The Mystery Woman of CatchingFireCasting.com
With a full week of no casting announcements, I figure this is as good a time as any to voice my opinion on the coming announcement of the Mystery Woman of CatchingFireCasting.com.
As you may or may not be aware, when Lionsgate first unveiled their casting website CatchingFireCasting.com with their announcement of Philip Seymour Hoffman, it included a lot of blank spots for the other cast members. All of them were named except for one at the bottom. This mystery person has a woman’s profile, so it’s probably safe to assume it’s a female. So who would this person be and just why would Lionsgate want to keep her name hidden?
I’ve heard quite a few theories about who it is. Hazelle Hawthorne, Greasy Sae, Annie Cresta, President Coin. But for me, the only one that makes any sense to be hidden in such a way is… Madge Undersee.
Looking back, when it was first revealed that the mayor’s daughter was going to be cut from the film, a lot of fans were completely enraged. Some even went so far to comment on this site and say that the movie would now officially be ruined because there was no Madge.
I couldn’t understand this reasoning at all. Madge was a side character and a really small one at that. Sure, she gave Katniss the mockingjay pin and therefore in a way helped to start the revolution (even though she was so naive she didn’t even know what the bird represented), but an act such as that one could technically be transferred to anyone and no one but book fans would know the difference. In the way of movies, cutting her out to save on time and back story on her character was pretty standard.
But the fallout from Madge going missing was much crazier than I had thought it would be. And maybe Lionsgate saw all that rage as well. So what backup do I have for my little theory? Well, first I’ll attempt to discount the other theories. First of all (and this is not my own observation, someone pointed it out to me), we need to pay some attention to the colors of the name bars on the casting site.
If you take a look at the bars under the people listed so far, the Capitol citizens have gold bars, the Tributes have silver bars, and the District 12 residents have dark gray bars. I know people may look at that and point out that hey, Haymitch has a gold bar! But it should be noted that the Haymitch in the movie seems much more well versed and dressed in the Capitol ways than our drunken District 12 mentor from the books. Even Woody Harrelson said he wanted to give Haymitch a much more refined look. It’s not all that far-fetched that he’d be put into the Capitol category for the movie. Consider him a District 12 double agent!
So going on this colored bar “code”, the Mystery Woman has a dark gray bar, which presumably means she’s from either the Districts in general or District 12 specifically. This removes President Coin from the mix. Besides, I would think Alma Coin would be a card they’d want to play completely by surprise in the movie, not via a mystery casting announcement.
Hazelle Hawthorne, while definitely a possibility, isn’t really someone Lionsgate would want or need to hide. I mean, how anti-climactic would it be for you guys to learn that it’s just Gale’s mom? The same goes for Greasy Sae. Sure, they could end up being in Catching Fire, but they could be simply excluded from the casting page for being too small of a character. Romulus Thread, if rumors are to be believed, will be in the movie, but he’s nowhere to be seen on the page. Hazelle’s only two scenes from the book are a short conversation with Katniss in the beginning and a wordless scene when she comes to the Everdeen’s to watch over Gale. Greasy Sae only appears in one short scene at the Hob.
As for Annie Cresta, we all know what a huge role she plays with Finnick, but I’m still not sure if she’ll be in the movie. Out of all the theories, I think she’s the most likely if it ends up not being Madge. I don’t really see a firm reason for her being unnamed other than people are wondering if she’ll make it in. With very minimal presence in Catching Fire (Katniss sees Annie during her Reaping, when Mags volunteers for her), I place Annie in the same boat as Hazelle, Greasy Sae, and Romulus: in the movie, but not on the casting page.
On the other hand, when you get to Madge Undersee, there’s the big fuss in the past over her, which would be a great reason to shroud her announcement in mystery. Imagine the fan fervor when they see her face on that casting page? Can the same be said for the other candidates? Not in my opinion.
Bringing her back isn’t entirely impossible either because it’s plausible they’ll want to re-open the history of the pin. In the first movie, the old woman at the Hob wears this really sad expression on her face (thanks Savanna!) when she tells Katniss to keep it, as if keeping it around her is too painful. Madge can be introduced to Katniss in the mayor’s house and she could notice the pin, explaining the history of it being her aunt’s pin that they gave away due to it being too painful for her mother to bear any longer.
Since Madge’s aunt Maysilee Donner was in the Second Quarter Quell with Haymitch, this would also be a great opportunity for them to open things up about his past as well. With one scene and one conversation with Madge, Francis Lawrence can bring a whole lot of important back story out with minimal time consumption. I also think Madge’s absence in the first film could bring more to the scene when she brings the drugs for Gale because if audiences think that Katniss just met Madge, then it seems like an even bigger gesture if she does them that favor after having just met Katniss.
