It was only as development began that the popularity of the books swelled in tandem with anticipation of the movie. Millions began to wonder how a filmmaker might bring to life Collins’ fresh twist on a sinister future and – most of all – bring to life the complicated but gutsy heroine who made the book’s adventure feel so harrowingly true.
Ultimately, Lionsgate and Jacobson put together a team, headed by visually bold director Gary Ross, that was equally compelled by Katniss’ arc and how her evolution as a human being touched millions of readers. The idea behind the screen adaptation was to visually get inside Katniss’ head, and ultimately her heart, the same way that Collins had done in words. In that way, the film would not only capture Katniss’ battles with her fellow Tributes in the Games, but would also mine the rich themes Collins had explored through Katniss’ life-changing experience: personal sacrifice, star-crossed love and the question of where our current society might be headed.
Katniss’ world was initially inspired, Collins says, by her fascination with the ancient Greek myth of Theseus – who every nine years sent a phalanx of young boys and girls into a deadly labyrinth to fight the monstrous Minotaur. It was equally influenced by her experiences channel-surfing through an unsettling blur of reality TV and war coverage, wondering what this mix of entertainment and true-life terror boded for the future of society. Together, these two ideas added up to the birth of Katniss Everdeen – who enters a violent and mythic future from a perspective unlike any other. Her adventure in the Capitol of Panem, once she takes her sister’s place in the Games, might have the breathless pace of a sci-fi thriller, but it is at heart about a girl coming to grips with the moral dilemmas of power, injustice and self-preservation at the same time in life as she is also discovering love, independence and her own identity.
A former children’s TV writer and a mother of two, Collins found a way to make Katniss’ world feel so deeply personal that readers couldn’t help but imagine how they would feel in her place – as she is first driven to save her sister, her family and herself, but then begins to see the glimmer of a chance to make a difference for others across the shadowy landscape of Panem.
Collins was not afraid to take Katniss into risky terrain, because she knew teens were already grappling with these questions in the world around them. In her book proposal for the series, Collins wrote: “Although set in the future, THE HUNGER GAMES explores disturbing issues of modern warfare such as who fights our wars, how they are orchestrated, and the ever-increasing opportunities to observe them being played out.” Yet she also balanced that with Katniss’ growth and evolution into someone as courageous and principled as she is stubbornly tenacious. She noted that Katniss, though initially “distrustful,” takes from this adventure “a deep capacity to love and sacrifice for those few people she cares for.”
The success of THE HUNGER GAMES hinged on readers identifying with Katniss -- and that is exactly what happened. The book was soon being passed from hand-to-hand, reader-to-reader, developing a devoted following that flowed into the culture at large. Author Stephen King dubbed Katniss a “bow-and-arrow Annie Oakley,” The Atlantic Monthly called her “the most important female character in recent pop cultural history” and The New York Times praised Collins’ “convincingly detailed world-building and her memorably complex and fascinating heroine.” Stephanie Myer, author of the TWILIGHT series, blogged: “The story kept me up for several nights in a row, because even after I was finished, I just lay in bed wide awake thinking about it.”
Once word began to get out about the books and the impending movie, their popularity began to spread like wildfire. When the film went into production, there were about 8 million copies of the novels in circulation; by the time production wrapped there were 12 million and now the number has exploded to over 26 million. The first novel has since spent more than 180 consecutive weeks and more than three consecutive years to date on The New York Times bestseller list. Collins went on to write two more best-selling books in the series, Catching Fire and Mockingjay, which established Panem as a realm that has taken up permanent residence in the popular imagination.
Early on, Collins made the decision to entrust Katniss and the re-creation of her life in Panem to Lionsgate because she liked their hands-on approach, accessibility and commitment to the spirit of the story across the entire top tier of Lionsgate’s film group. “Everyone we needed to get the movie going was right there on the phone,” she recalls. “The studio was small enough for that to be possible and I felt it would be our best chance of seeing the story become a film.”
Lionsgate made it their mission to show Collins that they would be faithful to her vision for how to bring the book to the screen. “Suzanne thought we were the House of SAW,” recalls Joe Drake of his first phone call with the author, “but we convinced her that we could sensitively and accurately handle the material, citing our work on such films as the Academy Award®-nominated PRECIOUS and Best Picture winner CRASH.”
Nina Jacobson was equally impressed with Lionsgate’s passion for the project. “I felt so connected to it and I was certain that there was a great movie to be made -- but one that had to be treated with care,” she explains. “I made a very passionate case to Suzanne that her vision needed to safe-guarded and Lionsgate gave us their full support for a faithful adaptation that would not be about blood and gore, but thematically driven.”
Collins was likewise gratified by Jacobson’s contributions. “Of all the producers we met, I felt Nina had the greatest connection to the work,” says the author. “I believed her when she said she would do everything she could to protect its integrity.”
From the beginning, Drake, along with Lionsgate’s President of Production Alli Shearmur and marketing head Tim Palen, had lovingly referred to Suzanne as ‘Mother Hunger Games.’ Their most important aim was to stay true to their word to her about how the book would be treated, and their choice of director was the first – and maybe the most important – decision they’d make on the path to honoring that commitment to Suzanne and her book.
The process of safeguarding the story and the character of Katniss began with choosing a director that would bring the story to life technically, but more importantly, emotionally. Their choice was sealed when Gary Ross showed up for the first meeting with Lionsgate prepared with extensive storyboards, and a video presentation of real kids talking candidly and passionately about why they love the book so much.
Explains Shearmur, “After this show of tremendous understanding and sensitivity, we all agreed that Ross was the man for the job. He’s known both for the fantastical vision of PLEASANTVILLE and the visceral emotions of SEABISCUIT, and it was that balance that was so essential to this film.”
For Jacobson, Ross had the perfect blend of epic and intimate storytelling skills to immerse the audience directly into Katniss’ most subjective experiences. “Gary is not just a director but a writer/director and that was an important distinction for this movie,” she says. “Getting the book right was such a big responsibility, and Gary’s understanding of how Katniss’ POV had to be the heart and soul of the story was spot on. He really connected with Suzanne, and they ended up writing the script together. Most importantly, while Gary has amazing visual ideas, he always knew this story had to come from a character place. So he approached it in such a way that characters drive the suspense at every turn and the audience has the chance to experience this world completely through their eyes.”
Ross then brought on board producer Jon Kilik, with whom he had collaborated on PLEASANTVILLE. He, too, was won over by the book. “It has elements of classic movies that I’ve always loved, from REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE to THE BREAKFAST CLUB, blended with a dystopian vision of where our society could be headed. I found that to be an amazing mix and as soon as I read it, I told Gary I was in,” Kilik recalls. “I’ve known Gary since 1997 and I knew he was the right choice for THE HUNGER GAMES because he has children who love the book, and because he has this very rare and unique ability to evoke both teen angst and alternate worlds. Even though this story takes place in the future, I think Gary perceived that it’s more reflective of today than you might think – and that’s why people, not just kids but adults too, really connect to Katniss and Panem. Katniss is trying to survive a tough world of game playing and manipulation, just as we all are.”
PANEM THROUGH KATNISS’ EYES
Gary Ross first witnessed the impact of THE HUNGER GAMES and Katniss Everdeen on his own children. “I’d heard people raving about THE HUNGER GAMES and when I asked my kids about it, they kind of exploded and started going on and on until I had to stop them from telling me the whole story,” he recalls. “Their enthusiasm was so infectious, I went upstairs, started reading, and by 1:30 a.m., I said ‘I have to make this movie.’ It was that impulsive.”Right away, Ross had an unwavering vision of what lay at the heart of THE HUNGER GAMES’ appeal. “My mind was clear from the beginning,” he says. “I saw there was something really beautiful happening underneath the story. It’s obviously a viscerally exciting tale of survival within a lurid spectacle of the future. But I think what really compels people to pass the book from one person to the next is that it is at bottom about one girl, Katniss Everdeen, finding her own humanity. She begins as someone who only wants to fight for herself, for her personal survival – yet what she finds in the course of the Games is something more important than even staying alive. Her heart opens and she becomes someone who’s willing to sacrifice for something bigger. “
He continues: “The essential thing is that you are in Katniss’ shoes. In SEABISCUIT, I wanted to viscerally put the audience on the racetrack. In THE HUNGER GAMES, the audience has to be in Katniss’ head. You know what she knows. You don’t know more. You’re in this experience 100% with her. To that end, the film required a very subjective style. It had to be urgent, immediate and tightly in with Katniss the whole time.”
His desire to bring Katniss’ quest for survival and something more to life might have been instantaneous but Ross has a long history of bringing imaginatively detailed and never-before-seen worlds to life on screen. It began with his Academy Award®-nominated screenplay for BIG about a child transformed into a man; evolved with his directorial debut PLEASANTVILLE, which he also wrote, about two teens transported into a 1950s sitcom; and continued with SEABISCUIT, which he wrote, produced and directed, taking audiences into the fabric of the Great Depression through the unlikely story of an underdog racehorse.
Ross was now ready to tackle creating Panem – entirely as it would be viewed by Katniss as she travels from her remote, hardscrabble District to the eye-popping Capitol, and into the unforgiving forest where the Games begin, her perspective broadening at every step. He began by going directly to the source, inviting Suzanne Collins to collaborate on the adaptation, and to bring all her deep insight into the Games and Katniss’ vital inner life with her. “It wasn’t just that Suzanne was involved. We became a writing team,” states Ross. “It was a fantastic, electric partnership. To know that you are writing a film not only supported by the author but with her input is a real gift.”
Recalls Collins: “Gary wrote a draft which incorporated his incredible directorial vision of the film and then he very generously invited me to work with him on it. We had an immediate and exhilarating creative connection that brought the script to the first day of shooting.”
Collins understood that the film would necessarily be its own experience, no matter how faithful to the book’s essence. “When you’re adapting a novel into a two-hour movie you can’t bring everything with you,” she notes. “Not all the characters are going to make it to the screen. For example, we gave up Madge, cut the Avox girl’s backstory, and reduced the Career pack. It was hard to let them go but I don’t think that the choices damaged the emotional arc of the story. Then there was the question of how best to take a book told in the first person and transform it into a satisfying dramatic experience. In the novel, you never leave Katniss for a second and are privy to all of her thoughts. We needed to find ways to dramatize her inner world.”
As Ross and Collins worked through these challenges – as well as the question of how to present the violence that is so much a part of what Katniss faces in an appropriate yet impactful way for a PG-13 audience – they came to admire each other’s creativity. “Gary was a complete pleasure to work with,” sums up Collins. “Amazingly talented, collaborative and always respectful of the book.”
Everyone involved was excited to see their collaboration blossom. “Suzanne left it to Gary to interpret the mix of casting, photography and production design, but she also supported him artistically,” explains Jon Kilik. “While Gary made sure all the futuristic ideas and clever designs from the book are there, the screenplay he and Suzanne wrote is really about relationships, family, survival and the story of a girl trying to find her way home.”
For Ross, the screen adaptation had to start with the world that has made Katniss who she is: Panem, a dystopian future realm which owes a debt to classic sci-fi influences from George Orwell to Margaret Atwood, yet that Collins made specific to both a 16-year-old’s view-point and our current moment in American culture. “The back story of Panem that has to be alluded to is that a variety of forces -- global warming, scarcity of resources, lengthy wars, all these things – ripped away at what used to be American culture and culminated in a very oppressive state. When the districts rebelled, the Capitol instituted the Hunger Games as a means of control, to keep the people in line,” explains Ross.
Both Ross and Collins wanted to highlight the way the Games amplify today’s obsession with reality television into something that puts Katniss and her fellow Tributes in mortal danger. As sinister and despised as the Games are, people across Panem nevertheless get caught up in them because they yearn to see someone they relate to triumph and have his or her life transformed.
