When is was announced that Jennifer Lawrence was going to play Katniss Everdeen in the film version of The Hunger Games, some fans took to the internet to bemoan the casting, partly because Katniss is a brunette and Lawrence is blonde. It seems they hadn’t ever considered the existence of hair dye, as the first image of Jennifer in character has arrived, on the front cover of Entertainment Weekly, and the Winter’s Bone star has gone dark.
As well as the image, there’s a quote from Lawrence’s interview in the mag, where she compares getting the role to her Oscar experience, “(Director Gary Ross) was asking me what the experience was like, and I just kind of opened up and said, ‘I feel like a rag doll. I have hair and makeup people coming to my house every day and putting me in new, uncomfortable, weird dresses and expensive shoes, and I just shut down and raise my arms up for them to get the dress on, and pout my lips when they need to put the lipstick on.’ And we both started laughing because that’s exactly what it’s like for Katniss in the Capitol. She was a girl who’s all of a sudden being introduced to fame. I know what that feels like to have all this flurry around you and feel like, ‘Oh, no, I don’t belong here.'”
Lawrence is heading a cast that also includes Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks and Stanley Tucci, to tell the tale of a future society where the US has broken down into separate factions, the nation of Panem forces each of its twelve districts to send a teenage boy and girl to compete in The Hunger Games. Part twisted entertainment, part government intimidation tactic, The Hunger Games are a nationally televised event in which ‘Tributes’ must fight with one another until one survivor remains. Katniss Everdeen (Lawrence), is representing District 12, replacing her chosen younger sister.
The film arrives in cinemas early next year.