I’ve also begun to think that Madge could end up living in the movies. With the obvious fan support for her, there’s a lot of potential for her character if they were to simply merge her with Delly Cartwright. How great would that be? Sure, we’d lose Delly, but we’d gain a stronger Madge, one who suffers the severe loss of her parents in Catching Fire, then goes on to live in District 13 in Mockingjay, and helps to bring Peeta back.
I, for one, would love to see that happen.
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As I see it, there’s only one reason for making some female character “mysterious” – nobody expects her to be in the movie, and she must be pretty important if she’s on the list. My bet is Alma Coin.
But, do we know if Paula Malcolmson comes back as Mrs. Everdeen? But still, why make her “mysterious”? Why?
I guess it could be Madge, but at this point I don’t really know what I prefer: it was really important to me that she gave katniss the pin, so now we would have a Madge without that part. I, however, am betting on Annie. I know she doesn’t really have to appear in the movie but I think it would add a lot to Mags’ character if we could see the reaping scene where she volunteers to tak her place AND, as some of you have already mentioned, they do need her voice for the jabberjays scene
PS: and if the dark grey boxes mean those people are from the districts, it could be Annie. She’s neither from the capitol, nor a triubute in the end.
i think its Annie
It has to be Annie, she is involved alot in catchingfire/mockingjay
I think your theory is very clever.
But well, I personally hope it will be Maysilee, because I afraid SO MUCH that they will delete the 50th Hunger Games scene. :/
I’ve always thought it was Annie Cresta and I really hope it’s Annie Cresta. She’s a major part in Mockingjay so she wouldn’t just be cast but not mentioned on the cast page. So many people have been deciding for themselves who they want to play her and they’d be eagerly anticipating who is cast. I don’t think the story would be very strong if she was mentioned for the first time in Mockingjay. People would think she’s just been pulled in at the last minute to be Finnick’s tragic love interest so I think she needs to be introduced before Mockingjay even if it’s only for a really short moment. I don’t see any particularly important reason for them to bring Madge back. It would be just as good without her and would make just as much sense.
Madge’s mother (the mayor’s wife) and Maysilee Donner? And have the pin’s backstory explained?
I think its Maysilee. Madge is too obvious
@Spring Dandelion
Maysilee and the future Mrs. Undersee were twins, so they could even be portrayed by the same actress (maybe with some minor differences in clothes, hair, makeup, et cetera)
IT BETTER BE MADGE! Hahahahaha. I wrote a whole RANT about her
I would like to see Annie Cresta in it and make her character more important than in the books. They should explain more about her and use her becoming insane to further add to the importance of Katniss choosing to amp up the revolution.
Also, if plutarch was a mystery boy, he was nothing to hide, so perhaps the person has something to do with the rebellion? So I think that it’s either madge’s mother/maysilee (portrayed by the same person) because of the pin, or someone else to do with the rebellion? Coin. I don’t want it to be coin, though?
Okay let me just say that it is not Bonnie or Twill. Why? Because when Katniss meets them in the woods it is near the winter. They haven’t got them caste because they are going to wait until winter to shoot the scene AND Georgia doesn’t have the woods that NC or WV or VA has. So they most likely will have to go up north to film the scene with Bonnis, Twill, and Katniss are in.
Thank you for your consideration….
I think it’s Annie.
“If they did take Delly out and merge her with Madge, then all the things you said about Delly BECOME Madge’s traits…it doesn’t even need to be that Delly/Madge is a good friend from childhood because they can change Peeta’s healing process to be anything.”
My pet theory for Mystery Woman is that it’s Paylor, who I think might replace Bonnie/Twill as the D8 refugee who tells Katniss about D13. That being said…
Crystal, I must say I’m kinda puzzled. You seem pretty flippant about the idea of LG making major changes to the MJ plot in terms of Peeta’s recovery process, as if it really doesn’t matter how he gets better, just that he does. While I’m sure they’ll tweak the plot a little, I personally think it’s important to SC’s vision that Peeta’s recovery be shown as the rocky road most RL recoveries are. So, for example, if they show him seeing the Pearl and suddenly snapping out of the hijacking and becoming all loving toward Katniss again, I WILL be annoyed. Because I’d see that as losing sight of SC’s message.
It just seems that the “Madge” you envision really has little in common with the book Madge, she just shares a name. If LG has to make major changes to the plots of CF and MJ just so they can tell fans, “Look, we gave you Madge, aren’t you happy now?”, to me it’d be like a make-up call by an umpire, worse than if they didn’t give us Madge at all.