“The Games are like a Roman spectacle but they’re also a lot like the reality TV we see right now,” comments Ross. “People are riveted by the Games because we all have this need to root for someone to make it. When President Snow says ‘the only thing stronger than fear is hope’ it’s because he knows hope is what gets people so involved in the contest. It’s one of the brilliant things that Suzanne does in the book – she shows how the best way to control people is not to subjugate them but to get them to participate. That’s how the Capitol uses the Games to control the districts.”
Ross also began to envision the physical architecture of the Capitol, which he knew had to radiate authority to Katniss but also reveal the cynical decadence of those who would prosper while she and others struggle. He and Collins agreed the city should be rooted in history, not fantasy, even as it nearly overwhelms Katniss in the beginning. “We wanted the Capitol to give off a sense of its past,” he explains. “If you look at any seat of power -- from the Brandenburg Gate to Red Square -- it’s open space punctuated by buildings of tremendous mass. That was our idea behind it. To Katniss, it all evokes a sense of might and power.”
CASTING THE GAMES
Once word was out that a film version of THE HUNGER GAMES was in the works, speculation about casting snowballed into an internet phenomenon of its own. Amidst the hoopla, the filmmakers began coming to grips with just how intensely invested fans of the book were in seeing something they could believe in on screen. “It became clear that everyone who read the book had their own clear idea of who Katniss or Gale or Peeta should be,” notes Gary Ross. “It’s a testament to how connected people become to this story, and I found it incredibly exciting.”
Adds Nina Jacobson: “People were very opinionated about who should play the roles and that was obviously a lot of pressure. But I feel the same way when I love a book – I don’t want anyone to mess it up. So as we began the casting process, we talked a lot about looking for the essence of these characters in the actors. You can create a lot of different things on screen, but you can’t create that essence. You have to go out and find it.”
Katniss and District 12
It began with the most difficult character of all to cast – the girl who rises from the dust and grime of Panem’s mining district to become an iconic rebel heroine: Katniss Everdeen. Her origins might be common, but Katniss is anything but a simple girl. Driven by harsh circumstances, she can be cold and calculating at times but at her core she is selfless and loyal. Only 16, she also is still very much in the process of forming her own ideals and notions of love and self-worth . . . in a world where such things are nearly impossible.
“Katniss is a fierce, independent survivor,” describes Gary Ross. “She’s a hunter, an archer and an athlete, and as the story begins, she already has amazing skills she’s developed to protect and fend for her family. Most importantly, she’s someone who comes to know her own truth. One thing Suzanne and I talked about is that she is a bit like Joan of Arc – someone who can’t abide tyrants, which ultimately gives her the courage to defy the Capitol.”
Executive producer Robin Bissell further observes, “In the middle of the Games, important questions arise for Katniss – not just can she survive but is she able to love, and who does she love? She gains remarkable strength but also blossoms as a human being.”
Young actresses across the world coveted the role, but the search stopped when Ross and Lionsgate executives met with Jennifer Lawrence, who had garnered an Oscar® nomination for her devastating performance as a girl protecting her family in the low-budget indie thriller WINTER’S BONE. Most importantly, Collins herself gave her blessing to Lawrence.
Collins admits that initially she had some trepidation over the idea that anyone could embody the Katniss she’d envisioned. But Lawrence set those worries to rest. In a letter to readers of Entertainment Weekly, Collins wrote: “In her remarkable audition piece, I watched Jennifer embody every essential quality necessary to play Katniss. I saw a girl who has the potential rage to send an arrow into the Gamemakers and the protectiveness to make Rue her ally. Who has conquered both Peeta and Gale’s hearts even though she’s done her best to wall herself off emotionally from anything that would lead to romance. Most of all, I believed that this was a girl who could hold out that handful of berries and incite the beaten down districts of Panem to rebel. I think that was the essential question for me. Could she believably inspire a rebellion? Did she project the strength, defiance and intellect you would need to follow her into certain war? For me, she did. Jennifer’s just an incredible actress. So powerful, vulnerable, beautiful, unforgiving and brave. I never thought we’d find somebody this amazing for the role. And I can’t wait for everyone to see her play it.”
“I felt I’d found the one person who could possibly play Katniss,” recalls Ross of meeting Lawrence. “I’ve worked with many amazing actors but I think someone like Jen comes around once in a generation. She’s an unbelievable talent and she brings so many qualities that are raw and true to the character, from her natural athleticism to her emotional power. I can always imagine different versions of films I direct, but I can’t imagine a version of this film without Jen.”
Adds Jacobson: “In her audition, Jen stole the role. There was instant power, intensity and certainty in her performance. Some people can be fierce and others can be tender, but Jen is both.”
Lawrence says one thing instantly drew her into the depths of Katniss: “Her strength.” She continues: “I’m always drawn to strong characters, because I want to be like that. This is a girl who has the whole world placed on her shoulders and she becomes a kind of futuristic Joan of Arc. I just knew that I had so much respect for the books and who she is that there was nothing I wouldn’t do to bring that out in the right way. I also loved that Gary understood that this movie is not about Katniss looking cool with a bow-and-arrow – it’s about her being heartbroken by all that she has to do.”
The actress was undeterred by what she knew would be intense scrutiny by Katniss’ millions of fans. “There’s a lot of pressure when you’re playing a character so many people are crazy about, but I felt I could rest easy because I was committed to do the very best that I could,” Lawrence states. “I knew we had a group of talented people focused on making the best possible movie and that’s what I believed in.”
With Lawrence cast, the next task was to find the boy with whom she is paired in the Games: her co-Tribute, Peeta Mellark, who has long had a secret crush on Katniss but cannot be sure if she is to be trusted. Taking on Peeta is Josh Hutcherson, best known for his roles in THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT and BRIDGE TO TERIBITHIA -- and once again Ross was instantly certain about the choice. “It was unbelievably clear with Josh. He came in and was able to articulate everything we felt about the character,” the director recalls. “He said ‘Peeta is someone who can disarm the world with his charm, but he knows who he loves and he’s always loved Katniss. He loves her so intensely, she is the one person he would give everything for.’ After that, I felt ‘now I have Peeta and I can do this film.’”
Suzanne Collins was equally taken with the casting. She put it this way to Entertainment Weekly: “If Josh had been bright purple and had six foot wings and gave that audition, I’d have been like ‘Cast him!’ ‘We can work around the wings!’ He was that good.”
Hutcherson remembers that the minute he began reading the book, he was swept up and felt a connection with Peeta. “I’ve never seen a character so close to me as a person,” he says. “His self-deprecating humor, his outlook on life, and the way he wants to stay true to who he is no matter what are all things I could really relate to from my own life. I was very into Peeta from the get-go.”
As the Games get underway, Peeta becomes even clearer about his aim. “His goal is to make sure Katniss survives,” Hutcherson explains. “His greatest skill is his ability to talk with people, to negotiate and manipulate, and he uses that not in a conniving way, but to protect Katniss.“
That was easy for Hutcherson, given his rapport with Lawrence. “I think Jen perfectly encapsulates a young woman who finds the power to take care of herself and others around her. She has both a hardness and a vulnerability that’s beautiful and really genuine,” he says of his co-star.
Playing Katniss’ longtime best friend in District 12 is Australian actor Liam Hemsworth. He, too, came to the set with a very strong sense of his character. “Gale is a decent but strong-minded guy who hates nothing more than the Capitol,” says the actor. “He hates everything they stand for. He hates what they do to people. And he thinks the Hunger Games are very, very wrong. With Katniss, he’s always felt they were each other’s only escape from this horrible world they live in. But once Katniss is picked for the Hunger Games, he is forced to watch this whole thing unfold with Peeta, wondering who she is really meant to end up with.”
Notes Jon Kilik: “Casting THE HUNGER GAMES was like fitting pieces of an epic puzzle together and Liam as Gale was one of those perfectly matching pieces. He’s got such a strong physical presence, and a kind of natural heroic quality, that really embodies who Gale is in the book.”
District 12 is also home to the one person who fuels Katniss’ survival instincts like no other: Primrose, the little sister Katniss swore she would always protect and whose place she takes in the Games. In auditions, Ross was immediately impressed with Willow Shields, an 11-year-old from Albuquerque, New Mexico. “Willow was one of those amazing finds, and I was dumbstruck that a girl at her age could have so much talent,” says Ross.
Says Shields, “Prim is someone who has had a really rough life and yet she’s always really helpful and nice to her sister.”
Once Katniss is sent to the Capitol, Primrose is left in the care of her traumatized, widowed mother, who finally begins to awaken from her daze. Mrs. Everdeen is played by Paula Malcomson, the Irish actress seen on “Deadwood,” “Lost” and “Sons of Anarchy.” For Malcomson, THE HUNGER GAMES was a true ensemble experience. “Gary put together a great cast. He is someone for whom every detail is precious and that’s the stuff actors love: all that connective tissue that allows you to explore the moments between the moments,” she says. “I found it exciting to see this phenomenal book brought to life by people who cared so much about what they were doing.”
Katniss’ Team
When Katniss and Peeta are whisked away to the Capitol for the Games, their lives are overtaken by a team devoted to turning them into both TV superstars and shrewd warriors. This entire process is supervised by Effie Trinket, their jack-of-all-trades escort and PR campaigner. To play the outrageous but equally desperate Effie, Ross chose Elizabeth Banks. The director had worked with her in SEABISCUIT, but she caught his attention for Effie when she wrote him an impassioned letter asking for the role.“I read the book right when it was published and immediately fell in love,” Banks recalls. “I called everyone I knew the minute that I heard they were making a movie of it. It was a dream of mine to be in it from the get-go, and Effie was the one character I knew I could play.”
Ross was impressed by her enthusiasm but continued going through his usual rigorous casting process, considering a wide range of people. Yet, as time went on, the choice became evident. “Eventually, as I began to really think about the part and what it requires, I saw that it had to be somebody who has comedic sensibilities but, at the same time, isn’t just interested in the comedy,” Ross says. “Liz really understood that and she was able to see Effie in a context that was incredibly important to the story.”
Banks wanted to bring out not only Effie’s perky humor but also her complexity as she juggles her precarious position in the Capitol with the eerie realties of her job. She’s a very flamboyant person, but I also think she’s scared,” Banks observes. “She sees firsthand the oppression that is going on around her, whereas I think most of the Capitol’s citizens live in ignorant bliss. But she also has the knowledge that, as much as these lives are at stake, her lifestyle is at stake as well, and if she ever pisses anyone off, they could take all this away from her.”
Another beloved character found in the Capitol is Haymitch Abernathy, District 12’s only living Hunger Games victor – now middle-aged, bitingly sarcastic and rarely sober – who becomes the official mentor to Katniss and Peeta. Haymitch may believe the Games are all just a show and winning is as futile as losing, yet he slowly but surely becomes Katniss’ advocate. He is played by two-time Academy Award® nominee Woody Harrelson, known for his wide-ranging screen characters in such films as THE MESSENGER, THE PEOPLE VS. LARRY FLYNT, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, and the recent RAMPART.
Harrelson was seduced by the sly rebel within Haymitch’s celebrity-savvy soul. “You might say he’s a bit anti-authoritarian, which I can relate to,” remarks Harrelson. “He was a kid who won this thing and then suddenly, he was making money, people were nice to him and he had a nice place to live but he just found it all to be a fraud and absurd. He starts out not wanting to become emotionally invested in Katniss, because as far as he’s concerned, she’s not going to be around long, but as things go along, he starts to think maybe, just maybe, she has a shot.”
Harrelson and Lawrence embodied the tricky relationship between Haymitch and Katniss. “Haymitch has a lot of friction with Katniss because they’re so similar,” notes Nina Jacobson. “They’re both scrappy survivors and he can’t help but develop a grudging respect for her. In Woody, you can see the man who has seen and experienced it all and has that weariness. But you can also see that subversive, fiery man who has the intelligence to help Katniss through the Games.”
Ross watched Harrelson not only find the comic side of Haymitch but the disillusionment that drives his savage wit and is upended by Katniss. “There’s a truth and kind of sadness and anger underneath what Woody does in this role,” the director observes. “Even though Woody is amazingly funny, he also brought a real smoldering subtext to Haymitch.”
