Just two days ago I reported that Alex Pettyfer (Beastly) and Josh Hutcherson (The Kids Are All Right) were known contenders for the much-coveted role of Peeta in the hotly anticipated adaptation of Suzanne Collin’s YA sensation, The Hunger Games. Now another fan pick has entered the race.
E! Online reveals that Weeds bad boy Hunter Parrish has been approached about the role of the besotted baker’s son who falls for the trilogy’s wily heroine. Parrish admitted he has met with the film’s producers and says, “I’d be grateful to get the opportunity. Like, really grateful. It would be amazing.” He went on to say he is flattered that so many HG fans have tweeted that he is their pick for Peeta:
“You don’t get much better than that,” he said. “The true fans of the book. So regardless of whether I’m a part of the film or not, I feel honored to just sort of be thought of. I read the books all last year, and I guess they’re starting filming soon.”
So what’s one to make of this trio of possible Peetas?
Well, like Pettyfer, Parrish is in his twenties, and has the basic look of the character described in the book, being that he is blonde with blue eyes. This leaves the 18-year-old Hutcherson as the figurative dark horse with his brown eyes and black hair. However, while both Pettyfer and Parrish have admitted they have not seen the film’s script, Hutcherson has mentioned reading a draft, and is the only one of the three who is a professed fan of the series. Of course, it’s likely these three aren’t the only young actors being considered, just the ones we’ve heard of. Chances are good that the search for Peeta is just as expansive as that for the Hunger Games’ heroine, Katniss. Though with the mentioned contenders for Katniss’ love interest all being over 18, it looks like early favorites Hailee Steinfeld and Chloe Moretz may be out of the running. Concerning his possible co-star, Parrish has said, “I think if it ended up being Hailee Steinfeld or Saoirse [Ronan] or who’s the other one? Abigail Breslin. Then it would be weird. It would be really weird.” On the other hand, “”If it’s Jennifer [Lawrence], man, sign me up!” Lawrence, who is 20, is the last reported frontrunner. Could this trio of older gents mean she’s all but signed to star?
With the film’s producers dangling the carrot that production starts soon, the casting news will just get more frequent and fervent as days go by. The next big question is already gnawing at the book’s fans: Who will play Gale?
If you have somehow not yet been sucked in to The Hunger Games trilogy, the first book in the series centers on Katniss, an impoverished teen providing for her mother and little sister in the smoking ruins of what once was the United States. Each year the tyrannical government hosts a bloody nationally televised battle where teen-aged tributes are forced to kill or be killed. Katniss enters the ring with a boy from back home, a mild-mannered baker’s son named Peeta. But while 24 teens enter, only one leaves alive.
The Hunger Games is slated to open March 23, 2012.
What do you think of the latest Hunger Games casting news? Who is your preferred Peeta? Who do you want to see play Gale?