Fans of "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" were in for a treat this weekend. Director Francis Lawrence (no relation to lead actress Jennifer Lawrence) spoke to MTV News and spilled some juicy details about the upcoming blockbuster. As if that wasn't enough to satisfy fan's appetite, actor Sam Claflin also revealed some details about his much anticipated character Finnick Odair.
On Friday, MTV News reported that Lawrence had shared some of his thoughts on his upcoming blockbuster. Lawrence took over for "The Hunger Games" director Gary Ross and will be directing the series' final two films as well. The director, whose films include "Water for Elephants" and "I Am Legend," said that taking over for Ross made him "nervous about what they [remaining cast and crew] were going to feel," but said, "I think everybody in general was really gracious and worked really hard and ended up being really fun to work with."
As MTV News noted, the director was tasked with casting key characters, including Claflin's Finnick Odair. Of Clafin, Lawrence said, "[Claflin] is very athletic, which is great. He's in great shape. He's very charismatic." He added, "But I was also looking in the long term. There's a kind of rouge-like quality to him in this book. And long term, he's actually an emotional character and a very loyal character and a character who's in love; a character who experience quite a lot of sadness. And he was really able to tap into that, as well as being really charming and sexy and handsome as hell."
Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton reported on Monday that Claflin also had revealed that Finnick would appear slightly more clothed in the film than he had in the novel. The English actor said, "There are certain aspects you can't include, one being, Finnick Odair wearing just the net, not covering his crotch-that was something we couldn't, unfortunately, include but you know, I'm scantily clad. Hopefully people will still be happy."
"I mean, for me, again, like, I was kind of-yeah [Finnick] definitely stuck out somewhat. But for all the wrong reasons. Very selfishly, that was the only character I really cared about," the 26-year-old said.
Claflin added, "No, but the great thing about the books, um, that Suzanne Collins kind of created great arcs to each and every character. No matter, you know, from Katniss all the way down to her sister, her mother. You know each character kinda goes on a journey and I think that's what's so perfect about the books themselves."
As for other characters? Lawrence shared that the second film will also focus more on Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark's (Josh Hutcherson) mentor Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson).
"Hunger Games: Catching Fire" hits theaters November 21, 2013.
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