With more than 26 million copies of Suzanne Collins' young adult novel The Hunger Games in print in the US alone, the challenge of bringing it to the screen was immense. And nobody felt this pressure more than the film's star, Jennifer Lawrence, who plays protagonist Katniss Everdeen, the everyday teen thrown into a situation that is anything but everyday.
The Hunger Games takes place in the world of Panem, a post-apocalyptic version of North America comprised of 12 districts, all subservient to a central power, the Capitol. The games are an annual televised event in which one boy and one girl aged 12 to 18 are taken from each of the provinces to compete in a battle to the death in which only one person can survive.
Lawrence's Everdeen enters the games on behalf of her district to spare her sister, who was originally selected. It's a grim scenario, but Lawrence has never been one to run from dark and dismal territory. The 21 year old made a name for herself on the indie scene with 2008's The Burning Plain, and 2010's dark Ozarks-based drama Winter's Bone, for which she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.
With her role in The Hunger Games, she's taking on a character that is already vivid in the minds of millions. Lawrence spoke about the challenge of meeting such great expectations, what she did physically to prepare for the role and the creative forces that helped her bring the best-seller to life.
After 'The Poker House', 'Winter's Bone' and now 'The Hunger Games', what is it about these downtrodden characters that appeals to you?
I don't know. Before I get a script, I'm like, 'Does she like the forest? Does she have younger siblings?' I don't really know what it is. Jodie Foster once told me that, 20 years from now, I would look back at my career and see a pattern, and understand what it had to do with my life. Now, I'm just like, 'I don't know.' I'm just as puzzled as everyone else.
What did you find to be the most challenging aspect of stepping into the role of Katniss?
That she was already in the minds of so many different people. Normally, when you're coming out with a movie, nobody has really seen the character before. You're just giving it to them. I'm playing a character that most people have already had in their mind, and heard her speak in their mind and seen her. That's a scary thing to go into, knowing that so many people already have pictures or an idea of what your character is.
What kind of training did you have to go through for this role?
Running, free running, which is for agility, archery, climbing, combat and yoga. But, that's all.
You've gotten to work with some very strong directors. How does Gary Ross compare? What's his style?
He doesn't even have one. He can communicate with every single actor. He can make anything work. I'm better with technical stuff. Just tell me what you don't like and I'll fix it. Don't tell me to think about [something hypothetical]. That doesn't work for me. Just tell me what's right and what's wrong, and just tell me what to do. So, he was very technical with me. If somebody else needed more emotional guidance, then he could do that.
He can work with any actor. He can communicate about the lighting and the camera. He's a genius. He was one of those directors that has an amazing vision and a very specific vision, and he never once gave that up, which is hard when you're doing a studio film. But, to the studio's credit, they were amazing as well. They were all fans of the books. So, he's strong and he's brilliant, but he also listens to everybody. You never feel like you're being controlled. It was very artistically freeing.
Do you have a favourite scene from the movie?
Yeah, the scene with Stanley Tucci, [above] before I go to the games. That was just hilarious, to see that. That was also the moment that Katniss realises that it's a game, and if she wants a chance to win, she has to play along.
What was it like to work with people like Tucci, Woody Harrelson and Elizabeth Banks on this?
I always try to be a sponge and soak up as much as I can, when I'm working with people like that.
What did your sponge soak up from Harrelson?
Woody is the nicest person in the entire world. You know that he would be the exact same, no matter what his job was or what he was doing. He is just still that guy from Texas. He can strike up a conversation with anybody. It almost seems odd, seeing him on a movie set. He's one of the most incredible actors in the world, and he almost doesn't fit on a set. He's just too relaxed. He has no air about him. You see him hanging out and it's almost like somebody brought their really nice cousin from Texas, and then, all of a sudden, he's on camera.
And, he does backwards acting. We had a scene where I stab a knife through his fingers on the table, and to do that, you have to do everything backwards, and then they put it forward in post. So, we would start [with the knife in the table], and then, slowly, everything would go [backwards]. Woody said, ''I'm even doing backwards acting. When I get here, I start to feel my desire for the jam.'' He was full of gems like that.
Twenty years ago, Katniss would probably have been a male character, and the two male characters would have been girls. How do you feel about that shift, in getting to be the strong female character at the centre of this story?
It's great! I feel like, not only have we gotten to the place where we have a strong female lead, like Lara Croft being the female James Bond, we have somebody who's not even the female James Bond. She is somebody who is literally really a young girl, being thrown into this situation and not knowing if she's going to survive it. That says a lot.
'The Hunger Games' opens on Thursday.
