Catching Fire Casting and Actors Who Slum It?

So it’s being reported that an offer is out for Philip Seymour Hoffman to star as Plutarch “it begins at Midnight”  Heavensbee  in the next Hunger Games film Catching Fire to be directed by Francis Lawrence.  While I can’t really picture him as Plutarch, the head gamesmaker in the 75th Hunger Games, I have no doubt that he’d be able to do a fantastic job.   The only thing is that he is not what I would have thought for the character.

I guess I can be in on the casting commentary now because I have read all the books.  Prior to the first films release I finally read all three books and thoroughly enjoyed them, but I had the problem that I read it now with the actors from the film in mind.  I had seen enough commercials and trailers to know who was who, but it didn’t get in my way TOO much while reading.  However, once I got to Catching Fire and Mockingjay, the new characters introduced were uncharted territory.  My mind created strong depictions of Finnick, Beetee and Wiress, and Plutarch, based on actual actors this time, and not just whatever I imagined.  That being said, I saw Plutarch as more of a Michael Ironside.  If you know who that is, you know he’s played Plutarch-like roles almost all of his life.  For Hoffmann this type of role is a bit of a departure, but it’s just a little bit sad.

Who even knows if he’ll say yes though.

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5 thoughts on “Catching Fire Casting and Actors Who Slum It?

  1. Dunn says:

    I don’t think it would be that much slumming it, just think about the casting of Robocop. We have gotten to the point where a huge percentage of the movies made are genre, which is great for us as geeks, but not as great for “serious” actors.

  2. russ says:

    you’re right but, PSH is one of those perennial Oscarbaiters, so to see him go genre for the middle of a tweeny franchise just looks a certain way (granted Hunger Games is more than just a tweeny franchise, but in comparison to what he usually does, it seems that that way).

    • Dunn says:

      Yeah, I can totally see where you are coming from, but remember he was in Mission Impossible 3, where he essentially elevated the entire film.

  3. peter says:

    Well Michael Sheen did Twilight.

    you always hear these actors saying in interviews “I want to be in something i can take my kids to see” which is adorable.

    I would watch PSH in anything. I would also watch Ironside in anything.

  4. johnnytigs says:

    Now that you have planted the Ironside seed (Ironseed?) in my brain I want that so much more than PSH, and I was excited when I heard he was offered the role. But I good, drunken Sam Fisher, err, Ironside, would be perfect in anything.

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