By The Hunger Games is one of those young adult series that makes me glad I have a Kindle, so I can read it on the train to work without drawing weird looks. You know what? A series centered around a dystopian, post-apocalyptic society where the government forces children to fight to the death to prove their own control over the populace is awesome. For God’s sake, the first book is basically Battle Royale with fewer kids and less sexual tension. Two of this year’s Oscar nominees are up for the central role of Katniss Everdeen, a badass fifteen year-old girl who volunteers for a savage, government-sponsored fight to the death when her little sister is chosen. Both True Grit’s Hailee Steinfeld and Winter’s Bone’s Jennifer Lawrence are circling the role, and both are well-liked by the studio. Lawrence is, at the moment, the front-runner, though she sits at the maximum age for the 15-20 years old casting call.
Really, we all win regardless of who gets the part. These are two seriously talented young actresses. The biggest thing Jennifer Lawrence has against her is that she’s already out aged Katniss throughout the three books in the series, while Hailee Steinfeld would remain closer to age appropriate if the entire series is made over the next six or seven years.
P.S. The headline is me being a huge dork. It’s to do with the books. I swear, I’m a full-grown man with his own living space that isn’t his parent’s basement.
[Via /Film]