“Hunger Games” Stars Hit the White Carpet at LA Premiere
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Lionsgate(LOS ANGELES) — The Los Angeles premiere of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1 was held at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live Monday night. Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson, Jena Malone, and the other stars walked the white carpet for fans’ first look at the third film in the adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ bestselling book series.
In stark contrast to her character Katniss Everdeen’s dark locks and black body armor, Lawrence’s hair was much lighter as she wore a scoop-neck ivory-colored Dior Couture dress, complete with shimmering silver details and gold sandals. The movie’s two leading men, Hutcherson and Hemsworth, however, went dark, wearing black suits.
Hutcherson, who plays Peeta Mellark in the series, said of Mockingjay, “It’s so different from the first two Hunger Games. It becomes about the consequences of war, and it’s a much bigger scope. You see it’s not just about the games, it’s about society and how they all are trying to make a change in the world. So it becomes a much bigger film I think.”
One notable absence from the premiere was Oscar winner Phillip Seymour Hoffman, who died of a drug overdose in February. The actor passed away before some of his scenes in both Part 1 and 2 were finished, and while it was thought computer generated technology would be used to replace Hoffman, director Francis Lawrence reportedly balked out of respect for the actor.
Instead, the filmmakers shuffled some of the lines his character, Head Gamemaker Plutarch Heavensbee, was to deliver.
Producer Nina Jacobson explained to ABC News Radio, “We had two scenes that he hadn’t shot, and in both of them there were scenes where we gave the dialog and the content of that scenes to either Effi or Hamitch.” Those characters are played by Elizabeth Banks and Woody Harrelson, respectively.
She explained, “The scene where they show Katniss and Cinna’s notebooks, he should be in the scene, he’s not. And we had Effi there, and you know, she’s certainly capable of delivering that scene. And there’s another scene at the end of the second movie where we had to give his dialog to Woody and our other actors. We have wonderful actors and characters who could step into those parts and they did.”
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1 opens nationwide Friday.
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