Woody Harrelson is coming back as Haymitch Abernathy after all, and the confirmation comes from Jennifer Lawrence herself, who has spoken publicly for the first time about returning to the role of Katniss Everdeen for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping.
Lawrence discussed the return on the latest episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast with host Alex Cooper. Asked what it felt like to play Katniss again for the first time in 11 years, she called the experience “unbelievable” and “so crazy,” and said much of what made it hit home was who was waiting for her on set. “It was the same crew,” she said, including the same assistant director she has worked with many times over the years. “It was so emotional.”
Josh Hutcherson is back alongside her as Peeta Mellark, and by Lawrence’s account the two fell straight back into their old rhythm. “Josh and I didn’t walk to the bathroom without our arms around each other,” she said. “It was so beautiful.”
Harrelson’s entrance, meanwhile, was pure Haymitch. “Woody, obviously, came through the window of my hotel room uninvited,” Lawrence joked. “It wouldn’t be the same if he listened to boundaries or used a door.”
Reports of Lawrence and Hutcherson appearing in the film first surfaced last December, but Lawrence had stayed quiet about it until now, and Harrelson’s return had not been part of that earlier reporting, as Variety notes. Readers of Suzanne Collins’ novel already know why the film needs the three of them: the book closes with a flash-forward epilogue that catches up with Katniss, Peeta and Haymitch years later, and the movie is following the book’s lead.
For anyone coming in fresh, Sunrise on the Reaping is a prequel set 24 years before Katniss’ story. It follows a 16-year-old Haymitch, played by Joseph Zada, as he is forced into the 50th Hunger Games, the Second Quarter Quell, an edition with twice the usual number of tributes. Francis Lawrence, who has directed every film in the series since Catching Fire, is back behind the camera.
The reunion is landing at the busiest possible moment for the film: tickets went on sale today, with IMAX early access screenings on November 18, ahead of the November 20 opening.