It reminds me of a request some fans made for CF, that they make up some tragic accident that results in Peeta losing his leg after all. If LG can’t fix a “mistake” or “inconsistency” without creating lots of other inconsistencies with the books, then I’d rather them just move on with the THG story they have now, and just try to keep the sequels as close to the spirit o the books as possible.
@satsuma [I've removed my comment for being a little too heavy handed]
When the hunger games movie was first coming out and I found out Madge wasn’t in it I really didn’t care. She wasn’t that important and I liked the idea of adding more depth between Katniss and Prim. Then I retread catching fire and realized Madge was more important than I gave her credit for. Also I really didn’t like how the pin was used in the movie. “Oh hey Prim here’s some random pin I got and it’ll protect you!” And also Mockingjays werent explained at all (which also causes a problem for catching fire as jabberjays will have to be explained for the screaming scene to make sense). I realize now if Madge had been in the movie that could have been explained much better:
Gale and Katniss go to mayor’s house, they notice pin.
Madge : It’s a mockingjay
Katniss: I like mockingjays
Madge: It’s amazing that they repeat whatever you sing to them
Katniss: My dad always did that…(this would also be a nice lead up to to the tracker jacket hallucination so her father doesn’t come so out of the blue)
Then Katniss and Gale leave and Gale could bring up the jabberjays and how the creation of Mockingjays was a slap in the face to the Capitol.
Anyway enough with me pretending I can make a better movie then professionals…
I would love it so much to be Madge but I think it will be Annie. lots of fans love her because of Finnick and people would get excited. I think Annie’s okay and everything but I don’t love her or anything and it wouldn’t that big a surprise. I don’t think it will be Coin though because even I she is in the movie they need to keep Disrtict 13 a secret.
Lol this is why I love Mockingjay.net. You guys discuss everything and explain everything out.
As for me, I’m not good with words 
. But I would be really happy of it was Madge. @Crystal I love your point of views on how there is a really great possibility it is Madge.
Thanks Chelsea, it’s been so much fun reading and discussing tons of theories with people here!!
Crystal: Now I’m really puzzled…by your harsh, rude, condescending reply to me. No, I don’t think GR “completely mangled” the “Katniss’s fake love for Peeta” or her bond with Cinna. Did he focus on these aspects of the story as much as the book itself did, no. But that doesn’t mean he “completely mangled” it.
Anyway, I’m not going to even bother going into detail as to why I think the way I do, because I guess if I don’t agree with your extremely negative assessment of the THG movie, I must be either DIShonest or NOT taking a hard look at the movie.
I also don’t understand why you reacted to my particular post so harshly. Last I checked, we ARE allowed to disagree here. I was just trying to have a reasoned discussion. I know you’re an admin and all, but that does NOT make you the ultimate arbiter of anything. You’re just another fan like the rest of us.
@satsuma I’m truly sorry that I came across that way!!! Believe me when I say I didn’t intend for you to feel that way. I really should have instead said that more “important” changes have already been made to the story so as to render a change regarding Delly to be basically nothing in comparison. So, my mangling comment aside, isn’t it fair to say that bigger changes than one to Delly have already been made?
I don’t miss Madge in the first one and I do t miss her now. I think it’s Bonnie/Twill they are the reason Katniss begins to think about District 13 and that it may actually exist. But…Anne Cresta would be good too…hmm just gunna have to wait and see:)
I already thought it would be Annie, but Abigail’s comment has convinced me it will be. I’m not gonna place money on it, but it’s the only one that makes sense to me now..
While I think Twill and/or Bonnie or a character playing a similar roll might very well be necessary to the story, I don’t think it’s a character(s) they would feel the need to announce to the fans on this casting page, unless they are going to be given a bigger role (like Seneca was).
Annie is on that weird line where the fans really care about her, and even though she doesn’t have a huge part she is somewhat vital to parts of the story.. much like Madge was. The difference being that Madge is able to lift out of the story with minimal impact (I’d say the Maysilee story is what movie viewers will miss out on the most by not having Madge, but that’s really a side story that doesn’t affect the main events) while leaving Annie out would totally flatten the character of Finnick, who will play a bigger role in Mockingjay.
The lack of explanation of why the pin I think was intentional because movie viewers would have to be reminded what a Mockingjay symbolizes to the Capitol, so why take the time to explain something that will have to be refreshed in people’s mind anyway? Unfortunately this change had the ill side effect of making the pin seem less important in the movie.. I wish they would have done something else. For example, not shown the pin at all until after Katniss volunteers, and Prim gives it to her saying “Me and mom saved up all year to get this and were saving it for your birthday.. take it with you?”
Something like that. Would have seemed more emotionally charged.. every time I see the movie I can’t help but think “But it didn’t work the first time..” when Prim says, “To protect you?”
I think is Annie!
