Jennifer Lawrence On The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Pt 1

Things are kicking off in Panem: District 12 has been destroyed, District 13, thought to have been destroyed, has actually been busy preparing itself for war. They now have a powerful revolutionary symbol, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), the reluctant hero who only wanted to save her sister.

Mockingjay – Part 1 is the third film in The Hunger Games franchise, based on the series of books by Suzanne Collins. As this final instalment begins, for the cast who brought the popular books to life, the story has ended. “I cried on the first day of our ten-month movie,” Jennifer Lawrence says. “And [director Francis Lawrence, no relation] was like, ‘What’s wrong?’ I just started thinking about it being over,” she says, in mock sobs. It’s not the bravest response, but it is a human one. And according to Jennifer, being human is probably the only thing her and her fictional counterpart have in common. Where one is bright and happy, able to laugh at herself and joke with her co-stars, the other is invariably dour. “She’s much braver than I am,” Jennifer ventures.

But could some parallels be drawn between the two worlds they inhabit? “Well it’s interesting that you bring that up,” states the film’s director, Francis Lawrence. “I think that the stories definitely mirror things that are happening in the world now. I think that, unfortunately, it mirrors things that have been happening in the world for thousands of years.”

Regarding the Thai protesters who, earlier in the year were arrested for using the movie’s three-finger salute, the director muses, “Part of it was sort of thrilling, that something that happens in a movie can become a symbol for freedom or protest. The thing that’s disturbing is it’s this weird reflection. We’re mirroring what’s happening in the world and suddenly it’s mirroring back. And kids are getting arrested. And when kids start getting arrested, it takes the thrill out of it.”

"I cried on the first day of our ten-month movie."

Fans of the books will find quite a few differences, but none that Collins didn’t approve herself. “In the books there’s this character, Fulvia, who performs a lot of the functions that Effie does,” says producer Nina Jacobson. “And I think we realised that we would rather see Effie doing those things because we know her and we care about her. And also to see a side of the capital that isn’t so easily polarised, isn’t so easily painted in villainous terms… When we first presented the idea to Suzanne she took a little bit of time to think on it, and then after she saw Catching Fire, she called and said ‘Fulvia who?’”

Katniss, Gale, Peeta and their comrades may not be in the Arena, but the entire country is turning into one. As they struggle with everything from PTSD, battles, bombardments, a good dose of youthful anguish, and that enduring love triangle, Mockingjay – Part 1 promises to be a good deal more intense than its predecessors.