The Hunger Games Stars Jennifer Lawrence and Rachel Zegler Finally Meet in Person
Zegler will join the franchise with November's The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes prequel.
The two heroines of The Hunger Games franchise have officially met. Rachel Zegler, who is set to star in the saga's forthcoming prequel film The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, recently shared video of herself and The Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence posing for a picture together at Paris Fashion Week. Zegler subsequently shared the video on her social media and referred to Lawrence, who previously portrayed Katniss Everdeen across the saga's first four films, as "a mother to many. a mother to Me."
a mother to many. a mother to Me pic.twitter.com/96ep8DaWIX
— rachel zegler (she/her/hers) (@rachelzegler) September 26, 2023
Who Does Rachel Zegler Play in The Hunger Games?
Zegler is set to star in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes as Lucy Gray Baird, a young singer who becomes the tribute for District 12 in the 10th annual Hunger Games, and whose spirit has a profound impact on a young Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth).
"Katniss was an introvert and a survivor," director Francis Lawrence explained in a recent interview. "She was quite quiet and stoic, you could almost say [she was] asexual. Lucy Gray is the opposite. She wears her sexuality on her sleeve, [and] she really is a performer... She loves crowds. She knows how to play crowds and manipulate people."
Is Jennifer Lawrence in the New The Hunger Games?
Given The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes' setting, it has been safe to assume that Lawrence will not be reprising her role in the prequel. Still, in an interview with Variety earlier this year, the Oscar-winning actress revealed that she would "totally" return to the character in the right context.
"Oh, my God – totally!" Lawrence explained. "If Katniss ever could ever come back into my life, 100 percent... My producing partner just clutched her heart."
What Is The Hunger Games Prequel About?
In The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which arrives in theaters on November 17th, years before he would become the tyrannical President of Panem, 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) is the last hope for his fading lineage, a once-proud family that has fallen from grace in a post-war Capitol. With the 10th annual Hunger Games fast approaching, the young Snow is alarmed when he is assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), the girl tribute from impoverished District 12. But, after Lucy Gray commands all of Panem's attention by defiantly singing during the reaping ceremony, Snow thinks he might be able to turn the odds in their favor. Uniting their instincts for showmanship and newfound political savvy, Snow and Lucy's race against time to survive will ultimately reveal who is a songbird, and who is a snake.
The ensemble cast for The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes also includes Hunter Schafer, Jason Schwartzman, Laurel Marsden, Viola Davis, Peter Dinklage, Jose Andrés Rivera, Ashley Liao, Mackenzie Lansing, Irene Boehm, Cooper Dillon, Luna Kuse, Kjell Brutscheidt, Dimitri Abold, Athena Strates, Dakota Shapiro, George Somner and Vaughan Reilly, Lilly Maria Cooper, Sofia Sannchez, and Max Raphael. Nina Jacobson will executive produce alongside her producing partner Brad Simpson, as well as Lawrence, Collins, and Tim Palen.