Credit: Lionsgate

‘The Hunger Games’ director Francis Lawrence calls Katniss “asexual”

Wed 30 August 2023 9:33, UK

Francis Lawrence, director of all four sequels in The Hunger Games franchise, has shared some insight into the difference between the original protagonist and the new character in the upcoming prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.

Based on the YA books by Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games series takes place in a dystopian future America and follows Katniss Evergreen (portrayed by Jennifer Lawrence) as she competes in a treacherous series of televised trials that will only allow one survivor.

Speaking to Empire, Lawrence explained how Katniss and the new protagonist, Lucy Gray Baird, differ. “Katniss was an introvert and a survivor. She was quite quiet and stoic; you could almost say asexual,” the director revealed. “Lucy Gray is the opposite. She wears her sexuality on her sleeve. She really is a performer.”

The new instalment in the franchise, based on the 2020 prequel by Collins, is set 64 years before the events of the first films and will see the Hunger Games in their infancy and the origins of how Coriolanus Snow, the malevolent dictator in the originals, became such a tyrant.

Rachel Zegler, who had her breakout role in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story remake and will be playing Snow White in Disney’s upcoming live-action remake, will play the role of Lucy Gray Baird – a character who, according to Lawrence, “Loves crowds and knows how to manipulate people”. British actor Tom Blyth will portray the young Coriolanus Snow.

They’ll also be joined by Peter Dinklage, Hunter Schafer, Josh Andrés Rivera, Jason Schwartzman and Viola Davis. While some fans may be disappointed to miss Katniss in the upcoming film, Lawrence has gone on record saying she’d be open to returning to the character given the opportunity, telling Variety, “If Katniss ever could ever come back into my life,” that she’d be like to reprise the role “100 per cent”.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will hit theatres on November 17th, courtesy of Lionsgate. Watch the trailer below.