'The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping' cast tease Haymitch’s brutal origin story and the rebellion

The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is taking audiences back to one of the darkest chapters in Panem's history, with Joseph Zada stepping into the role of a young Haymitch Abernathy decades before he becomes the hardened mentor fans know from the original films.

In an exclusive interview with Entertainment Weekly, Zada, Mckenna Grace, Whitney Peak, Glenn Close, Elle Fanning and director Francis Lawrence opened up about the making of the highly anticipated prequel, which explores Haymitch's 50th Hunger Games and the events that begin planting the seeds of rebellion.

The film is set 40 years after The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes and 24 years before Katniss Everdeen enters the arena. Haymitch is celebrating his 18th birthday when his name is called at the Reaping, abruptly ending the relatively peaceful life he has built in District 12.

Zada described his version of Haymitch as almost the opposite of the cynical, alcohol-dependent character audiences eventually meet in the original Hunger Games films. At the beginning of Sunrise on the Reaping, Haymitch is young, optimistic and hopeful, even while living under the oppressive rule of the Capitol.

"He chooses to be oblivious to it, so that he can live his life in denial of everything going on around him," Zada explained. But that attempt to ignore the world around him is shattered when he is selected for the Games.

The 50th Hunger Games is also unlike the Games seen in the earlier films. To mark the second Quarter Quell, the Capitol doubles the number of tributes, forcing each district to send four young people instead of two. That means 48 tributes enter the arena, creating a much larger and more dangerous spectacle.

For Zada, Haymitch's greatest strength is his ability to read people and situations. He described the character as an "anti-Katniss" who is particularly good at understanding how the Games work.

"He's very intuitive, very instinctive," Zada said, adding that one of Haymitch's strengths is his ability to recognise what is really happening beneath the surface.

Whitney Peak plays Lenore Dove, Haymitch's girlfriend, who understands the danger of the Capitol far more clearly than he does. Their relationship gives Haymitch something to fight for before he enters the arena, while Lenore's connection to the Covey also places her closer to the spirit of rebellion.

Peak said Lenore cannot share Haymitch's willingness to ignore what is happening around them. Their relationship begins with a rare moment of peace on Haymitch's birthday, just before the Reaping changes both of their lives.

Mckenna Grace plays Maysilee Donner, another tribute from District 12 who develops a significant bond with Haymitch. Grace and Zada became close while filming in Spain, even living next door to one another during production.

The two actors used their time together to immerse themselves in the wider Hunger Games world. They watched the previous films, worked on their scenes and even created additional scenes for their characters that were never intended to appear in the movie.

The film also features several characters whose younger versions have previously appeared in the franchise. Elle Fanning plays a young Effie Trinket, while Jesse Plemons takes over the role of Plutarch Heavensbee, previously played by Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Plemons admitted that stepping into Hoffman's role came with a complicated emotional weight. He said comparisons with an actor he deeply admired felt "slightly... spooky", but eventually approached Plutarch as his own character rather than attempting to imitate Hoffman's performance.

Ralph Fiennes also takes on the role of President Snow, portraying the character decades before the events of the original films. Lawrence said Snow is now at the height of his power and has created an appearance of peace that requires him to remain constantly vigilant against rebellion.

Glenn Close, meanwhile, plays Drusilla Sickle, a new Capitol figure whose appearance required the veteran actress to make a dramatic transformation. Close drew inspiration from Suzanne Collins' description of Drusilla and even experimented with pulling the corners of her mouth back to create the character's distinctive appearance.

Lawrence said the production itself was as demanding as the story. The cast and crew travelled to Spain's Cantabrian Mountains, where there was little existing infrastructure and filming locations were spread across hundreds of miles.

The scale of the Games created another major challenge. Because 48 tributes appear in the arena, the production also required 48 stunt doubles, alongside twice the costumes and considerably more crew and equipment.

The difficult shoot even faced an unexpected interruption when wildfires affected the mountains. Grace recalled that the cast and crew had to evacuate to Oviedo for two nights before production could continue.

For Zada, however, the biggest challenge was stepping into a role previously made iconic by Woody Harrelson. Lawrence acknowledged that the young actor had to "fill Woody's shoes", but encouraged him to find his own version of Haymitch rather than simply imitate Harrelson.

That approach is central to the film. Audiences already know what Haymitch eventually becomes, but Sunrise on the Reaping is interested in the person he was before the trauma of the Games transformed him.

The result promises to be both a character origin story and a crucial chapter in the wider history of Panem. As Peak put it, the movie is "the first domino", showing how the events surrounding Haymitch's Games begin setting the stage for the rebellion that Katniss will eventually lead.

The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is scheduled to hit cinemas on November 20, 2026.