While Haymitch attends to Katniss’ strength and strategy, her appointed stylist Cinna forges her image, revealing not only his artistic skill with such head-turning outfits as the “Girl on Fire” dress, but a caring heart as well. Taking on the role is Lenny Kravitz, the rock star and actor who gave a memorable performance in PRECIOUS. “We needed somebody for Cinna who could be strong, sexy and have great appeal without a lot of adornment,” Jacobson observes. “This is a character who is handsome on his own terms and a rock star in his own right. So we got a guy who’s a rock star in real life.”
Kravitz found the character riveting. “Cinna helps Katniss create her vibe and teaches her how to attract viewers during the Games so that she can get sponsors,” he explains. “I think he falls for Katniss as a person, and he not only wants to help her with her styling but as a human being.” He also says working with Lawrence made that easy. “She plays Katniss as someone who really knows who she is and for someone so young, that’s a beautiful thing.”
The Capitol Power Players
At the dark heart of Capitol power lies Panem’s dictator, President Coriolanus Snow, the architect of the nation’s oppressive rule and the man who senses the danger in Katniss becoming a heroic underdog in the Games. Ross felt early on that a veteran actor like Donald Sutherland would give the character the weight and depth needed to make him real. “You have to have a real gravitas,” notes the writer/director. “Donald Sutherland is someone who was able to bring a tremendous amount to President Snow in just a few key scenes.”
Sutherland says that Ross was the draw for him. “He’s a brilliant writer,” comments the actor. “The script was really compelling and I thought it could be significant in reaching young people. It was beautiful to work with him and to watch him work and be inspired by him.”
While President Snow has control over all of Panem, the darkly creative genius behind the 74th Hunger Games is Seneca Crane, the appointed Gamemaker who has the power of life and death over the 24 young Tributes. He is portrayed by Wes Bentley, who Gary Ross has been a fan of ever since his acclaimed role in AMERICAN BEAUTY. “I thought Wes could create something so interesting with this character,” says Ross. “Seneca is someone who is drunk on his own youth, ambition and success and Wes reveals how that becomes self-propelling.”
Bentley found Seneca surprisingly intricate. “In talking to Gary, I realized he’s not quite the cynical bad guy,” he muses. “He’s more a product of the Capitol’s corrupted culture. He’s not conniving to be a terrible human being. He’s really a tech wizard and a showman who’s trying to make his mark yet he’s not really paying attention to the consequences of his work.”
Rounding out the Capitol’s most prominent denizens are Oscar®-nominee Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickerman, the journalist turned probing official interviewer for the Games and British actor Toby Jones as Claudius Templesmith, the Hunger Games’ legendary television host. Says Jacobson of Tucci’s role: “When I saw Stanley in his blue wig being so funny and extreme in a kind of CABARET way, it was all so wrong and yet so right for the character.”
The Tributes
Once the Games get underway, Katniss must take the measure of her fellow Tributes, any one of whom could cause her demise. The casting of the two dozen Tributes was a major undertaking. “In the book, each Tribute has his or her own very specific social ranking and physical description, so we were very selective and cast them one at a time,” explains Jon Kilik. “Our casting director, Debbie Zane, is just amazing at finding the most talented people from ages 12 to 18. She cast a wide net and was incredibly diligent. She and Gary worked patiently and very hard until we put the whole group together.”
The most fearsomely dangerous of the competitors are the so-called “Career Tributes,” who have been groomed and physically trained for the Games since the day they were born. Especially worrisome to Katniss are the four most favored Careers: Clove played by Isabelle Fuhrman, Cato played by Alexander Ludwig, Glimmer played by Leven Rambin and Marvel played by Jack Quaid. Each brings his or her own special skill.
“Clove has a lot more brains than a lot of the Tributes,” says Fuhrman, who recently came to the fore in the horror movie ORPHAN. “The interesting thing is that she looks very girly and frilly, but she also a very dark side to her.”
Adds Ludwig, best known for his role in RACE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN: “Cato is someone who is very strong, physically and mentally, and is ruthless, but I think deep, deep down there was a good person inside him before he went into these Games.”
For Rambin, seen in roles on “One Tree Hill,” “Grey’s Anatomy” and “CSI: Miami,” the key to Glimmer was going at everything 110%. “Glimmer considers the Games an honor,” she notes. “She enjoys the fame, and because of that she can be a great threat.”
Quaid, who makes his feature film debut in THE HUNGER GAMES, says of Marvel: “I wouldn’t say he’s the sharpest tool in the shed, but he is ecstatic to be there and he just goes for it.”
Among the more ordinary Tributes who are just as terrified and overwhelmed as Katniss, two immediately draw her respect: little Rue, who was reaped for the Games at the tender age of 12; and the quick and clever Foxface. A pair of rising newcomers takes on the roles: Amandla Stenberg as Rue and Jacqueline Emerson as Foxface.
Stenberg went all out for the part, rolling in dirt outside before auditioning for Ross at his home. “I had leaves in my hair and everything,” Stenberg recalls. “Gary has a really nice house, and I didn’t want to sit on anything and get it dirty, so I found a little stool to sit on. I was really nervous.” Anxious as she was, it was clear she had a deep affinity for Rue, who becomes Katniss’ ally. “I’d read the book four times and I just loved Rue because she’s so smart and agile and yet sweet,” says Stenberg. “I think when Katniss sees Rue, she thinks of her sister and that’s why she loves her.”
On the set, Stenberg also developed a tight-knit, best-friends relationship with Lawrence that further added to their roles. “They bonded in a real big sister/little sister way, which was fantastic for the movie,” says Ross. “Sometimes they were laughing so much I had to tell them to knock it off but it truly mirrored the closeness that Katniss and Rue have.”
One of Suzanne Collins’ favorite scenes is Rue’s final sequence, which Collins witnessed on set. “The scene’s so key, not only because of its emotional impact on Katniss — Rue’s essentially become Prim’s surrogate in the arena — but because it has to be powerful enough to trigger the first rumblings of the rebellion,” notes the author. “It’s very demanding for the actors. All three of the kids — Jen, Amandla and Jack — gave terrific performances. T Bone Burnett came up with this lovely, haunting melody for the lullaby. And Gary, who was masterminding the whole thing, filmed it beautifully. There’s this one shot of Katniss cradling Rue in the periwinkle with the lush background of the forest. On the monitor it looked like an exquisite portrait, like something you’d frame and hang in a museum. I remember Amandla came and sat next to me between takes and asked me, ‘So, what did you imagine it would be like?’ And I said, ‘Like that.’ But really, it exceeded my expectations.”
Rue’s co-Tribute, Thresh, played by Nigerian newcomer Dayo Okeniyi, tries to watch out for her. “Thresh is your basic, hard-working guy from the farming district who loves his family and just wants to see them again. For him, Rue is like a baby sister,” says Okeniyi. “He wants to protect her, but he knows a time may come when he will have to make a decision between his life or her life. In his heart, there’s a constant tug-of-war.”
Emerson was equally taken with Foxface. “I love that she’s the smartest Tribute and that’s the way she makes her way through the Games,” she observes. “Her whole strategy is to evade capture. She’s always two steps ahead of the game, thinking of the one thing nobody else could.”
Yet within all the physical drama, Emerson says that Ross always kept the cast focused on the inner experience of their characters. “The great thing about Gary directing THE HUNGER GAMES is that he set out to find the heart of this story,” summarizes Emerson. “It’s not just a flashy action movie. It’s about people and ideas you’ll walk out of the theatre thinking about for a long time.”
DESIGNING THE GAMES
Visual Design
As the cast began to prepare for their adventure in Panem, Gary Ross and his crew dove into bringing Suzanne Collin’s vision of the futuristic world they inhabit fully alive on screen. It all started with Ross’ photographic concept – to navigates Panem through the subjective experience of Katniss Everdeen, just as Collins had done on the page – which came to life in a collaboration with Oscar®-nominated director of photography Tom Stern (who recently shot Clint Eastwood’s J. EDGAR).
“One of the most important things to me and to Tom was to convey the immediacy and first person point-of-view that makes the book so irresistible,” says Ross. “This meant shooting in an urgent, intensely personal way that I’ve always wanted to use, but has never suited the subject matter of films I’ve done before.”
This first-person POV would imbue every detail of the film and also become the cornerstone for the bold set pieces created by production designer Philip Messina, who found himself in the position of turning portions of modern-day North Carolina into futuristic District 12, the Capitol and the arena where the Games unfold.
Messina calls the look he and Ross established for the film “retro-futuristic.” He explains: “It’s kind of as if you took early Mid-Century, Depression-era America and suddenly brought it into the distant future, with twists of high technology. The book created an alternative universe where on the one hand, you have people scratching in the dirt to survive; and on the other, you have flying hovercraft. So we wanted to stay very true to that portrayal.”
It was something vital to all of the filmmakers. “Phil was really able to create the future in a way that still felt rooted in the real history of North America,” notes Nina Jacobson. “We all wanted it to feel like this could be us in a few centuries. And he did that, while creating a great range of sets from The Hob in District 12 to the Capitol to the amazing forests.”
Much like the actors, Messina knew he would be up against readers’ high expectations and personal imaginings of Panem. But, like Ross, he drew his inspiration directly from the book wherever possible. “Gary was determined to not only be true to the spirit of the book but also to the details of the book,” notes Messina. “This meant that we never thought ‘let’s ditch this’ when things were complicated, but rather we asked ‘how can this be accomplished?’ We were determined to design ourselves out of difficult situations in order to be as faithful as possible to the novel.”
Messina and Ross shared illustrations with Collins to get her input. “She would sometimes say ‘that’s exactly how I pictured it,’ Messina recalls. “Could there be a better comment from the author who came up with this world?”
One of Messina’s first tasks was creating the Seam, the poorest area of impoverished, mining-focused District 12, where Katniss and her family live. Shooting in an abandoned mill town in Henry River, North Carolina, he found a grouping of 1920s homes that closely matched the environment described by Collins in the book. “This area was absolutely perfect for the Seam,” says Messina. “We couldn’t have imagined it falling in our lap any better than that.”
For Ross, Messina’s work on the Seam pulls the audience right into the harshness and seeming hopelessness of life in District 12. “The Seam had to have a feeling of squalor and decay,” he describes. “It is one thing to live in poverty, but it’s another to live in a place without any individuality, where all the houses are cookie-cutter and feel like they’re made by a company and not people. Phil found the perfect location to bring out the regimented sameness surrounding Katniss.”
For Reaping Day in the town square of District 12, the production shot at an old cotton gin in Shelby, North Carolina, bringing in 400 extras for the shoot, as well as building the tracks for a train system that carries the district’s precious coal to the Capitol. “It was a lot of work,” says Messina. “We brought in about 300 feet of railroad track and then had trains craned onto it.”
Another intensive project was creating The Hob, the derelict but teeming black market of District 12. “The Hob is the marketplace and souk of District 12,” describes Ross, “where Peacekeepers turn a blind eye. Phil brought to life an incredible marketplace where people sell all kinds of junk and things they’ve found on the way. It really evokes the deprivation of the District.”
All of this contrasted in the extreme with Messina’s designs for the Capitol, which were primarily built in a former Phillip Morris factory. “You see the Capitol through Katniss’ eyes in the book and we wanted to reflect the opulence and vastness of scale she sees,” he says. “I was thinking of these buildings from the 1936 World Fair in New York that were kind of temples of industry and we really riffed off that. The Capitol had to be imposing but also outrageous because to the people who live there it’s like Marie Antoinette’s decadent court.”
The colors in the Capitol are a mix of icy and acid tones. “There’s color but it’s not necessarily friendly,” set decorator Larry Dias comments. “There’s no warmth to the colors. Everything is assaulting.”
