If you’ve been following the mania that surrounds the casting of the next big YA adaptation sensation, then you know Kick-Ass star Chloe Moretz was an early favorite to play Katniss in The Hunger Games. However, it’s recently been revealed that Jennifer Lawrence, the Oscar-nominated actress of Winter’s Bone, has signed on to play the heroine of the dystopian drama based on Suzanne Collins popular novels. Yet the rumor mill is now grinding full tilt, claiming Moretz may have joined Gary Ross’ film afterall.
MTV spoke with Moretz on the First Annual Comedy Awards’ red carpet, where she admitted, “I just booked a huge project last night.” When pressed she expanded with fittingly youthful enthusiasm, “You’re gonna’ die when you find out, it’s huge! You’re going to be freaking out because I was.”
MTV (then Screen Rant) went on to speculate it must mean she’s been cast in The Hunger Games, and both speculate she’ll play Prim, Katniss’ younger sister. However, when asked directly about Hunger Games, Moretz gave no hint that this was the “big” news she was referring to. Instead, she said, “It’s big and it’s crazy and it involves some really cool actors.” While I’d love to see this pint-sized sparkplug in HG, I’m not totally convinced this is the film she’s referring to. Beyond that, I doubt she’d be picked to play Prim, unless the script considerably amps up li’l sis’s involvement.
In the book, Katniss and Prim live in a desolate district of what was once the United States. Katniss, who is 16, forages for food by hunting in the forest, while her sister, who is 12, watches after their addled mother. When officials from their tyrannical government show up to take so-called tributes for the impending Hunger Games, a kill or be killed battle of teen gladiators, Katniss volunteers to spare her sister a grim fate. However, after this point, Prim barely appears in the first book.
This leaves me doubtful that if Moretz is talking Hunger Games that she would play this part. My guess is that MTV’s assertion is based on Prim’s physical description (small, lovely, blonde with blue eyes), which obviously matches Moretz’s. However, such a small role would waste Moretz, whose especially fun to watch when she’s in fierce fighter mode. To that end, I find it more likely that she’d play one of the Hunger Games other tributes – maybe Glimmer or Clove, two of the fiercer competitors in the games. Now that’s be something – watching Hit-Girl face off against the gruff Ree Dolly!
Expect official news to drop next week. In the meantime, share your hopes in comments.
Who would you like to see Moretz play in the Hunger Games?