Our Fan Cast for the Movie Adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ Sunrise on the Reaping
With the March 18 release of Suzanne Collins’s second Hunger Games prequel, Sunrise on the Reaping, the internet is buzzing with theories about who will play young Haymitch in the movie.
A popular TikTok theory suggests casting Walker Scobell, but Collins stated she won’t cast children because of the book’s mature themes. Jennifer Lawrence was 20 when they began filming the first Hunger Games movie.
The demands of the new Percy Jackson TV series also prevent Scobell from fully committing to this role.
The other problem that this movie faces is that a lot of the characters from the book have been seen in other movies in the franchise, which would lead us to believe that they are going off of Woody Harrelson’s look in the Hunger Games for the casting of this role.
Would I love Woody Harrelson CGI’d to look younger in the movie? Absolutely, but that would be expensive and unrealistic.
So here are my two theories for young Haymitch: Rudy Pankow or Charlie Plummer.
Pankow has that more rugged “rascal” demeanor, but after the rumors emanating from the Outer Banks set, it begs the question- will he be professional enough to take on such a beloved role? He has the look of a younger Haymitch with blonde hair and blue eyes, but we haven’t seen him in much other than Outer Banks, so this could be his breakout role… If he nails the audition.
Charlie Plummer is another great candidate. He’s 25 and looks pretty young. He also has blonde hair but not super blonde, like the books. There is a scene in Looking for Alaska where his best friend was killed in a car accident and his acting in this scene makes me think he’d be perfect for the heartbreak we’ll get from the movie given what happened in the book.
I also have hope that they might cast an unknown actor so we don’t have expectations set for how they should act. With the internet fancasts running wild, depending on who they go with, it will definitely trigger some feelings.
Some other roles for my fancast include Lola Tung as Lenore Dove, Charles Michael Davis or Corbin Bleu as Beetee, Keifer Sutherland as younger President Snow, Kit Connor as Plutarch, Theo Somolu as Ampert, Leah Jefferies as Louella, Winona Ryder as Mags, Maya Hawke as Wiress, Kathryn Newton as Maysilee, Charlie Bushnell as Wyatt, Harris Dickinson (with his hair dyed dark) as Burdock, Elle Fanning as Effie, Helena Boham Carter as Drusilla, and Willow Shields as Asterid. She plays Prim in the Hunger Games movies but is 24 now and I think it’d be cool for her to play the younger version of her mom!
