Beginning of the end

Josh Hutcherson hungers for more

By Tatat Bunnag
Photographs courtesy of
Sahamongkol Film International

One of the most highly-anticipated films of 2014 — The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 — is due to hit local cinemas this week.

Mockingjay Part 1 is the first part of the final story in Suzanne Collins’ hugely popular Hunger Games series. In this film, rebellious heroine Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) sets out for another battle against the Capitol and President Snow in an effort to save District 13.

The new film also sees the return of 22-year-old actor Josh Hutcherson, once again playing Peeta Mellark, who has seemingly been brainwashed by the Capitol. In his brainwashed state, Peeta tries to convince Katniss to surrender to the Capitol.

Student Weekly recently had a great opportunity to conduct an exclusive interview with Josh, who eagerly told us all about The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1.

Student Weekly: Can you tell us about your role as Peeta in this film?

Josh: I’ve always thought that the way Peeta’s character develops in the book series is really incredible. He’s such a vulnerable young man at the beginning. He’s literally tortured and has mental suffering inflicted on him, but by the third book he has become an incredible person. It’s a character I’m really excited about.

Student Weekly: Why has the Mockingjay part of the story been split into two parts?

Josh: I’m glad that they split it into two movies because so much happens in that third book that you’d lose a lot if you tried to squeeze it into a single two-hour movie.

Student Weekly: We heard that the filming of Mockingjay Part 2 has also been completed. Did the cast have a big celebration when filming finished?

Josh: The last one took nine months to film, so everybody was too tired to have a big party afterwards! We were also sad to be finishing. We had a wrap party in Berlin, and since we were all staying at the Soho House, we hung out on the rooftop a lot.

Student Weekly: What was it like working with the late Philip Seymour Hoffman in this film?

Josh: I only had the privilege of sharing one scene with Hoffman. It was a dance ball scene in the last film. But I saw him a lot on the set. It was really sad and shocking how he died. They’d pretty much shot all of his scenes before he died, so they won’t have to re-create him with any weird CGI effects.

Student Weekly: Did you keep any souvenirs from the film set?

Josh: I took the pendant that I gave Katniss during a scene on a beach. It’s the pendant that opens and has a picture of her family. I kept that as a memento.

Student Weekly: What are your plans for the future?

Josh: Well, it has been really crazy lately. I have to remind myself that I’m only 22, because part of me wants to keep going and going. I just finished Hunger Games and I’ve been working non-stop for 12 years, so it might be time for me to slow down. That’s what I’m trying to do now.

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