One of our admins, Gabby, got her hands on a copy of the Us Weekly special Hunger Games edition magazine, which isn’t due out until March 2nd. While scouring it (which she did immediately!), Gabby discovered some interesting details about how the book was translated to film and lots of inside scoop from the cast and crew.
Here are her favorite things she learned:
New quotes from Donald Sutherland - He talks about President Snow’s white rose (“even as his people starve, roses remain his only passion”) and Katniss (“Katniss is like Joan of Arc. She has a purity, yet she knows more than anyone else what’s at stake.”)
Special Capitol meals – Since Woody Harrelson is a raw vegan, the food stylist made veggie sausages and pates for him to eat during the extravagant meal scenes.
Tribute interviews – The tributes ad-libbed their pre-Game interviews. They were told “Here’s your emotional objective – improvise!”
Changes to Capitol flare – Green skin color and catlike plastic surgery didn’t translate well, so with Suzanne Collins’ blessing, they drew from Japanese kabuki instead.
Jennifer Lawrence & Josh Hutcherson’s relationship – Jennifer and Josh’s chemistry was so much like brother and sister, Gary Ross had to say, “Guys be attracted to each other.”
Jennifer talks about Josh – Josh was Jennifer’s rock; lunch would be like a therapy session for her. She says he is a great listener.
Real or not real weapons – The training center had real weapons (spears, swords, etc), but when the Tributes would fight or spar, they used rubber versions.
Jennifer’s bow and arrow – Jennifer had more than 100 arrows in her quiver for filming, but ran low in the end. They had to go into the woods to find them to restock her quiver!
Set design – The cornucopia took 10 weeks to build! Production designer Phil Messina said he is quite proud of the arena, “We built fake limbs and even fake trees” to make the forest denser.
On-set antics – When the cameras weren’t rolling the cast goofed around a lot – spontaneous raps and dances were common. Dayo Okeniyi said, “Neyo’s ‘Tonight’ became our anthem!” Jacqueline Emerson also said, “Someone always had their iPod with them. Or we would play Frisbee or games like Concentration. It was never boring!”
No mementos for the cast – They weren’t allowed to take any props from set as keepsakes. Dayo said, “They watched us like hawks with every single prop.”
And the biggie …
Finding Finnick – Gary Ross said he and Suzanne Collins are already thinking about casting for Catching Fire. Gary teased saying, “I already decided who I want!” for Finnick Odair.
Judging from the lake and forests, at least...