Katniss’ own senses are assaulted as she rides into the Capitol with the other Tributes on the customary horse-drawn chariots that are part of the pomp and ceremony of the Games. Messina knew this would be another key design. “I tackled the chariots early on,” he says, “and we looked at zeppelin-style designs that would echo the Capitol’s high-tech Maglev trains. We painted the chariots with automotive paint in black and chrome and even though they are mean looking, they also have the beautiful lines of sculpture. I think they hearken back just the right amount to Rome.”
Shifting gears again, Messina designed the Games’ Training Center as a bastion of raw sweat and anxiety. “The training center had to be scary and dark, with some Roman iconography but also very American, too. Gary and I thought of it as the scariest high school gymnasium you could imagine,” laughs Messina. “The idea was to take the fear from gym class and factor that by ten.”
“The Training Center is where all the Tributes start to size each other up, as they start using their skills,” notes executive producer Robin Bissell. “Phil did an amazing job of building a set that allows that to happen.”
For the lush, perilous woods of the arena itself, Ross had something very specific in mind and he found it in a pristine conservation area. “I wanted the arena to be a hardwood forest,” says the director. “I didn’t want it to just be coniferous. I wanted it to feel intrinsically American. In North Carolina, we were able to find an amazingly verdant natural forest that was just right.”
The arena also contains one of the most challenging of all of Philip Messina’s designs: the Cornucopia, a giant gold horn containing a cache of Panem’s hybrid weapons and valuable supplies that the Tributes must battle for as the Games kick off. “I was a bit scared of how the Cornucopia was going to look, but in the end it is one of my favorite pieces in the whole movie – a huge, nasty sculptural horn in the middle of a field,” says Messina. “We looked at Frank Gehry designs and a lot of modern architecture with folded planes and fractalized surfaces and kind of riffed on all of that. It looks like it fell from the sky onto this field.”
Ross notes: “Phil created exactly what I wanted to see: a large, metallic, sculptural element that almost seemed like a knife’s edge jutting into this natural world.”
Even in the woods, the attention to detail was unwavering, right down to finding the right tree to house the infamous Tracker Jacker nest. “The tree had to be just right,” notes location manager Todd Christensen. “It had to be the right size and have the right branches and it had to work for all the different angles of the scene as Katniss has an important exchange with Rue.”
In the end, Messina was very satisfied by the way all of Panem unfolded into something highly unusual but palpably real. “I’ve done bigger movies but I haven’t ever done anything that was as creative and fun as this design-wise,” he concludes.
For the cast, the tactile feel of the sets translated into more immediate performances. “The sets were so helpful to creating the character of Katniss,” notes Jennifer Lawrence. “I’d never seen anything like them and I felt like I was in some kind of wonderland for most of the shoot. From my house in District 12 to the woods, everything was even better than I’d imagined it in the book.”
Costumes, Hair and Makeup
Equally key to Panem’s vivid reality is the work of costume designer Judianna Makovsky, who has been a regular collaborator with Gary Ross. Yet this film would take them places they’ve never before explored. “This isn’t the type of design we usually do,” admits Makovsky. “It gets into realms of fantasy fashion in the Capitol, but we also wanted the look to be recognizable and relatable, taking today’s haute couture a step further. For me it was a wonderful challenge. How often do you get the chance to do such outrageous clothing, hair and makeup?”
Makovsky started with the vast, yin-yang contrasts between the Districts and the Capitol: the former as rough-hewn and raw as it gets, the latter with no limits to its excess. “The Districts have very limited palettes,” she explains. “They’re gray and blue-gray. Then, when you get to the Capitol, we have two palettes: one is bright pastels, with lots fuchsias and turquoises, and the other is more acidic yellows and greens. There’s a meanness to the Capitol, so we also decided to put a lot of black in there to mute the brightness and outrageous colors.”
Katniss’ clothes also shift as she moves from District 12 to the Capitol. “The clothes in District 12 are all work wear and Katniss has mostly hand-me-downs,” Makovsky says. “On Reaping Day, she wears the blue dress described in the book, and we found a great vintage fabric that has the has the right kind of simplicity to it. But when she gets to the Capitol, her chariot costume is a leotard and tights with tall boots and it all has a very shiny, dramatic aspect.”
As for Katniss’ famed “Girl on Fire” dress, Makovsky thought about the intentions of the man who, in the story, designs it: Katniss’ stylist for the Games, Cinna. “Cinna’s a very elegant man, so we thought he would design an elegant dress, and only when it twirls would the flame within the bottom of the dress suddenly become visible,” Makovsky says. “We wanted the dress to feel more high fashion than ‘Dancing With The Stars.’ We added Swarovski crystals so it sparkles when she moves, but when she’s standing still, it’s just a beautiful dress with flame-like pleats.”
Makovsky approached one of the story’s most flamboyant dressers – Effie Trinket – with care, talking at length with Elizabeth Banks about her take on the character. “We agreed that Effie is both a little prim-and-proper and outrageous,” Makovsky says. “There’s a bit of ‘schoolmarm’ about her, but she’s also a bit sexy. When she’s in District Twelve, she contrasts starkly with the people there. But when she gets to the Capitol, her look gets wilder and crazier. Her sleeves get larger, the colors get brighter and she changes wigs with every costume, from pink to green to lavender.”
Banks was thrilled with the process. “We all consulted over email back and forth,” she recalls, “and I had many, many fittings. Suddenly one day it was like, ‘There she is! There’s Effie!!’”
Like Banks, Woody Harrelson had very specific ideas for the look of Haymitch Abernathy. “You might think he’d be disheveled, but my take on him was he’s a little bit of a bon vivant in dress,” Harrelson says. Adds Makovsky: “With Haymitch’s look, there’s a sense that he’s created an outward persona that isn’t who he really is – he’s putting on a bit of an act. There’s this sort of Edwardian dandy style to him. He’s refined but also a little dangerously sexy.”
Most of the costuming details came straight from the novels – from Caesar Flickerman’s blue hair and suit and Cinna’s gold eyeliner to President Snow’s scruffy beard and the Peacekeepers’ gleaming white uniforms which Makovsky wanted to be both of another time and recognizable as police. “The Peacekeepers needed to stand out enough to be scary, but I didn’t want them to look like they came from another planet,” she explains. “The uniforms follow the basic shape that exists today in motorcycle cops and SWAT teams, but we take it a step further. And since they don’t really have hand-to-hand combat but use electronic wands, they can look very elegant.”
For the outfits worn by the Tributes, however, Ross and Makovsky instituted a change. “In the book, everybody wears exactly the same thing, but in a film you have to be able to see the Tributes in the woods and know who each person is,” explains the costume designer. “So Gary made the decision that each District would have their own color jacket but everything else would remain the same. For the jackets, we worked to create something that looks high-tech but that would be lightweight and versatile, allowing us to hide padding and harnesses for all the stunt work.”
The bold design extended to hair and makeup, with as many as 80 hair and makeup artists working in a single day for the film’s large crowd scenes. Lead makeup designer Ve Neill, a three-time Oscar® winner, says THE HUNGER GAMES “is a makeup designer’s dream with everything from high-fashion and avant-garde beauty to prosthetics and injuries, a vast scope and challenge for any artist.”
Following the trajectory of the costumes, Neill’s makeup work begins in gritty shades of beige in District 12 only to erupt into a rainbow array in the Capitol where Neill attempted to straddle the fine line between the playfulness of luxe fashion and outright comedy. “The idea was for the Capitol to be visually stunning in a way very close to the book, but without looking silly. The men of the Capitol are extremely groomed with colored hair and the women all have bleached eyebrows, giving them a very austere look,” she explains.
Once the Tributes are in the arena, the makeup changes again to become more stripped-back and real as the contest for survival starts among the Tributes in the forest. “That part of the film became about dirt and cuts and Tracker Jacker wasp bites,” she notes.
Lead hair designer Linda Flowers felt liberated by not having to comply with current trends. “There were no boundaries and nothing holding me back from being creative,” she says. “I loved that there were so many interesting colors and textures in the hair for Panem. You don’t get that many opportunities to do things like lime-green hair! But the big challenge was finding the balance of creating interesting, original looks that you can also take seriously, because the Capitol isn’t supposed to be whimsical. It’s a society with a mean core to it and that has to come across.”
For Katniss, Flowers remained faithful to her signature braid, creating a side-swept style that is practical yet distinctive and took 20 minutes each day to prepare. “We stayed very true to Katniss’ look from the novel, adding just a few touches to make it more visually interesting,” she explains.
Other Tributes went a bit farther afield. “For Clove, I was inspired by those Kung Fu movies with women in ponytails, so we made her a kind of tier of pony-tail balls that really suit the character. Glimmer is very glamorous so she has this pretty fishbone braiding. And Rue’s hair is very innocent because she’s the youngest,” explains Flowers.
There were days shooting on the Capitol sets when the hair and makeup teams had to oversee more than 400 wigs, 500 pairs of bleached eyebrows and hundreds of extras flowing through the process of transformation into the Capitol’s idea of style.
As with Messina’s work the bottom line was a sense of reality – albeit an imaginative one. “Judianna Makovsky and Ve Neill created a look that doesn’t feel outlandish, but one rooted in the history of American customs,” summarizes Jacobson. “One of Gary’s strengths on this film was maintaining a consistent tone throughout, from the Capitol’s eccentricity to the intense physicality of the Games, and the design team brought all the right instincts to do that. It all feels like one story.”
TRAINING FOR THE GAMES
Much like the Tributes they portray, the young cast of the film had to immediately jump into the most intensive training of their lives to prepare for the highly physical action of the Hunger Games. They beefed up, leaned out and dialed in their skills via a comprehensive but crash-bang, 8-week training program just before production began. Most of all, they immersed themselves into the psychological situations faced by their characters, who each must use everything they’ve got – body, mind and soul – if they have any hope of beating the remote odds against them all.“We had to take a cast, most of whom had no previous action experience, and turn them into stunt people capable of firing bows, throwing spears and climbing trees,” explains Gary Ross. “There was a massive training component to making it all real. In the end, we only rarely used stunt doubles.”
Stunt coordinators Chad Stahelski and Allan Poppleton began by teaching combat choreography to the cast – with a twist. “The interesting part is that Gary really didn’t want the action to feel choreographed so we tried to create a more spontaneous feeling of wild, emotional struggle,” explains Stahelski. “We looked at each character and talked about their skills, their energy levels, the way they move and working with all of those elements, ran with the action sequences from there.”
Meanwhile, stunt trainer Logan Hood set up a gym program with an emphasis on functional fitness – using everything from free weights to pushups and pull-ups to rope climbs and high box jumps – with each actor given a custom training program specific to their character. The training also included elements of “free running,” the newfangled sport of urban gymnastics, featuring free-form, creative acrobatic moves over all kinds of obstacles.
“The training had to transfer directly to their characters’ personalities and backgrounds,” explains Hood. “We weren’t interested so much in creating ‘gym bodies’ as in creating seamless, believable performances for each of the Tributes.”
Though Jennifer Lawrence is naturally athletic, she says she worked hard at trying to bring out Katniss’ grace under fire. “Since half the movie for me is running, I worked extensively with a running coach. All day long I was running down mountains, through sticks and brush, and doing it over and over again,” she explains. “I also worked a lot on climbing, both at rock gyms and on real trees, as well as on vault stunts and even more on archery. The training was really rough, but also really fun.”
The Zen focus of archery was challenging for Lawrence to master – as she learned to use both an old school hunting bow and the futuristic “recurve” bow, a twist on current Olympic bows, used in the Games -- but very rewarding when she did. “Archery is a real mind game, all about total focus,” she says, “and if you do one thing wrong, you get whipped with a string going like a hundred miles an hour and it’s painful! I developed a real love-hate relationship with it. Ultimately, the bow became my friend.”
As part of her stunt work in the woods, Lawrence also had to confront a wall of fire created by Special Effects Set Foreman Brandon McLaughlin and Special Effects Coordinator Steve Cremin who built steel trees to withstand a forest blaze that was later enhanced by Visual Effects Supervisor Sheena Duggal. Says McLaughlin: “Gary’s idea was to keep everything real as possible. So instead of a ten-foot fireball that defies reality, he wanted a six-foot fireball moving at Katniss in a way that you really feel it.”
