There’s a new Hunger Games tribute in town with Rachel Zegler’s Lucy Gray Baird. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes has the star of West Side Story and Shazam! Fury of the Gods entering the world of Panem as District 12’s songstress of a female tribute. The role is a full-circle moment for Zegler considering she can recall sitting in theaters as a fan of the novels watching Jennifer Lawrence debut her four-film-spanning role of Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games.
Zegler was 10 years old when The Hunger Games hit theaters in the spring of 2012. Here’s what she recalled about her first experience seeing Suzanne Collins’ dystopian world be realized on the big screen:
I went with my sister and my mom to the theater to see it. The woman next to my sister had never read the books or seen the film before, and when the mutts came out, she started screaming, ‘What’s gonna happen next?’ And it is ingrained in my memory forever. I hope people in our theaters do it as well.
While speaking to People, Zegler could clearly remember seeing the third act of The Hunger Games alongside her sister and mom. She was an avid reader of The Hunger Games books, and she knew what was coming in the final moments of the 2012 film. However, she recalled one of the other audience members being on the absolute edge of their seats as the final act of the movie had Muttations (aka mutts) entering the arena to add more drama to the mix for Katniss and Peeta’s harrowing time as tributes.
During the Los Angeles press conference for The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which CinemaBlend attended virtually, Zegler ranked how into the franchise she is as a nine out of a ten, sharing that she read all the books and saw all the movies as they came out. She recalled the franchise being a “bonding experience” for herself, her mother and her older sister since they all were reading and watching them together.
When Suzanne Collins’ prequel novel, a controversial origin story for President Snow, hit bookshelves in 2020, Zegler picked it up immediately and started to imagine herself as the “brown-haired girl who loved to sing from District 12.” You can imagine her excitement when she learned from her agent that director Francis Lawrence had deemed her his “top pick” to play the part!
Not only that but The Hunger Games author Suzanne Collins has praised the adaptation of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, calling the movie an “insightful and gorgeous interpretation.” The author was additionally involved and has shared her love for the original Hunger Games movies prior, as well. It must be really rewarding for Zegler, to not only be part of another 2023 new movie releases, but one approved by the author she grew up reading and watching movies based on her works.
