Double, Double: Additional Casting for Sunrise on the Reaping

Last month, we offered a few thoughts on the casting, thus far, for the screen adaptation of the second prequel to the Hunger Games Trilogy. 

The film, scheduled for release in the fall of 2026,  will undoubtedly send the Hollywood Gamemakers into fits of giddy joy as they get ready to market trademarked items like replica Maysilee necklaces and reproduction flint-strikers (having some limited proficiency with flint and steel myself, I really hope that any such nonsense is non-functional, for the safety of the large portion of the public that has not lived, even briefly, in an earlier time period). However, despite being a dyed-in-the-wool Appalachian fatalist like so many of our District 12 characters, I do hope there will be some positive outcomes from the film. My initial reaction to the first casting announcement was not terribly enthusiastic. Aussie Haymitch is not impressing me yet. I saw a recent interview, trying to imagine that voice possibly sounding like it came from Harlan County, KY.  He stressed how the search for Haymitch ranged all over, but I can say pretty definitely that nobody came to my holler to find Haymitch (and I had him handy, in one of my classes, Poe fascination and all). I will reserve further judgement until I see the actual film.

Additional casting announcements, however, have been interesting, and some, downright encouraging. Join me after the jump for thoughts on the “double” choices that we have so far.

Double Take

One of the things that fascinates me most about the novel (and which I will discuss here at some point) is the use of twins, or doubles. Interestingly, the most recent round of casting announcements included several actors portraying younger versions of characters we saw in previous films. Let’s start with these “doubles” first.

1. Jesse Plemons as Plutarch Heavensbee

Britannica

This casting seems like a great choice with the original films in mind, as Plemmons is a dead ringer for Phillip Seymour Hoffman, who was a wonderful Plutarch but, sadly, passed away during the filming of the last movie, leading to some plot changes. Plemons is a seasoned, respected actor who will certainly be convincing as a younger version of Hoffman, not just because the physical resemblance works (he has played Hoffman’s son), but because he is talented enough to become another person. He is also, ironically, someone who has grown up in Hollywood as a child actor (he is in his late 30s now), so he may have some very interesting perspectives on the way the Capitol and the media treat their darlings, whether victors or celebrities. That could add some nice nuances to the already fascinating multifaceted Plutarch.

2. Ralph Fiennes as President Snow

People magazine

Yes, THAT Ralph Fiennes, movie Voldemort Ralph Fiennes. Perhaps he is just filling out his literary villain Bingo card (coming next year! Ralph Fiennes as Captain Hook!), or maybe he just wants to play a bad guy with a good nose, but there is no doubt about his huge talent and experience, so he should be appropriately chilling as Snow. I had high hopes for Kiefer Sutherland, the son of the original movie Snow Donald Sutherland, but I think Fiennes will do well.  After all, he is equally adept at charm and schmarm, so he should be great.

3. Elle Fanning as Effie Trinket

The Samikhsya

It’s very rare that the movie people cast exactly the actor that readers have in mind, but this may be one of those times. (I did get Michael Pena as Martinez in The Martian, after he was exactly the person I had in my head while reading the book.) Elle Fanning has been a strong frontrunner for the role of young Effie for some time. She is physically just right for the part, and she is experienced in big period films with crazy costumes and wigs, so she should be a great fit.

4. Kieran Culkin as Caesar Flickerman

Another child star (although apparently less damaged than his more exposed brother, McCauley Culkin), Kieran Culkin has had a pretty great year, including an Academy Award. He certainly looks like he could be a younger version of Stanley Tucci (and, after all, Flickerman has probably had more facelifts than Joan Rivers by the time of the 74^th Games). He also may be able to bring in some of his own experience (read: damage) as a child star.

5. Maya Hawke as Wiress

Entertainment Weekly

I must confess to being a fan of Stranger Things. Although the show often lost me when it became less Steven Spielberg and more Wes Craven, I enjoyed the great 80s nostalgia and the wonderful characters, especially Steve Harrington (Joe Keery ) who was allowed to grow beyond his stock role as jerk boyfriend into a really interesting person (and really great babysitter). His friend Robin, played by Maya Hawke, was integral in his development, and the banter between the two of them was a brilliant highlight, so I have high hopes for Hawke as Wiress. She is great at awkward, fish-out-of-water roles, so the brilliant, but already damaged Victor of the 49^th Games will be a great fit. She is also another creature of Hollywood, daughter of stars Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke, with a messy family life and plenty of complicated industry experiences to bring to the table.