By the time production was underway, Lawrence was ready for whatever Katniss would face. “Jennifer was up for anything, bringing a great attitude to the training,” recalls Robin Bissell. “Every day she would drive out to UCLA to train then head to the Valley for stunt training, then off to rock climbing and then to Santa Monica for lessons with an Olympic archer. She worked really, really hard and by the time we were filming, she had an amazing acumen for all of Katniss’ skills.”
Though he’s been involved in sports since he was a little kid, Josh Hutcherson had to put on 15 pounds of muscle for the role of Peeta. “I had to eat a lot of food and work out hard five days a week, with a lot of heavy weightlifting,” he explains. “The training was rigorous but it worked. And I loved doing all the running, jumping and evading people.
Hood adds: “We had Josh eating a ton and doing a crash program of heavy push and pull exercises. We had such a short lead time, but he jumped right into it.”
The muscle building was one thing, but finding the competitive edge necessary for the Games was something else again. “We had to learn to go from hanging out with your fellow actors to finding all kinds of fear and aggression against them. It was a very drastic transition every day, but we had amazing actors who brought that out physically,” says Hutcherson.
Alexander Ludwig especially had his work cut out for him as the ferocious Cato. “The fight training was extremely intense,” Ludwig admits. “I trained and trained and trained because I really wanted to be skilled the way Cato is. It was a great experience because I got to learn a lot of cool stuff, diving over things, doing flips, and more. I wanted to incorporate it all in the film, because I didn’t want to let any of what we learned go to waste.”
Dayo Okeniyi also had to do a lot of training to play Thresh. “I had to gain about 20 pounds so I went on a rigorous protein diet, did bodybuilding exercises, trained with swords, trained with boxing, and trained hand-to-hand combat for two months. But I love that stuff, so it was awesome.”
The entire cast was awed to see the results of their work ethic. “We were doing a lot of fun things like somersault rolls, balance boards, jumping on high blocks and obstacle courses,” recalls Jacqueline Emerson who plays Foxface. “But suddenly, you realize you’ve built all kinds of strength and stamina.”
Like the Tributes, the cast also had to endure the mercurial threats of shooting in the deep woods, which ranged from extreme weather to wild bears – not a complete surprise, given they were shooting in an area of North Carolina known for having the highest black bear density in the United States. “At times, if felt like we were all participating in the Games,” remarks Jon Kilik. “We were literally confronting snakes, bears and lightning and that is something you feel on the screen.”
“It was brutal at times,” Jack Quaid admits. “We had torrential downpours, flooding, scorching heat and then a bear would wander onto the set. But it was an amazing bonding experience. For most of us, this is either our first or second movie, and here we were flung into this crazy world. We definitely all had a great story to tell about what we did on our summer vacation.”
In the end, Ross wanted that heady mix of Katniss’ exhilaration, adrenaline, mortal fear and moral dilemmas to transfer directly to the audience as the characters battle to survive. He knew there could be no holding back from the character’s raw emotions and tough decisions. “The beauty of what Suzanne did in the book was to always be honorable and never exploitative,” sums up Nina Jacobson. “She achieved that so deftly and Gary set out to keep that part of THE HUNGER GAMES’ legacy.”
For Suzanne Collins, that legacy is most of all about provoking young minds to think about the direction of the world’s future. As she told The New York Times about her hopes for THE HUNGER GAMES’ impact: “It’s crucial that young readers are considering scenarios about humanity’s future, because the challenges are about to land in their laps. I hope they question how elements of the books might be relevant in their own lives. About global warming, about our mistreatment of the environment, but also questions like: How do you feel about the fact that some people take their next meal for granted when so many other people are starving in the world? What do you think about choices your government, past and present, or other governments around the world make? What’s your relationship to reality TV versus your relationship to the news? Was there anything in the book that disturbed you because it reflected aspects of your own life, and if there was, what can you do about it? Because you know what? Even if they’re not of your making, these issues and how to deal with them will become your responsibility.”
ABOUT THE CAST
A natural talent, with a striking presence and undeniable energy, Academy Award® nominee JENNIFER LAWRENCE (Katniss Everdeen) has established herself as one of Hollywood's most promising young actresses.
Jennifer recently wrapped production on David O. Russell's “The Silver Linings Playbook,” alongside Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro. Based on Matthew Quick's novel, the film revolves around a former high school teacher who was institutionalized for depression and is then released into the care of his mother. He tries to win back his ex-wife but becomes involved with a bizarre neighbor (Lawrence) who also has a history of mental problems. The film will be released by The Weinstein Company on November 21, 2012.Jennifer was recently seen in Drake Doremus' “Like Crazy” opposite Anton Yelchin and Felicity Jones. The film won the Grand Jury prize at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.
In April, Jennifer will be seen in Relativity’s “House at the End of the Street” opposite Elisabeth Shue and Max Thieriot. This past summer, Jennifer was seen in Matthew Vaughn's “X-Men: First Class” as Mystique, starring opposite Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy. She also starred alongside Mel Gibson and Anton Yelchin in “The Beaver,” directed by Jodie Foster.
Previously, Jennifer's performance in “Winter’s Bone” garnered her a 2011 Oscar® nomination for Best Actress in addition to nominations from the Screen Actors Guild Awards, Golden Globe® Awards, Independent Spirit Awards and Critic's Choice Awards. Additionally, she was honored with the Breakthrough Actress award by the National Board of Review, the Rising Star Award at the Palm Springs Film Festival, and the New Hollywood Award at the 2010 Hollywood Film Awards. The critically acclaimed film, directed by Debra Granik, also received an Oscar® nomination for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor in addition to winning the 2010 Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.
Other film credits include a lead role in Guillermo Arriaga's directorial debut “The Burning Plain,” opposite Charlize Theron and Kim Basinger. The film premiered at the 65th Venice Film Festival where Jennifer won the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor. She also starred in Lori Petty's “Poker House” opposite Selma Blair and Bokeem Woodbine, for which she was awarded the prize of Outstanding Performance in the Narrative Competition at the 2008 Los Angeles Film Festival.
On television, Jennifer co-starred on three seasons of the TBS series “The Bill Engvall Show.” Written and created by Bill Engvall and Michael Leeson, “The Bill Engvall Show” is set in a Denver suburb and the comedy follows the life of Bill Pearson (played by Engvall), a family counselor whose own family could use a little dose of counseling.
Reigning from Louisville, Kentucky and a childhood of local theatre experience to her credit, Jennifer traveled to New York at age fourteen to explore a professional career in acting. She quickly caught the eye of casting directors and started acting in film and television during the summer of 2005 and hasn't looked back.
19-year-old JOSH HUTCHERSON (Peeta Mellark) has been one of Hollywood's most accomplished young actors for almost 10 years.
Josh will soon be seen in the sequel to “Journey to the Center of the Earth, Journey 2: Mysterious Island.” The film, which co-stars Michael Caine and Dwayne Johnson, focuses on Josh’s character as he partners with his mother’s boyfriend on a mission to find his grandfather, who is allegedly missing on a mythical island.
Upcoming films also include an independent feature film “Detention,” which made its debut at this year’s South by Southwest Film Festival. Hutcherson also served as Executive Producer on this film. Additionally, Josh will be seen in “Red Dawn,” a remake of the 1984 classic about a group of teenagers trying to save their town from foreign soldiers, and an omnibus film entitled “Seven Days in Havana,” which includes 7 shorts directed by 7 different directors. Benicio Del Toro directed Josh’s portion of the film in which he follows Hutcherson as he explores the culture of the island for the first time.
Josh was most recently seen in Lisa Cholodenko’s Academy Award® nominated feature film “The Kids are All Right.” The film, which costars Annette Bening and Julianne Moore as a couple negotiating the newfound presence of the sperm donor of their children, debuted at the Sundance Film Festival, where it was acquired by Focus Features in one of the festival’s biggest deals and premiered to rave reviews. The film went on to garner the feature film prize at the Berlin International Film Festival’s Teddy Awards in addition to Screen Actors Guild, Independent Spirit Awards and Golden Globe® nominations.
Additional film credits include “The Vampire’s Assistant,” opposite John C. Reilly and Salma Hayek; “Carmel;” “Journey to the Center of the Earth 3-D,” the first ever high definition 3-D live performance feature; “Bridge To Terabithia;” “Winged Creatures;” “Firehouse Dog;” “RV;” “Little Manhattan;” “Zathura;” “Kicking and Screaming;” “Howl's Moving Castle” and “The Polar Express.” Josh won Young Artist Awards for “Leading Young Actor” for his roles in “Zathura” and “Bridge to Terabithia.”
LIAM HEMSWORTH (Gale Hawthorne) recently completed production on “The Expendables 2,” starring opposite Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger, amongst several others. He also stars as ‘Wright,’ in the independent feature film “AWOL,” opposite Teresa Palmer. This April, he will begin production on the feature film “Empire State,” with Dwayne Johnson.
Hemsworth’s break out role as ‘Will Blakelee’ in Disney’s smash hit “The Last Song” earned him a 2010 Young Hollywood Award as well as three Teen Choice Award nominations, and the win for Choice Movie: Male Breakout. Starring opposite Miley Cyrus, Greg Kinnear and Kelly Preston, “The Last Song” is based on best-selling author Nicholas Sparks’ novel, who also co-wrote the screenplay.
In television, Liam has played several roles on Australian series, including ‘Josh Taylor’ on the longest running popular drama series entitled “Neighbours.”
Born and raised in Melbourne, Australia, he and his family relocated to Phillip Island, off the coast of Melbourne, when Liam was eleven years old.
In 2009, Liam moved to Los Angeles, where he currently resides with his older brother Chris, also an actor.
WOODY HARRELSON’s (Haymitch Abernathy) rare mix of intensity and charisma consistently surprises and delights audiences and critics alike in both mainstream and independent projects. His portrayal of a casualty notification officer, opposite Ben Foster, in Oren Moverman’s “The Messenger” garnered him a 2010 Academy Award® nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He was previously nominated for an Academy Award®, Golden Globe® and SAG Award in the category of Best Actor for his portrayal of controversial magazine publisher Larry Flynt in Milos Forman's “The People vs. Larry Flynt.”
Harrelson currently stars in “Rampart,” which reunites him with Moverman and also stars Sigourney Weaver, Steve Buscemi, Ben Foster and Robin Wright. The film premiered to critical acclaim at the 2011 Toronto Film Festival and earned Harrelson a 2012 Independent Spirit Award nomination in the category of Best Male Lead.
Harrelson recently completed production on writer/director Martin McDonagh’s Seven “Psychopaths” starring alongside Sam Rockwell, Colin Farrell and Christopher Walken. Additionally, he will lend his voice to the animated film “Turkeys” with Owen Wilson.
On the small screen, Harrelson will star opposite Julianne Moore and Ed Harris in HBO Films’ “Game Change” for director Jay Roach, which chronicles John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign and will debut on March 10th.
Harrelson also starred in Will Gluck’s “Friends with Benefits” alongside Mila Kunis, Justin Timberlake and Patricia Clarkson; and was the on screen host for director Pete McGrain’s powerful political documentary “Ethos.”
Other highlights from Harrelson’s film career include Ruben Fleischer’s box office hit “Zombieland,” “2012,” “Semi-Pro,” “The Grand,” “No Country For Old Men,” “A Scanner Darkly,” “A Prairie Home Companion,” “Defendor,” “Seven Pounds,” “The Prize Winner Of Defiance, Ohio,” “North Country,” “The Big White,” “After The Sunset,” “Play It To The Bone,” “Battle In Seattle,” “EDtv,” “The Hi-Lo County,” “Transsiberian: The Thin Red Line,” “Wag The Dog,” “Welcome To Sarajevo,” “Kingpin,” “Natural Born Killers,” “Indecent Proposal” and “White Men Can't Jump.”
