It's rare for Hollywood to satisfy fandoms these days, especially when it comes to casting — fan dream casting typically sets the bar extremely high.
And yet, Hunger Games, one of the most beloved dystopian series in all of YA, has cracked the casting code. Last fall, author Suzanne Collins announced that she would be releasing her second Hunger Games prequel, a follow-up to 2023's The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. This time, Collins is bringing us back to Panem to tell the story of a young Haymitch Abernathy (played by Woody Harrelson in the original films). Like the first prequel, this latest installment in the Hunger Games universe would also be getting a film adaptation arriving in 2026.
With such a stellar casting job in first prequel — and the original films — fans quickly began to speculate whether the casting directors would be able to pull it off again. Earlier this summer, casting announcements for Sunrise on the Reaping began rolling out with dramatic and theatrical reveals across social media. No one expected such perfect casting matches, like Maya Hawke as Mags or Elle Fanning as Effie Trinket, especially the book-obsessed fans.
Below, Teen Vogue caught up with Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping co-casting directors Debra Zane and Dylan Jury; Zane cast the original Hunger Games films, while Jury came on board for The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. The casting dynamic duo entertained all of our questions about the casting process, current filming for the second prequel, and yes, your self-taped auditions.
Debra Zane: Nina Jacobson, the producer who's produced all the movies, gave us the heads-up. I don't think anybody really knew that Suzanne Collins had another book in the works. She gave us several months’ notice — maybe last fall — saying Sunrise on the Reaping would be released in the spring, and they were timing out pre-production. We started in December of last year.
Dylan Jury: The big difference with this book was that it came out simultaneously with the movie development. That made it very crazy and challenging for different reasons.
DZ: For the first eight weeks, we didn’t have access to the book. There was one copy, locked in Nina’s office. We also didn’t have a screenplay until close to release. We knew it was Haymitch’s origin story, that we needed Woody Harrelson at 16, a love interest, and Maysilee — but we didn’t have more than that.
DJ: We had general info and knew which characters would be seen [as] younger, so we could imagine without needing the book yet. But once we got the book and script together, it was a tidal wave of helpful information [so] that we could really veer in on who actors should be.
DZ: We got the book on release day like everyone else and read it immediately. Having a script makes such a difference. Before that, we knew we needed young versions of Plutarch, Beetee, Wiress, Mags, Snow — so we did early brainwork based on past knowledge. Suzanne gave us broad outlines too, which helped. That was our initial eight weeks.
But once the world knew that the book was coming, they started to release little snippets of the book, and then I think that just really woke the fans up. There's something about it that I find so sort of touching that the fans are so connected to Suzanne's work, but also, I have to say, some of these people are hilarious.
The marketing department from Lionsgate is conducting a contest where, I guess, one person, one fan, will be selected to have a non-speaking role. Dylan showed me on Instagram, people’s self-tapes — [they're sent] into the marketing department, not to us. And they are so funny.
DZ: We haven't seen all of them, but Dylan sent me this hilarious one. Did you see the one with the person [where] they put their heads in rocks? They're buried in rocks or something. It's just hilarious.
DZ: Typically, casting a feature film takes about 10 to 12 weeks, sometimes longer if there's a search, like for a kid. On this project, we had an unusual eight-week stretch working without a script, just minimal character descriptions. We were mostly focused on Haymitch — having actors send in improvisational self-tapes, pretending they were being interviewed by Caesar Flickerman, or acting in the woods.
DJ: Normally, the book comes out first, becomes popular, then gets adapted. But with Hunger Games, they felt confident doing it all at once.
DZ: We released a character description for young Haymitch on Breakdown Services, which talent agencies use. Agencies submitted clients, and we selected who felt right.
DJ: We did the same in the U.K. and Australia.
DZ: Any English-speaking country where someone might do an American accent; we had searches in Australia and the U.K. Joe Zada, who plays Haymitch, is from Australia.
DJ: For the adult roles, we used our imaginations. Building lists, discussing with Francis [Lawrence], our director, and moving forward [from there].
DZ: It was all so preliminary. Normally, we know when a role shoots so we can check actor availability. For example, we knew Jesse Plemons’ role as Plutarch would shoot through the whole schedule. But for most adult roles, we didn’t wake up agents because we didn’t know enough.
DJ: We also weren’t allowed to talk about who was in the book.
DZ: Right, so fans speculated wildly. It’s fascinating how invested people are in Suzanne’s world.
DJ: We absorbed every word of the book. Some traits were flexible, but we always started with who the character is in the book.
DZ: We try to stay true to that.
DJ: Then we assess what’s essential to carry over and what has wiggle room to find the best act — not worrying too much about eye color, for example.
DZ: Still, resemblance was important. We’re proud of matches like Maya Hawke. Though agents often sent headshots comparing their clients to young Woody Harrelson, and it was never that close. It’s like putting any two people side-by-side and saying, “Can you believe it?”
DJ: And because the script is shorter than the book, we relied heavily on the book to flesh out minor characters who only had a scene or line, using every detail we could find to guide casting.
