By There’s a lot of smaller, random casting going around for the upcoming adaptation of Suzanne Collins’s Hunger Games, most of which you can check out right here. Now, one of the last important roles has finally been cast. Woody Harrelson, a man usually paid in quaaludes, pot, and Jack Daniels, has been cast to play Haymitch Abernathy, a former winner of the Hunger Games and mentor to protagonist Katniss Everdeen, previously cast as Jennifer Lawrence. After the horrors of his experiences in the games, Haymitch descended into decades of alcoholism, but he still maintains a sharp, clever edge, amidst a life of excess.
John C. Reilly was also rumored to be a contender for this role, but I’m much happier with Harrelson. He’s got that undeniable talent of playing both intoxicated (well, “playing”) and utterly confident and competent. I mean, Haymitch is basically a drunk as hell version of his character in Zombieland. This casting just gave me a new reason to be excited for this series to hit the big screen.
[Via /Film]