Harrelson first endeared himself to millions of viewers as a member of the ensemble cast of NBC's long-running hit comedy, “Cheers.” For his work as the affable bartender ‘Woody Boyd,’ he won an Emmy® in 1988 and was nominated four additional times during his eight-year run on the show. In 1999, he gained another Emmy® nomination when he reprised the role in a guest appearance on the spin-off series “Frasier”. He later made a return to television with a recurring guest role on the hit NBC series, “Will and Grace.”
Balancing his film and television work, in 1999 Harrelson directed his own play, “Furthest from the Sun” at the Theatre de la Juene Lune in Minneapolis. He followed next with the Roundabout's Broadway revival of “The Rainmaker;” Sam Shepherd’s “The Late Henry Moss,” and John Kolvenbach's “On an Average Day” opposite Kyle MacLachlan at London’s West End. Harrelson directed the Toronto premiere of Kenneth Lonergan's “This Is Our Youth” at Toronto’s Berkeley Street Theatre. In the winter of 2005 Harrelson returned to London's West End, starring in Tennessee Williams' “Night of the Iguana” at the Lyric Theatre. In 2011, Harrelson directed “Bullet for Adolf,” a play he co-wrote with Frankie Hyman and produced at Hart House Theatre in Toronto.
ELIZABETH BANKS (Effie Trinket) has become one of Hollywood’s most sought after and versatile actresses, moving effortlessly between comedy and drama, film and television, and now also taking on a role as a producer. She was most recently seen starring in “Our Idiot Brother” with Paul Rudd, Emily Mortimer and Zooey Deschanel; and opposite Russell Crowe in “The Next Three Days,” directed by Paul Haggis. She recently wrapped production on Universal Pictures’ “Pitch Perfect,” which she is producing with her husband, Max Handelman, through their company, Brownstone Productions. The cast includes Anna Kendrick, Brittany Snow and Rebel Wilson.
Banks can currently be seen in Summit Entertainment’s “Man on a Ledge” with Sam Worthington. The project focuses on a fugitive ex-cop (Worthington) perched on the ledge of a high-rise building while a hard-living NYPD hostage negotiator (Banks) tries to talk him down. The film was released January 27th, 2012.
She will then appear in Lionsgate’s motherhood comedy “What to Expect When You’re Expecting.” Banks portrays an author of a children’s book about breast feeding and owner of The Breast Choice boutique, who is militant in her beliefs about what makes a good mother until she gets pregnant for the first time. The film, directed by Kirk Jones, is based on Heidi Murkoff’s bestseller, and the ensemble cast includes Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez and Dennis Quaid. The film is scheduled to be released May 18th, 2012. Banks has also wrapped production on DreamWorks Pictures’ “Welcome to People,” in which she stars opposite Chris Pine, Olivia Wilde and Michelle Pfeiffer. The film follows a businessman (Pine) who returns home after his estranged father’s death and discovers that he has an alcoholic sister (Banks) with a 12-year-old son. The film is scheduled to be released in 2012.
In August 2011, she was seen in “Our Idiot Brother” opposite Paul Rudd. “Our Idiot Brother” and “The Details” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2011 and were purchased for distribution by The Weinstein Company. In “The Details,” she stars as ‘Nealy Lang,’ whose husband’s (Tobey Maguire) efforts to rid his backyard of lawn-destroying raccoons somehow leads him down a path with disastrous results.
In 2008, Banks received critical acclaim for her role as First Lady Laura Bush opposite Josh Brolin in Oliver Stone’s “W.” The impressive cast included James Cromwell, Richard Dreyfuss, Ellen Burstyn and Jeffrey Wright. In Kevin Smith’s “Zack and Miri Make a Porno,” Banks (Miri) and Zack (Seth) played two broke friends who decide to cure their financial ills by making an X-rated movie.
Banks’ additional feature credits include her breakthrough roles in the award Academy Award®-winning films “Seabiscuit,” in which she starred as ‘Marcela Howard’ opposite Jeff Bridges and Tobey Maguire, and in Steve Spielberg’s “Catch Me If You Can.” She has also appeared in “Role Models,” “Meet Dave,” “Invincible,” “The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” “Fred Claus,” “Sisters,” “Slither,” “Heights,” “The Baxter,” “The Trade,” “Ordinary Sinner,” “The Uninvited,” “Daltry Calhoun,” “Sexual Life,” John Singleton’s “Shaft” with Samuel L. Jackson and cult hit “Wet Hot American Summer” starring Janeane Garofalo and David Hyde Pierce. She also appeared as journalist ‘Betty Brant,’ a role that director Sam Raimi created for her, in Columbia Pictures’ three blockbuster “Spider-Man” films with Tobey Maguire as the title character. On the small screen, Banks has recently been seen in a recurring role as ‘Avery Jessup,’ Alec Baldwin’s love interest, on the NBC series “30 Rock.” She earned an Emmy® Award nomination in 2011 for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her performance. She has also appeared on ABC’s “Modern Family” and in a recurring role as ‘Dr. Kim Porter’ on NBC’s “Scrubs.” In 2007 she appeared in the CBS miniseries “Comanche Moon,” which is Larry McMurtry’s popular prequel to “Lonesome Dove.”
Banks also produced Disney’s 2009 sci-fi thriller “The Surrogates,” starring Bruce Willis, through her company Brownstone Productions. Upcoming projects for Brownstone, which Banks runs with her husband Max Handelman, include “Tink,” a Disney live-action romantic comedy in which Banks will star as the title character of ‘Tinkerbell;’ “Forever 21,” a Dreamworks comedy which Banks will star in and produce; “Too Far From Home,” a Universal film about three astronauts who were stranded on the international space station; and the college a cappella group comedy “Pitch Perfect.”
Her extensive theater credits include many roles in American Conservatory Theatre productions, as well as the Guthrie Theater’s production of “Summer & Smoke” directed by David Esbjornson. In 2006 Banks played Cherie, the female lead in William Inge’s comedy “Bus Stop,” as part of the Williamstown Theater Festival.Originally from Massachusetts, Banks received her Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Pennsylvania and her Graduate Degree at the American Conservatory Theater. She currently resides in Los Angeles.
Regarded as one of the preeminent rock musicians of our time, LENNY KRAVITZ (Cinna) has transcended genre, style, race and class into a 20-year musical career, one which revels in the rich influences of '60s and '70s soul, rock and funk.
Kravitz’s talents as a writer, producer and multi-instrumentalist have resonated through nine studio albums into a timeless catalog. He has won four consecutive Grammy® Awards, setting a record for the most wins in the Best Male Rock Vocal Performance category for his single “Dig In” (previously winning for “Again,” “American Woman” and “Fly Away”). Additionally, Kravitz has also been nominated for other six Grammy® Awards. Lenny Kravitz’s appeal has also been recognized by his peers; his collaborative efforts are as varied as his own influences, having worked with Madonna, Slash, Aerosmith, Jay-Z, N.E.R.D., Mick Jagger, P. Diddy and Alicia Keys.
Having sold over 38 million albums worldwide, Lenny Kravitz’s musical success has afforded him many opportunities to fulfill his creative vision beyond the recording industry. The artist appeared in a supporting role in the critically-acclaimed film “Precious,” for which he has received a 2010 NAACP Image Awards nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture. Kravitz and the celebrated “Precious” cast also received a 2010 Screen Actors Guild nomination for "Best Ensemble.” In addition to his supporting role in “Precious,” Kravitz has also appeared in such films as “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” and “Zoolander.”
In 2005 he launched a creative firm, Kravitz Design Inc., which undertakes various high-concept projects with commercial, residential and product design. The firm partnered with Swarovski, to contribute two chandeliers to its ‘Crystal Palace Collection.’ Kravitz Design also conceived the environment and identity for the Florida Room lounge at the Delano for Morgans Hotel Group and is responsible for the luxury recording studio located in The Setai Resort & Residences in Miami Beach. Kravitz Design recently announced a partnership with the SLS Hotel in South Beach to create an exclusive bungalow and penthouse suite for the luxury hotel. The firm has confirmed they will also design a 47-story condominium project, Paramount Bay in Miami, FL.
In 2009, the 20th anniversary deluxe edition of Lenny Kravitz’s debut, “Let Love Rule,” was issued. The project was followed by the release of his most recent studio release “Black and White America.”
STANLEY TUCCI (Caesar Flickerman) has appeared in over 50 films and countless television shows. In the past few years he has appeared in films such as “Captain America: The First Avenger,” “The Devil Wears Prada,” “The Terminal” and “Road to Perdition.” He is no stranger to the theater; and has appeared in over a dozen plays, on and off Broadway.
The year of 2008 was an extremely busy year. Stanley appeared in the soon to be classic, “Julie & Julia,” opposite Meryl Streep and directed by Nora Ephron and “The Lovely Bones,” for which he earned his first Academy Award® nomination along with Golden Globe®, BAFTA, SAG and Broadcast Film Critics nominations.
He recently finished filming “Jack and the Giant Killer,” which is a modern day fairy tale in which the long-standing peace between men and giants is threatened, as a young farmer leads an expedition into the giants’ kingdom in hopes of rescuing a kidnapped princess. Bryan Singer is directing and it is currently slated for June 15, 2012.
In 2008, Tucci partnered with his friend for more than 20 years, Steve Buscemi and Wren Arthur to form OLIVE Productions, a New York based film and television company. One of OLIVE’s mandates is to cast a wide net when developing film and television material, with a portion of the projects to be earmarked for Stanley and Steve to direct. OLIVE is a co-producer of “Vine Talk,” and additionally has other TV shows in development at HBO and AMC. It also has films projects currently in development at HBO, Sony and Fox Searchlight.
Earlier this year, Tucci made his Broadway directorial debut with a revival of Ken Ludwig’s “Lend Me a Tenor” starring Tony Shalhoub. The production received a Tony Award nomination for Best Revival of a Play.
In addition to his accomplishments in movies last year, Stanley was also nominated for an Emmy® for his guest role as Dr. Moretti on “ER.” In 2007, his appearance on “Monk,” received critical attention as well as an Emmy® Award in the category of Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series.
In 2002 Tucci received critical acclaim for his work in DreamWorks’ “Road to Perdition,” co-starring Tom Hanks, Jude Law and Paul Newman. The film directed by Sam Mendes, was about a hit man who takes things personally after his wife and son are murdered. Stanley was also seen in the ever-popular Disney comedy “Big Trouble,” co-starring Tim Allen and Rene Russo and directed by Barry Sonnenfeld. Tucci also graced screens in Paramount Classics’ “Sidewalks of New York,” written and directed by Edward Burns and Sony’s “America’s Sweethearts,” opposite Julia Roberts and Billy Crystal. He also appeared alongside Kenneth Branagh and Colin Firth in the highly acclaimed HBO drama, “Conspiracy,” a film for which Tucci earned both an Emmy® and Golden Globe® nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Made for TV Movie or Miniseries.
Tucci’s multiple talents have led to a very diverse career. Not only an accomplished and gifted actor, he is also a writer, director and producer. At The Sundance Film Festival in 2008, Stanley premiered the film “Blind Date,” which after seven years, brought him once again behind the camera, as he has directed and co-wrote, as well as starred in the Van Gogh remake of this film.
Another directorial effort was USA Films’ “Joe Gould’s Secret,” which starred Ian Holm as bohemian writer ‘Joe Gould’ and Tucci as ‘Joseph Mitchell,’ the famed writer for The New Yorker. The film, set in New York’s Greenwich Village in the 1940s, tells the story of the strange meeting and long lasting friendship between Gould and Mitchell, as well as the stories Mitchell wrote about Gould and his life.
“Big Night,” Tucci’s first effort as co-director, co-screenwriter and actor on the same film, earned him numerous accolades, including the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival, a recognition of Excellence by the National Board of Review, an Independent Spirit Award, The Critics Prize at the 1996 Deauville Film Festival and honors from the New York Film Critics and the Boston Society of Film Critics.
