The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and SnakesstarRachel Zeglerhas explained how her character, Lucy Gray “echos"Jennifer Lawrence’s Katniss Everdeen. While speaking to the press during a virtual conference (viaComicBook.com), Zegler described Lawrence’s performance in the franchise as a “masterclass,” and highlighted the differences between the two protagonists.
“As actors, watching Jennifer’s performance in the original trilogy is watching a masterclass in performance in general. When it came to the approach of Lucy Gray, I kind of felt like I didn’t have to [study her]. I came to what Tom [Blyth] was saying, it kind of puts an unnecessary pressure because it’s a different character and a different time of Panem. And I feel like Lucy Gray is a war-torn teenager who’s had everything she knows ripped from her yet she’s still making the best of it. And so it was very similar to Kanes in that perspective, but she’s a very different dynamic in response to being placed in an arena in front of a bunch of people and having to make the world root for her. She’s very good at that.”
TheWest Side Storyactor continued, adding that, while there are major differences between the characters, “there’s elements of Katniss within her.”
“She’s very persuasive in her performance and very good at getting an audience on her side. So it was very fun to play that. But I do think that there’s elements of Katniss within her and that makes it all the more fun to go back and watch the original trilogy and kind of see how Snow remains haunted by Lucy Gray even in his later life because there are echoes of her within Katniss Everdeen.”
Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes Review: Grim Prequel to an Already Dark Story
No Jennifer Lawrence here, but this thrilling prequel might make you fall in love with West Side Story star Rachel Zegler if you haven’t already.
Nina Jacobson Previously Reflected on the Demands of Casting a Younger Version of an Already Established Character
When it comes to a movie likeThe Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, there are certain challenges in recasting previously established characters with younger counterparts.The Hunger Gamesproducer Nina Jacobson, addressed how there are many different aspects that go into the casting process on such a movie. She said:
“Well, of course, any time that you’re casting somebody, like you say, who’s related or a younger version, obviously you’re going to lop off a whole bunch of people who could be great, but who just don’t look like they would ever grow up to be that person. So you have the demands of, ‘Can I believe that this young man becomes that older man?’ And then also on the Lucy Gray [Rachel Zegler] front, even though she’s not related to anybody, she has to be able to sing to inhabit that performer’s personality, but also to kind of convey both the sort of savviness and street smarts of this character.”
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
Jacobson went on to note that consideration has to be also given to the nature of the characters, whether new or old to the franchise. She continued:
“And to have those questions of like, ‘Is she Songbird or is she Snake?’ Because she’s always singing, but she’s also always got a snake, or not always, but a good amount of the time. So, just a reminder that none of these character are meant to be all one or the other. And so, you have to get actors who can bring that level of complexity and nuance. It’s much easier to just play a straight-up good guy, straight-up bad guy, but to have to kind of live in the middle and the pull and the push, and we wanted audiences to also wonder, is it real or not real?”
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakeshits theaters on November 17th.
