The Red-Hot Hunger Games Cast Before They Were Famous

josh hutcherson young high school yearbook 2008 photo

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Then: Josh Hutcherson, Sophomore Year at Ryle High School, Union, Kentucky (2008)

Josh Hutcherson started acting even earlier than costar and fellow Kentucky thespian Jennifer Lawrence, auditioning for parts at age 9. He quickly got cast in TV shows and made his film debut in 2003’s American Splendor.

josh hutcherson young high school yearbook photo 2008 hunger games movie 2012

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Now: Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark in The Hunger Games

By the time Hutcherson was cast as the baker’s son, Peeta Mellark, in The Hunger Games, the actor already had 17 films on his resume, including starring roles in Zathura and Bridge to Terabithia. As Peeta, Hutcherson gets to play a lover and a fighter as Katniss’s fellow District 12 tribute (and secret admirer).

elizabeth banks third watch tv show 1999 photo

Then: Elizabeth Banks on Third Watch (1999)

Funny lady Elizabeth Banks (originally Mitchell) got her first professional film role in the indie flick Surrender Dorothy, but it took her years before she became a breakout star for her raunchy comedic turn in The 40-Year-Old Virgin.

elizabeth banks third watch tv show 1999 photo hunger games movie 2012

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Now: Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket in The Hunger Games

Already a friend of Hunger Games director Gary Ross's and a huge fan of the books, Banks said she actively campaigned for the role of outlandish Capitol District 12 representative Effie Trinket. Banks told EW that she pitched Ross that Effie “drank the Kool-Aid. Essentially she’s a villain—a really fun villain, but a villain nonetheless. The challenges for me were how to make her theatrical and larger than life but also fit into the tone of this movie, which is very serious.”

lenny kravitz young high school yearbook 1978 photo

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Then: Lenny Kravitz, Eighth Grade at John Adams Junior High, Santa Monica, California (1978)

Lenny Kravitz was rocking his individual style even in junior high! Lenny started playing drums and then guitar at the tender age of 6. When he was 10, he and his family moved to Los Angeles, where he first did classical training and then rock 'n' roll took over his soul.

lenny kravitz young high school yearbook 1978 photo hunger games 2012

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Now: Lenny Kravitz as Cinna in The Hunger Games

In one of the most surprising casting decisions for the movie, Gary Ross hired Kravitz to play Cinna, the Capitol stylist who bonds with and supports Katniss Everdeen in her preparation for the games. Kravitz told ScreenCrave: “Gary actually called to ask me to be in the film, and I had to say, ‘I don’t know what it is.’ I read the book the next day. Downloaded it. Then I called him back very quickly.”

liam hemsworth neighbors 2007 movie photo

Then: Liam Hemsworth in Neighbours (2007)

Coming from a family of acting siblings (Chris and Luke), it was only natural that Liam follow in his older brother’s footsteps, looking to make his mark in Australia’s acting circles. Like Luke, Liam was cast in the Aussie soap Neighhours, playing an athletic paraplegic.

liam hemsworth neighbors 2007 movie photo hunger games 2012

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Now: Liam Hemsworth as Gale Hawthorne in The Hunger Games

After losing out to his brother Chris for the title role in 2011's Thor, Liam quickly landed the romantic lead in the 2010 Miley Cyrus drama The Last Song. (The two are an actual item now.) He was then cast as Katniss’s fellow hunting buddy, Gale Hawthorne, who has inadvertently helped her train for the games and promises to feed and protect her family when she has to leave for the Capitol.

stanley tucci young high school yearbook 1978 photo

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Then: Stanley Tucci, Senior Year at John Jay High School, Katonah, New York (1978)

Stanley Tucci looked like a guy just itching to steal the limelight even just sitting for a high school yearbook photo. True to form, he bolted high school after graduation for a theater degree and was on Broadway by 1982.

stanley tucci young high school yearbook 1978 photo hunger games movie 2012

Now: Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickerman in The Hunger Games

