Hunger Games’ director says Tom Blyth blew every other auditioner ‘out of the water’

Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson’s performances as Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark defined the original Hunger Games films. But the prequel, set 64 years before Katniss and Peeta’s story, needed a new group of actors who could hold their own.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is an origin story for Panem’s dictator, President Coriolanus Snow. It takes fans back to a time when Coriolanus was just an ambitious young student who had not yet become the cutthroat politician we see in the major books and films. His story is intertwined with that of Lucy Gray Baird, the District 12 Tribute he has been assigned to mentor, whose natural flair for showmanship and captivating songs inspire him to turn the brutal Hunger Games into a flashier spectacle.

Director Francis Lawrence tells Polygon that the filmmakers were looking for new faces when it came to the lead roles. Many actors auditioned for the role of Snow, but Lawrence says Billy the Kid star Tom Blyth “immediately blew everyone out of the water.”

“Some of it is physical,” he admits. “He’s got those big blue eyes – (you) could see it in his face, Okay, I could believe that maybe 65 years later he could turn into Donald Sutherland.”

Image: Lionsgate Films

Image: Lionsgate

But it wasn’t just about how feasible Blyth could look as a younger Donald Sutherland. Whoever got the role had to walk a line between being charming and conniving, someone you want to root for, but you’re not surprised when he eventually turns into a villain. Blyth brought his acting chops to the role, and Lawrence was consistently impressed throughout filming.

“If you’re telling a story about a young man’s descent into darkness, you need someone who can evoke the audience’s empathy, but then also descend into that darkness in a believable way,” says Lawrence. “(Blyth) is real, Real Good. This kind of charisma never ceased to amaze me. His sense of control in his execution and nuance also surprised me. That really caught me off guard and surprised me in a fantastic way.”

Blyth stood out at auditions, but when it came to casting District 12 singer Lucy Gray, Lawrence had a top choice in mind from the start. Rachel Zegler’s acting and singing in that of Steven Spielberg West Side Story made her Lawrence’s top contender for the role.

“So she and I met, I think, the first time for four hours or something, and had a good conversation about the book, about the character and about the music,” says Lawrence. “I just knew right away that she was the one.”

Photo: Murray Close/Lionsgate

A big part of Lucy Gray’s character is music. She is a member of the Covey, a traveling band of musicians inspired by similar performing groups from turn-of-the-century America. Her passionate outburst of song her Reaping immediately sparks something in Snow, who realizes that her talent for performance is the key to helping her survive the Games. So Lucy Gray’s singing had to be life-savingly good And fit into a certain genre.

“I had high expectations because I think she’s a great actor and a great singer, but the singing blew me away,” says Lawrence. “The fact that she could switch straight from theatrical singing – something you would do West Side Story or on stage – in the exact genre of country bluegrass that we made in this film, which feels like it’s from the turn of the century to Appalachia (19)-20-30. To be able to achieve that style and do it so effortlessly, and sing live every day, that was pretty amazing.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is now in theaters.