Tucci’s second project, “The Imposters,” a film which he wrote, directed, co-produced and starred, was an Official Selection at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival and was acquired by Fox Searchlight Pictures later that year. The 1930’s farce starred Tucci and Oliver Platt as a pair of out-of-work actors who find themselves aboard a cruise ship passengered by Steve Buscemi, Alfred Molina, Lili Taylor and Hope Davis.
Tucci’s previous film credits include “Easy A,” “Burlesque,” “Swing Vote,” “Kit Kitteredge: An American Girl,” “Robots,” “The Life and Death of Peter Sellers,” “Shall We Dance,” “Spin,” “The Terminal,” “The Tale of Despereaux,” “Deconstructing Harry,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “The Alarmist,” “A Life Less Ordinary,” “The Daytrippers,” “Kiss of Death,” “Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle,” “It Could Happen to You,” “The Pelican Brief,” “Prelude to a Kiss,” “Billy Bathgate, “In the Soup” and “Slaves of New York.”
In 2002, Stanley won a Golden Globe® Award for his brilliant portrayal of Lt. Colonel Adolf Eichmann in the television film entitled, “Conspiracy.” This was the dramatic recreation of the Wannasee Conference where the Nazi Final Solution phase of the Holocaust was devised. He also received a Golden Globe®, as well as an Emmy® Award for his portrayal of Walter Winchell, a founder of American gossip, in the HBO original film, “Winchell.” His performance as the fast-talking tattler, whose exposure of secrets and scandals turned politically-left audiences and critics alike singing his praises. “Winchell,” directed by Paul Mazursky, provided Tucci with one of the juiciest roles of his diverse career.
His work on television includes his appearance as a re-occurring guest star on TNT’s “Bull.” He played ‘Hunter Lasky,’ a charming, conniving, power-player, one of Wall Street’s best negotiation ‘sharks.’ His other television credits include appearances on “Equal Justice,” “Wiseguy,” “The Equalizer,” “Thirtysomething” and “The Street.” Tucci also starred as ‘Richard Cross’ in the Steven Bochco drama “Murder One,” a performance for which he earned an Emmy® Nomination.
Tucci, no stranger to the theater, has appeared in many plays including “Frankie & Johnny in the Claire de Lune,” “Execution of Hope,” “The Iceman Cometh,” “Brighton Beach Memoirs” and “The Misanthrope.” He has also performed in a number of off-Broadway plays, at Yale Repertory Theater and SUNY Purchase, where he first studied acting.
Stanley serves on the Board of Directors of The Food Bank for New York City and has served as a Creative Advisor at the Sundance Institute Screenwriters and Directors Labs. Tucci resides in New York.
DONALD SUTHERLAND (President Snow) is one of the most prolific and versatile of motion picture actors, with an astonishing resume of well over one hundred and thirty films, including such classics as Robert Aldrich’s “The Dirty Dozen;” Robert Altman’s “M*A*S*H;” John Schlesinger’s “The Day of the Locust;” Robert Redford’s “Ordinary People;” Bernardo Bertolucci’s “1900;” Philip Kaufman’s “Invasion of the Body Snatcher;” Nicolas Roeg’s “Don’t Look Now” with Julie Christie; Alan Pakula’s “Klute” with Jane Fonda; Federico Fellini’s “Fellini’s Casanova” and in Brian Hutton’s “Kelly’s Heroes” with Clint Eastwood, who later directed him in “Space Cowboys.”
Sutherland has appeared as Nicole Kidman’s father in Anthony Minghella’s “Cold Mountain,” as Charlize Theron’s father in F. Gary Gray’s “The Italian Job,” and as ‘Mr. Bennett,’ Keira Knightley’s father, in “Pride and Prejudice.” For the latter he received a Chicago Film Critics nomination.
Recently he starred in the highly-successful long form adaptation of Ken Follett’s best-seller, “The Pillars of the Earth;” in the Roman epic adventure, “The Eagle,” opposite Channing Tatum and Jamie Bell for director Kevin Macdonald; in Simon West’s “The Mechanic” with Jason Statham and Ben Foster; in Seth Gordon’s “Horrible Bosses” as Colin Farrell’s father; in Mary McGuckian’s “Man on the Train” with U2’s Larry Mullen, Jr.; and in a new film adaptation of “Moby Dick,” with William Hurt, Ethan Hawke and Gillian Anderson.
Sutherland’s other films include Paul Mazursky’s “Alex in Wonderland;” Dalton Trumbo’s “Johnny Got His Gun;” Bud Yorkin’s “Start the Revolutions Without Me;” John Sturges’ “The Eagle Has Landed;” Herbert Ross’ “Max Dugan Returns;” Louis Malle’s “Crackers;” Phillip Borsos’ “Bethune;” Oliver Stone’s “JFK;” Ron Howard’s “Backdraft;” Richard Marquand’s “Eye of the Needle;” Euzhan Palcy’s “A Dry White Season,” with Marlon Brando; Richard Pearce’s “Threshold,” for which he won the 1983 Genie Award as Best Actor; Fred Schepisi’s film adaptation of John Guare’s “Six Degrees of Separation;” Robert Towne’s “Without Limits;” and John Landis’ “National Lampoon’s Animal House,” in which he made a memorable cameo appearance. He has starred as the voice of ‘General Stone’ in the animated feature of the manga classic, “Astro Boy;” in Andy Tennant’s “Fool’s Gold;” in Griffin Dunne’s “Fierce People” with Diane Lane; in Robert Towne’s “Ask the Dust” with Salma Hayek and Colin Farrell; in “American Gun” with Forrest Whitaker; in “Am American Haunting” with Sissy Spacek; in “Land of the Blind” with Ralph Fiennes and in “Aurora Borealis” with Louise Fletcher and Juliette Lewis. He is part of a sterling ensemble of on-camera readers in the biographical feature on the life of Dalton Trumbo, “Trumbo.”
In television, Sutherland won both Emmy® and Golden Globe® awards as Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the HBO film “Citizen X” and he won a Golden Globe® for his portrayal of Clark Clifford, advisor to President Lyndon B. Johnson, in the HBO historical drama “Path To War,” directed by the late John Frankenheimer.
Sutherland co-starred with Peter Krause in the ABC-TV series “Dirty Sexy Money.” For his performance as the family patriarch, ‘Tripp Darling,’ he was nominated for a 2007 Golden Globe® as Best Supporting Actor. Prior to that, he co-starred with Geena Davis in the ABC drama series “Commander-In-Chief,” and was nominated for a Golden Globe® as Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of House Speaker, Nathan Templeton. At the same time, he was nominated for a Golden Globe® as Best Actor for his performance opposite Mira Sorvino in Lifetime Television’s much-lauded miniseries, “Human Trafficking.”
On stage, Sutherland starred with Justin Kirk and Julianna Margulies in a sold-out, critically acclaimed, Lincoln Center engagement of Jon Robin Baitz’s “Ten Unknowns.” For that performance he received an Outer Critics Circle Award nomination for Best Actor. He also starred in the London, Toronto and Los Angeles productions of “Enigmatic Variations,” an English language translation (by his son Roeg Sutherland) of Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt’s French play.
Donald Sutherland was appointed an officer of the Order of Canada in 1978 and an Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres in France five years later.
WES BENTLEY (Seneca) has a diverse roster of exciting projects scheduled for release in 2012. He will next be seen alongside Amanda Seyfried and Jennifer Carpenter in Heitor Dhalia’s thriller “Gone.” He also stars in the independent feature “Hidden Moon.” In 2010, Bentley made his stage debut with Nina Arianda in David Ives’s award-winning play “Venus In Fur.” On screen, Bentley most recently starred alongside Dougray Scott in Roland Joffe’s “There Be Dragons.” Following an auspicious debut in Jonathan Demme’s “Beloved,” Bentley won raves for his role as ‘Ricky Fitts’ in Sam Mendes’s Academy Award®-winning “American Beauty.”
Bentley went on to star with Sarah Polley in Michael Winterbottom’s Gold Rush-era “The Claim.” He then teamed up with Heath Ledger, Kate Hudson and Djimon Hounsou in Shekhar Kapur’s “The Four Feathers.” In 2005, Bentley and Gerard Butler co-starred in David Anspaugh’s “The Game of Their Lives,” based on the true story of the 1950 US soccer team that defied the odds by triumphing over England.
Bentley’s additional credits include “3 Nights in the Desert,” “Rites of Passage,” “Weirdsville,” “The Ungodly,” and “Tilda,” an HBO pilot starring Diane Keaton and Ellen Page and directed by Bill Condon.
TOBY JONES (Claudius Templesmith) will next be seen in the indie “Red Lights” opposite Robert De Niro and Sigourney Weaver for director Rodrigo Cortes, the ITV miniseries “Titanic” set to air later this year on ABC and the independent film “Berberian Sound System” for director Peter Strickland. He recently completed filming “Snow White and the Huntsman” for Rupert Sanders, alongside Charlize Theron, Kristen Stewart, Nick Frost and Ian McShane in addition to “The Girl” for BBC opposite Sienna Miller.
He was most recently seen in in Tomas Alfredson’s “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” opposite Gary Oldman and Colin Firth; in addition to Marvel's “Captain America: The First Avenger,” opposite Chris Evans, Samuel L. Jackson, Tommy Lee Jones and Hugo Weaving for director Joe Johnston; as well as Steven Spielberg's “The Adventures of Tintin,” opposite Daniel Craig and Simon Pegg for Paramount; and Simon Curtis’ “My Week With Marilyn,” opposite Michelle Williams, Emma Watson, Judi Dench and Julia Ormond for the Weinstein Company. Toby was also recently seen in New Line's “The Rite,” opposite Anthony Hopkins and Alice Braga for director Mikael Håfström; as well as David Gordon Green's “Your Highness,” opposite Danny McBride, James Franco and Natalie Portman for Universal; Dustin Lance Black's “What’s Wrong With Virginia,” opposite Emma Roberts, Jennifer Connelly and Ed Harris; and as the voice the role of ‘Dobby the House Elf’ in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows” for Warner Bros. Toby's other credits include Joel Amiel's “Creation,” opposite Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly; Oliver Stone's “W.” opposite Josh Brolin for Lionsgate; Ron Howard's “Frost/Nixon,” opposite Frank Langella and Michael Sheen for Universal; and a critically acclaimed role portraying Truman Capote in Douglas McGrath's “Infamous,” opposite Sigourney Weaver, Gwyneth Paltrow and Sandra Bullock for Warner Independent.
ALEXANDER LUDWIG (Cato) last starred in Disney’s hugely successful “Race to Witch Mountain,” opposite Dwayne Johnson and Carla Gugino, which opened #1 at the U.S. box office.
He grew up in Vancouver, Canada, and after beginning his acting career at age 9 with a string of commercial and television parts landed the starring role of ‘Will Stanton’ in the Fox action adventure film “The Seeker: The Dark is Rising” in 2007.
A gifted musician, Ludwig sings, writes his own music and plays guitar. He is passionate about sports and competes in extreme freestyle ski competitions, in addition to cliff jumping, gorge diving, bungee jumping, surfing, wakeboarding, kite boarding and playing tennis, basketball and hockey.
The oldest of four siblings, Ludwig is currently attending the University of Southern California as a sophomore studying film, theater and business, while continuing his acting career. From Vancouver, Canada, he currently resides in Los Angeles.
ISABELLE FUHRMAN (Clove) is making a name for herself as a talented young actress.
She has recently wrapped lensing on Giorgio Serafini's “The Healer” opposite Joel Courtney. The film follows an ailing father, who is about to undergo a potentially life-threatening surgery. He takes his teenage kids into the woods to try and recapture their early closeness. The film does not have a release date as of yet.
Fuhrman most recently appeared in an all-star ensemble cast with Pierce Brosnan, Jennifer Connelly, Ed Harris, Marisa Tomei and Greg Kinnear in this summer's dark comedy “Salvation Boulevard.”
