Hunger Games Prequel Adds Eleven New Cast Members

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is the first film in the Hunger Games universe since The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 was released in 2015, and the cast keeps growing. Recently, the upcoming prequel has added big names like Viola Davis (Head Gamemaker Volumnia Gaul), Peter Dinklage (Casca Highbottom), and Jason Schwartzman ( Lucretius “Lucky” Flickerman). The show is set to star Tom Blyth as Coriolanus Snow who was played by Donald Sutherland in the original Hunger Games films. Other previously announced cast members include Rachel Zegler, Hunter Schafer, Josh Andrés Rivera, and more. Now, Deadline has reported 11 new names to the cast list. 

According to the latest report, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will also include Fionnula Flanagan as Grandma’am, young Coriolanus Snow’s strict grandmother. Isobel Jesper Jones is playing Mayfair Lipp, the daughter of the mayor of District 12. Honor Gillies will be making her professional acting debut as Barb Azure. Eike Onyambu has been cast as Tam Amber, Konstantin Taffet will be playing Clerk Carmine, Burn Gorman is Commander Hoff, Scott Folan is Beanpole, Carl Spencer is Smiley, and Michael Greco and Daniela Grubert have been cast as Strabo Plinth and Mrs. Plinth, the wealthy parents to Sejanus Plinth (Rivera), Coriolanus’s best friend.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will follow 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow as he sees a chance for a change in fortune when he is chosen to be a mentor to Lucy Gray Baird (Zegler), the girl tribute from the impoverished District 12. Tigris Snow (Schafer) is Coriolanus’s cousin and confidante, “who advises him in everything – from his role as mentor to the core of his moral compass.” The film will see the return of Francis Lawrence, who directed the final three installments in the Hunger Games film series. 

Previously announced cast members also include Nick Benson, Laurel Marsden, Lilly Cooper, Luna Steeples, and Hiroki Berrecboth. Benson will play Jessup, tribute from District 12 alongside Zegler’s Lucy; Marsden will play Mayfair Lipp, who places Lucy Gray’s name into contention for the tenth Hunger Games; Cooper will play Arachne Crane, mentor to a tribute from District 10; Steeples will play Dill, tribute from District 11; and Berrecloth will play Treech, tribute from District 7. This movie is certainly shaping up to have quite a big cast! 

“Tom Blyth is an explosive rising talent whose mesmerizing and charismatic presence makes him an exciting actor and perfect for this leading role,” Erin Westerman, president of Production for Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, said in a statement.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is set to open in theaters on November 17, 2023.