For some reason, mere hours after learning Jennifer Lawrence has won the coveted role of Katniss Everdeen in HUNGER GAMES, the decision has been met with more criticism than support. Chief among the complaints is the fact Lawrence is too old to play the part, as she’s 20 and the role is of a 15 year old. Cue director Gary Ross, who spoke to EW to defend his casting decision…
About the age issue, Ross (above) hit back with:
“First of all, I talked to Suzanne extensively about this. Suzanne saw every single audition. And not only did Suzanne not have an issue with Jen’s age, she felt you need someone of a certain maturity and power to be Katniss. This is a girl who needs to incite a revolution. We can’t have an insubstantial person play her, and we can’t have someone who’s too young to play this. Suzanne was incredibly adamant about this. Far from being too old, she was very concerned that we would cast someone who was too young. In Suzanne’s mind, and in mine, Katniss is not a young girl. It’s important for her to be a young woman. She’s a maternal figure in her family. She’s had to take care of Prim, and in many ways her mother, since her father’s death. She’s had to grow up pretty quickly.”
About the look of Katniss, which is described as being olive skinned and bi-racial (Lawrence is obviously anything but), Ross offered:
“Suzanne and I talked about that as well. There are certain things that are very clear in the book. Rue is African-American. Thresh is African-American. Suzanne had no issues with Jen playing the role. And she thought there was a tremendous amount of flexibility. It wasn’t doctrine to her. Jen will have dark hair in the role, but that’s something movies can easily achieve. [Laughs] I promise all the avid fans of The Hunger Games that we can easily deal with Jennifer’s hair color.”
As you may recall, I had Hailee Steinfeld (TRUE GRIT) winning the role – in terms of age and physiology, she fits the part better than anyone. Even so, I have zero qualms about Lawrence (below) being cast. Do you?