In 2009, Isabelle starred opposite Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard in Warner Bros' 2009 psychological thriller “Orphan.” For her starring role, Fuhrman earned rave reviews from movie critics around the world with a performance that was hailed as “one of the most momentous examples of acting from a child performer in years.” Fuhrman was cast through an exhaustive nationwide search of young actresses to portray the lead in the Warner Bros. collaboration between Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way and Joel Silver's Dark Castle Entertainment.
Beginning her acting career at the age of seven, Fuhrman appeared on Cartoon Network’s “Cartoon Fridays,” and made her big screen debut in the drama “Hounddog.” She has also guest starred on the CBS hit series “Ghost Whisperer” which earned her a Young Artist Award nomination, and the ABC drama “The Whole Truth.” Fuhrman has lent her voice to a number of projects including the 3D animated feature “Sammy’s Adventures: The Secret Passage” and Nickelodeon's “Winx.”
Fuhrman currently resides in Los Angeles and is a skilled guitar player and singer.
Named for the Zulu word for power, AMANDLA STENBERG (Rue) made her feature film debut in 2010 with “Colombiana,” an action-thriller starring Zoe Saldana whose character Amandla plays as a child. The Luc Besson vehicle is quintessential Besson, featuring lots of daring stunts, some of which Amandla performed herself, after training with David Belle, the creator of Parkour.
Amandla launched her career as a print model in Disney catalogs when she was four years old. She has shot numerous national spots, most notably for McDonald's with Ronald McDonald himself, for Walmart with DJ Tony of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” (LeVar Burton aka Kunta Kinte directed), and for BuildTheDream.org. This moving, Boeing-sponsored PSA, which raised funds for a national memorial in Washington, D.C. honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., premiered during the weekend of President Obama’s inauguration in January 2009 on “Meet the Press” and other NBC/MSNBC programs. Amandla was on hand to see the culmination of the historic effort to pay tribute to Dr. King’s legacy when she participated in the memorial’s dedication ceremony in October 2011.
In addition to on-camera jobs, Amandla has put her sensitive ear to work in ADR gigs for both film and television, and as a musician. She plays the violin, drums and guitar. In 2009, Amandla performed the violin with the Los Angeles Unified School District's Honors Orchestra at the Luckman Fine Arts Complex. Her involvement with the Rock STAR Music Education program landed her gigs at the House of Blues and the Hard Rock Cafe, as well as a studio session with producer/engineer Gerry Brown, after her band won RockSTAR's Battle of the Bands. Amandla is also an avid photographer.
JACK QUAID (Marvel) makes his feature film debut in THE HUNGER GAMES. Quaid, a Los Angeles native, is currently a sophomore at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.
Raised in Lagos, Nigeria, DAYO OKENIYI (Thresh) began acting in theatre at his elementary school, Green Springs International. In 2003, Okeniyi, the youngest of five siblings, moved from Nigeria with his family to the United States. His father, now a retired customs officer, and mother, a British literature teacher from Kenya, were adamant that their children receive an education in America. Okeniyi attended high school at Indiana Heritage Christian School, followed by college at Anderson University, where he received his Bachelor’s degree in visual communications design. Okeniyi moved to Los Angeles a year ago and quickly landed a lead role in the indie horror “Slew Hampshire.” “The Hunger Games” is his first studio film.
Though only twenty-one, LEVEN RAMBIN (Glimmer) has been working for most of her life and continues to show us a different side of her with each role she takes on.
Rambin has spent the last year guest starring on several popular television shows including: Disney’s “The Wizards of Waverly Place,” “CSI: Miami” and “One Tree Hill.”
Last summer she starred on ABC’s dramedy, “Scoundrels,” opposite Virginia Madsen after completing an arc on the ABC hit series “Grey’s Anatomy.” On “Grey’s,” she portrayed Dr. McSteamy's pregnant daughter, ‘Sloan Riley.’
Rambin started her career at age 13 as a series regular on ABC's daytime drama, “All My Children.” She played the character ‘Lily Montgomery,’ a young teen with Autism Spectrum Disorder, landing her two Daytime Emmy® Award nominations.
While on “All My Children,” Rambin guest starred on “Lipstick Jungle” and “Law and Order: SVU.” She was also a recurring guest star on the NBC drama “Book of Daniel.” After four years on “All My Children,” she left the show to pursue other opportunities. Quickly thereafter, she was cast as ‘Riley Dawson’ on the Fox drama, “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.”
When not working on set, Rambin loves hiking, boxing and staying active. She is a fashion enthusiast and has written several editorials on New York Fashion Week for Paper Magazine and Page Six Magazine. She is very passionate about Autism research and awareness as well as the humane treatment of animals.
WILLOW SHIELDS (Primrose Everdeen) is making her film debut with THE HUNGER GAMES.
Born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she currently resides, Willow caught the acting bug from a young age. Her twin sister, Autumn Shields, and older brother, River Shields, are also actors, who encourage each other to follow their passion and talent for their craft. With the support of her family, Willow began auditioning and soon landed a guest starring role in the hit USA Network TV series “In Plain Sight.” In 2011, Willow graced the small screen yet again, playing the role as ‘Grace’ in the Hallmark Hall of Fame original movie “Beyond the Blackboard” starring Emily VanCamp and Treat Williams.
In addition to her budding acting career, Willow also stays busy as an active philanthropist. She lends her time to volunteering and supporting the Homeless Veteran Shelter and Animal rescue organizations in her community
When she’s not spending time on the set or volunteering for her favorite organizations, Willow enjoys reading, brushing up on history, playing with her several pets (dogs and chickens) and listening to pop and country music. This multi-talented young star also enjoys dedicating time to her secret hobby - making artist trading cards.
Born and raised in Belfast, Northern Ireland, PAULA MALCOMSON (Katniss’ Mother) moved to New York City’s East Village at 19 and soon landed her first movie role on “Another Girl Another Planet.” The following year, she was cast in “Tombstone,” and followed that with blockbusters like “The Green Mile,” “Hamlet” and “A.I. Artificial Intelligence.”
On television, Paula Malcomson has been seen on “The Practice,” “Strong Medicine,” “Providence,” “Star Trek: Enterprise,” “NYPD Blue” and “Six Feet Under.” Paula also played the part of ‘Trixie’ in the television series “Deadwood,” a part in which she was nominated for Screen Actors Guild Award, in an ensemble cast.
She continued her work on the small screen, getting credited for her performances in “Cold Case,” “Lost,” “Criminal Minds,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” “Sons of Anarchy,” “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” and the “Battlestar Galactica” spin-off from Sci-Fi Channel, “Caprica.” Paula lives in Los Angeles with her pack of animals that she loves with all her heart and travels to Ireland each summer to work on her Irish accent.
ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS
Four-time Oscar® nominee GARY ROSS (Director, Co-screenwriter) launched his career as co-writer of the original screenplay “Big.” The film, starring Tom Hanks, garnered Ross his first Academy Award® nomination. Next, Ross drew on his knowledge and love of the American political process for his screenplay of the Capra-esque comedy hit “Dave,” for which Ross received his second Academy Award® nomination and won the esteemed Writer's Guild Paul Selvin Award.
In 1998, Ross marked his directorial debut with the ambitious and critically-acclaimed “Pleasantville.” In 2003, he wrote and directed the much celebrated, epic feature “Seabiscuit,” starring Tobey Maguire, Jeff Bridges, and Chris Cooper. The film received seven Academy Award® nominations, including best picture and best screenplay for Ross. He also received DGA and WGA award nominations, the USC Scripter Award, and numerous other guild and critical awards. Most recently, Ross wrote and produced the animated adventure “The Tale of Despereaux,” based on Kate DiCamillo's best-selling children’s novel.
Bestselling author SUZANNE COLLINS (Co-screenwriter, based on the novel by, Executive Producer) first made her mark in children’s literature with the New York Times bestselling “Underland Chronicles” for middle grade readers. Her debut for readers aged 12 and up, “The Hunger Games” (September 2008), was an instant bestseller, appealing to both teen readers and adults. It was called “addictive” by Stephen King in Entertainment Weekly, and “amazing” by Stephenie Meyer on her website. It has appeared on the New York Times bestseller list for more than 180 consecutive weeks/more than three consecutive years since publication, and there are more than 26 million copies of all three books in the trilogy, “The Hunger Games” (September 2008), “Catching Fire” (September 2009), and “Mockingjay” (August 2010), in print in the U.S. to date. Foreign publishing rights for The Hunger Games trilogy have been sold into 47 territories.
Suzanne Collins also had a successful and prolific career writing for children’s television. She has worked on the staffs of several Nickelodeon shows, including the Emmy®-nominated hit “Clarissa Explains It All” and “The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo.” She received a Writer’s Guild of America nomination in animation for co-writing the critically acclaimed Christmas special, “Santa, Baby!”
In 2010 Collins was named to the TIME 100 list as well as the Entertainment Weekly Entertainers of the Year list. In 2011 Fast Company named her to their 100 Most Creative People in Business. Suzanne Collins lives with her family in Connecticut.
BILLY RAY (Co-screenwriter) made his directorial debut with "Shattered Glass" for Lionsgate. The film, which he also wrote, stars Hayden Christensen, Chloë Sevigny and Peter Sarsgaard who was nominated for a Golden Globe®. Billy then wrote and directed "Breach" for Universal Pictures starring Chris Cooper, Ryan Phillippe and Laura Linney. After "Breach," Billy co-wrote "State of Play," starring Ben Affleck, Russell Crowe and Rachel McAdams for Universal.
Going into production in March is "Captain Phillips," which Billy wrote for Sony. Paul Greengrass will direct and Tom Hanks will star. Also going into production this year is "24," which Billy adapted for Fox. Kiefer Sutherland will reprise his role in the film.
Billy recently finished writing "Neverland," the Peter Pan origin story at Sony Pictures, which Joe Roth will produce. He is currently writing the "Thin Man" remake for Warner Brothers which Rob Marshall will direct. Johnny Depp will star.
Billy is on the Board of Directors of the WGA. He currently lives in Los Angeles.
NINA JACOBSON (Producer) has built an impressive 20-year career as a senior film executive at three major motion picture studios.
“Diary of a Wimpy Kid” was Jacobson's first film as a producer and the first production for her company, Color Force. A commercial success, the film grossed over $75 million worldwide and led to the production of the sequel, “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules,” which opened at #1 at the box office and went on to gross over $70 million worldwide. A third film, “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days” is currently in production and scheduled for an August 2012 release.
In 2011, Jacobson produced “One Day,” starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess, based on the best-selling novel by David Nicholls which was released in August.
Prior to forming Color Force, Jacobson was president of the Walt Disney Motion Picture Group, where she oversaw script development and film production for Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone Pictures and Hollywood Pictures. During her tenure, 15 of Jacobson's projects grossed over $100 million domestically.
At Disney, Jacobson oversaw and launched some of Hollywood's biggest family film franchises, including “Pirates of the Caribbean,” “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” and “The Princess Diaries.” “The Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise became the highest grossing film in Disney's history, generating almost three billion dollars in worldwide box office.
In addition, she has spearheaded an eclectic range of films that includes titles such as “The Rookie,” “Remember the Titans,” “Freaky Friday,” “Bridge to Terabithia,” “Miracle,” “Step Up,” “Bringing Down the House,” “Sweet Home Alabama,” “The Prestige,” “The Sixth Sense,” “Unbreakable,” “Signs” and “The Royal Tenenbaums.”
Before joining the Walt Disney Motion Picture Group, Jacobson was a senior film executive at DreamWorks SKG, where she developed “What Lies Beneath” and originated the idea of DreamWorks' first animated feature, “Antz.”
In 1987, Jacobson joined Disney Sunday Movie as a story analyst. In 1988, Jacobson moved to Silver Pictures as director of development. She went on to head development at Parkes/MacDonald Productions, before leaving to join Universal.
Jacobson is a trustee at Wildwood School and is active with The Jewish Federation. She is a graduate of Brown University and currently lives in Brentwood with her partner Jennifer and their three children, Noah, Josie and William.