6. Lili Taylor as Mags

Compared to many of the other cast members, Lili Taylor seems to be far less sensational, but she also looks like she might be a great fit. She has done quite a bit of work but is not a big, splashy name or related to one, so perhaps that will serve her well as the maternal, steady Mags, a wonderful character whose appearance in Sunrise allows us to see her in her prime and really appreciate the strength and courage of the woman who is steadily undermining the Capitol for the next 25 years and gives her life for the cause and for those she loves and supports.

7. Kelvin Harrison, Jr. as Beetee

Kelvin Harrison, Jr. , has, like Jesse Plemons, played the son of the actor who plays the older version of his Sunrise  character, in Monster. Jeffery Wright, who was Beetee in the earlier films, and Harrison are believable as the same person, and Harrison’s experience should allow him to play the nuanced but tragic Beetee, whose story is even more awful in this installment than readers knew from the trilogy. I’m still unsure how, if at all, the horrific death of Beetee’s son, Ampert, will be adapted to the screen, but I had my doubts about events from the other film adaptations, too. Many of those were just cut. Perhaps the filmmakers will rely on Harrison’s obvious talents to act out the tragedy of Beetee’s family, rather than  trying to show what happens to his son and keep a PG-13 rating.

Other Doubles and Pairs

Perhaps the most interesting double act that has been cast consists of the original Louella McCoy and her duplicate, whom the other District 12 Tributes dub “Lou Lou,” sent by the Capitol to cover the result of the chariot parade accident that kills Louella.

Molly McCann will play Louella, and Iona Bell will play Lou Lou. They look like a good match, physically, just enough alike that the Capitol audience won’t notice that Lou Lou is actually a doppelgänger, but different enough that her friends and neighbors from 12 would know, even if they had not watched Louella die as a result of Capitol audience stupidity and alcohol. McCann is experienced and looks like a good fit for the spunky, but doomed, Louella. More will be demanded of Iona Bell, as Lou Lou is drugged, wired, and tortured throughout by the Capitol until she finally dies on the second day of the Games, thrashing in a bed of deadly bee balm. She will have to be both pitiful and disturbing, justifying the reactions of Wyatt (protective) and Maysilee (repulsed) to her. Ironically, young Iona herself is a twin. Her brother, Cameron, is also an actor. I’m betting heavily on his appearance as one of the other Tributes, perhaps one of Haymitch’s doves.

Just announced this week were the two halves of perhaps the oddest couple possible : Magno Stift  and Drusilla Sickle

Decades before the amazing Cinna makes Katniss the Girl on Fire, the District 12 Tributes get the bottom of the barrel on everything, including stylists, with the reptilian freak Magno Stift. Obsessed with wearing live snakes and turtles, even when they may bite or escape, the debauched and useless Magno is a great commentary on the decadence and cruelty of the Capitol.  Billy Porter, who has just been cast as Magno, is a musician but has also been in numerous films, often playing flamboyant characters like a version of the Fairy Godmother from Cinderella, so Magno should be a snap for him.

Vanity Fair

Glenn Close has been cast as the District 12 Capitol escort who precedes Effie Trinket. Malicious, spiteful, and desperately trying to hang on to a long-passed youth with the help of ridiculous fashion and cosmetic choices, Drusilla is a character who needs just the right actress to make her equally silly and terrifying. Glenn Close may just be perfect. She is incredibly talented and can disappear into roles as radically different as Nova Prime in The Guardians of the Galaxy and J.D. Vance’s grandmother in Hillbilly Elegy,  so she is more than capable of taking on the role. Although Drusilla is a smaller part, Close will make her memorable. The role on her vita that makes her absolutely perfect for Drusilla, in my opinion, is one of my favorite films and its sequel, the 1990s live action 101 Dalmatians.  Unlike recent reboots that try to make villains into sympathetic figures, this hilarious take on a fashion terrorist who goes to the dogs pulls out all the stops. Many of the Cruella deVille ensembles are as unhinged as those worn by Drusilla, and the fact that Close does demented and funny together so beautifully bodes well for her take on Drusilla.

It will be interesting to see how Hollywood deals with this strange couple, who remain married after decades despite hating each other, apparently as some sort of tax scheme.

I have not mentioned Ben Wang as Wyatt simply because he isn’t playing a double/half of a pair, or younger version of another character. As more casting news emerges, we can include him in our conversation, but, we’ll really know how well these actors fit their roles once the film is released.

What are your thoughts on the casting so far? Surprise? Disappointment?

Profound disinterest?