DZ: Back during Catching Fire, we never imagined Suzanne would write Ballad or Sunrise. Sunrise really filled in lore and history. We definitely learned things like Lucy Gray basically vanishing after her win, and Snow still carrying that grudge decades later. It’s exciting for us as fans, too.
DJ: Suzanne wove in legacy families like Crane and Heavensbee — distant relatives. Those connections deepen the casting process.
DZ: It’s hard to explain. It’s gut instinct. I remember casting a different film years ago and just knowing someone would get the part. With Jennifer, she was coming off Winter’s Bone and had Oscar buzz, but all the big-name actresses were reading for Katniss. And she just was Katniss. That’s what casting is: finding the most suitable actor. Sometimes someone surprises you and shows a new emotional layer that’s even better than expected. That’s the most exciting part, when someone exceeds what you imagined.
DZ: Dylan knows that I don't look at all the social media stuff, so I don't even know often that people are like, "They answered my prayers!" or whatever. We're just casting this movie.
DJ: But it's hard to say, because sometimes we think they're wrong [with dream castings]. But in this case, we happened to really line up coincidentally, and that's great, because they were right and we were right, and now we have a perfect cast.
DZ: In this case, I think it really speaks to Suzanne Collins’ work. The characters she’s created are phenomenal. We do this as a job, but the fans also go to work figuring out not just who they want, but who they think should play these roles. Years ago, you only saw actors in movies, TV, or maybe on a talk show. Now, with social media, they’re everywhere: restaurants, supermarkets, airplanes. Fans have so much more access, and that makes them feel more invested and part of the process, which is probably a really good thing.
DJ: Growing up, there were so many video game or book adaptations where Hollywood just got it wrong. They’d change everything, and it never felt true to why the original was loved. But now, I think Hollywood has learned [that] you want to stick as close to the source material as possible. A: It’s better that way. B: It’s what the fans want. And that’s exactly how we and our creative team feel. We want to stay as true to the book as possible.
DZ: That's very true of adaptations. I think that when it's an original screenplay or teleplay, there's so much more room to use anybody. But here, we're showing that it's possible to give the fans what they're hoping for by being very thoughtful and respectful to the source material.
DZ: When the cast started to gel and set, we were so excited when an actor agreed to come play with us and made a deal with Lionsgate. We were as excited as the fans. There have been moments, one moment in particular on a Zoom with Francis Lawrence and Nina Jacobson, our director and producer, where we all were like, "Wow. Wow." We could not believe it. We were speechless that people are going to come out and play with us.
DJ: When we saw her and Joe together. That was probably at the clearest moment.
DZ: We do so much on Zoom, but we did have an opportunity to see them together [in person]. We were shooting them on an iPhone and Dylan was operating the iPhone and I was peeking over his shoulder into the screen and could just… it was really like, Oof. You know?!
DJ: It was a home run. It was perfect.
DZ: There's no one that is in the final cast list that we didn't feel that way about when that person also became Francis' selection.
DZ: I swear, I don't know about you, Dylan. That never crossed my mind.
DJ: I don't think so. No. Maybe subconsciously, but not intentionally.
DJ: They both just have the Covey essence.
DZ: Exactly. They're just Covey girls.
DZ: We actually talk about how we feel so lucky that the response is so positive because it's horrible when you have a negative response on social media. It's like you don't want to leave your house. You put a mask on when you go out. We would be having a completely different conversation right now, wouldn't we?
DJ: And we've talked about how we've never seen fans talking about casting directors this way. It's one thing to love the cast, but we've never seen comments about the specific casting directors and the praise for them. And it's really awesome.
DZ: It's hilarious, too. People begging us to run for president and telling us that we should be given the Nobel Peace Prize. People are hilarious. But Dylan's right. We feel like usually, the casting director is completely behind the scenes, but the fans have propelled us much more into the forefront.
DJ: It does make us want to keep nailing it, too. We obviously want to nail it. It's like we gotta keep them happy.
DZ: That's too close for comfort. So what we typically do, and what we're doing now because we're not done, is we begin to prioritize what we'll shoot first. They start shooting in the arena, so it's really finishing up all the tributes, both speaking and non-speaking. We need to focus on that first, [as] that starts in late July. Then we figure out District 12 and the Capitol. They shoot these in different chunks based on the location.
DJ: Yeah. All the Peacekeepers, everything.
DZ: We're up to our eyeballs still, but the heavy lifting is done, as you all saw in all the announcements.
DZ: There’s a separate department that handles background casting, or extras, but for this film, we have a number of non-speaking roles that might usually be considered background. Francis wants those [roles] cast with actors who understand they won’t have dialogue, but will still need to act. He needs people who can take direction [and] interact with leads, like handing something off, getting bumped, or doing a fight scene with no dialogue but choreographed stunts. So we have more on our plate this time.
Then there are plenty of background roles handled by the extras casting director — people in the stands, in the audience during Caesar’s interviews. But even some of those audience members have to shout lines or take a tumble. We’ve even looped in the stunt department, since a few roles need to be cast with stunt actors, and we’re auditioning them, too.
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