A character actor who manages to make every part big and memorable, Tucci was a no-brainer to play the flamboyant Capitol Games host and interviewer Caesar Flickerman. Tucci even makes the character’s signature blue hair and eyebrows look cool, not Smurfy in the least.

wes bentley young high school yearbook photo 1996

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Then: Wes Bentley, Senior Year at Sylvan Hills High School, Sherwood, Arkansas (1996)

Talk about intense and brooding: Young Wes Bentley was unleashing his soul-searching stare way back in high school. He let it loose on audiences a mere three years later playing Ricky in American Beauty.

wes bentley young high school yearbook photo 1996 hunger games movie 2012

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Now: Wes Bentley as Seneca Crane in The Hunger Games

Match those piercing Bentley eyes with some seriously ornate facial hair and you get the Capitol Gamesmaker, Seneca Crane. The master behind the horrors in the Arena, Crane gives Bentley a new kind of villain to chew on with his signature style.

willow shields in plain sight tv show photo

Then: Willow Shields in In Plain Sight (2009)

From a family with acting siblings, Willow Shields made her professional acting debut at age 9 in the USA Network drama In Plain Sight.

willow shields in plain sight tv show photo hunger games movie 2012

Now: Willow Shields as Primrose Everdeen in The Hunger Games

Two years later, the casting team on The Hunger Games auditioned Willow by tape and then brought her out to L.A. to meet with director Gary Ross. Shields quickly showed she had the emotional chops to be Katniss Everdeen’s empathetic little sister and won the part on the spot.

jennifer lawrence young high school yearbook 2005 photo

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Then: Jennifer Lawrence, Eighth Grade at Kammerer Middle School, Louisville, Kentucky (2005)

A Kentucky native, smiley young Jennifer Lawrence liked to perform in church plays. By age 14, she talked her parents into taking her to New York City to snag a talent agent. It worked, and she hit the ground running, appearing in TV guest roles and eventually landing a part in The Bill Engvall Show.

jennifer lawrence young high school yearbook 2005 photo hunger games 2012

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Now: Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games

Having earned an Academy Award nomination for her part in Winter’s Bone, Jennifer Lawrence treated the role of 16-year-old heroine Katniss Everdeen just as seriously. Lawrence dyed her hair brunette and learned archery skills to authentically reflect Katniss’s traits from the book. The actress even trained in parkour so she could traverse the Arena forest like a pro.

woody harrelson young high school yearbook photo 1979 photo

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Then: Woody Harrelson, Senior Year at Lebanon High School, Lebanon, Ohio (1979)

Even in high school, Harrelson had that rascal’s smile. A Texas boy from Midland, Woody went to Hanover College in Indiana for theater. Only two years after he graduated, Woody was cast as dim bartender Woody Boyd on Cheers.

woody harrelson young high school yearbook photo 1979 photo hunger games movie 2012

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Now: Woody Harrelson as Haymitch Abernathy in The Hunger Games

Harrelson’s since earned two Academy Award nominations for The People vs. Larry Flynt and The Messenger. He almost passed up playing drunken District 12 victor and mentor Haymitch Abernathy until he read the books and director Gary Ross called to plead with him. Harrelson told Fandango, “Gary called me and said, 'Dude, you've got to do this. I don't have a second choice. You've got to play Haymitch.' And I was like, 'Well, when you put it that way... let's do this damn thing.'”

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Then: Donald Sutherland with Former Wife Shirley Douglas (Circa 1968)

A native Canadian, Donald Sutherland started acting seriously in the early '60s, doing British films and television shows like The Saint and The Avengers. His first major film was The Dirty Dozen in 1967, and he quickly graduated to leading-man status with films like MASH and Klute.

donald sutherland red carpet 1969 photo hunger games movie 2012

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Now: Donald Sutherland as President Coriolanus Snow in The Hunger Games

Acting steadily for 50 years in every kind of film genre, Sutherland actually read The Hunger Games script, was hooked, and pitched Gary Ross a more detailed backstory for the refined but villainous President Snow. Ross loved the material and even added a few original scenes to the finished script.