What would be the point in adding Madge into the movies at this point? The only thing her character contributed to the books was setting the mockingjay rebellion into motion unknowingly. Since that already happened in the first movie without her what could she possibly contribute now? Unless they are going to invent a whole new story line for her, which would be pointless. Sure I was disappointed that Madge wasn’t in the first movie but they already changed the scenes where she was needed.So I really hope it isn’t Madge. If she couldn’t be in the movies for her original purpose than I would rather her not be in them at all. I don’t want her thrown in just to appease fans. It’s too late for that, besides isn’t everyone over all that by now anyway?
Honestly, at this point, with filming to begin in a week, I would just like to get some casting news period.
what would the mystery be if it was the lady who’s playing Madge. we already know who it is.
i think its Annie cause nobody knows who she is yet. it has to be Annie
Kelsey, since when do we know who’s playing Madge? Is there some rumor I’m unaware of?
Crystal: Apology accepted; and I also apologize for over-reacting. I actually agree that the MJ movie will make changes to the Peeta hijacking plot, and that combining Madge and Delly into one character is plausible.
I’m also sorry if my initial post to you was too harsh on you. Your comment about LG changing Peeta’s recovery process to “anything” rubbed me the wrong way, because made it sound like these changes are going to be just random and arbitrary, without any real thought behind them, and I thought that was giving the LG people not enough credit.
It’s one thing to voice disagreement with artistic choices, another to just dismiss them without even trying to understand the reasoning for it. It also winds up killing what could otherwise be a really interesting discussion. Which I think is the point of discussions like these; not to get everyone to agree, but to get people thinking!
Anyway, moving on; it seems that so far, most of the theories, whoever comes up with them, have been about what they find important themselves. People who think Bonnie and Twill are important think they’re going to show up in that space. People who find the Finnick-Annie ship to be important want Annie. People who found Coin to be an epic villian want her introduced. I personally don’t fall into any of these catergories. So I’m pretty neutral about this. I will say, though, that LG, for all their faults, sure know how to mount a marketing campaign, in light of how many comments have been made about this so far.
No, I didn’t mean it would be arbitrary, just that in a movie adaptation, they can take the book details and embellish the situation and make it just as heartbreaking or even more so. A good example would be how the changed the ending of Romeo + Juliet. Before I saw that movie I would have cursed anyone who dared to “change” Shakespeare, but that “new” ending cut straight through to my heart and I sobbed for 20 minutes on the way home. I just hope any changes they make going forward are for the better.
And I have to say, the lack of casting news for two full weeks has been shaking my admiration of their marketing tactics. lol
I honestly never thought the “backstory” of the mockingjay pin was that important other than as an anecdote. What was important was that Katniss wore it and people latched on to it as her symbol. The history of the mockingjay itself I think is much more important than the pin. So I really doubt they bring Madge in at this point to give somewhat useless backstory in an otherwise packed movie.
I want it to be Annie but they can get away with an uncredited cameo in CF. Im starting to think it is Coin and they’ve obscured her name because its kind of a spoiler.
I think its going to be someone from district 13, because as you go down through the cast its counting down the districts right up to 12, and it would be a huge spoiler to people who have just seen the movie to reveal there are people living in district 13!
Oh yes, I hope it’s Madge! And I also love the idea of her being merged with Delly. I know that by the time they mentioned her death, it was downplayed by all the previous deaths, but I was still so sad. She was Katniss’ first real friend! (one based solely on companionship, not survival) Also, I always thought she should’ve married Gale. (instead of him just going off to some maybe-happy life somewhere…) He should’ve ended up with someone we knew can make him happy. It would also be a nice way to end the series with something a little happier than the crushing depression the book leaves me with.
@Corie:
The series is a war story, not a fairy tale, but I still don’t like some of the things that happen.
Glad to see one of the other Gale fans.
Maybe the wedge being driven between those old friends is one of the tragic occurrences.
Alan:
i looked onto a site called imdb that shows what movies are coming out and who’s going to be in them so Im able to see who’s playing in Catchig Fire
btw the lady playing Madge is Lynn Cohen and its not a rumor. i swear it.
imdb stands for internet movie database
Lynn Cohen plays Mags, the old female victor from District 4 who volunteered for Annie in the Third Quarter Quell. We already had that casting announcement. Mags and Madge can both be short for Margaret, maybe therein lies your confusion.
Madge i think!
@Alan, yes, I know that the ending is meant to point out that war has terrible and far-reaching consequences, but that’s already obvious by the end of the book. I just feel that a lot of time and emotion is invested in Gale and that he deserves a better ending than, “oh, he got a job in 2″
People need to stop trying to make Annie Cresta happen. She’s not going to happen. It would be a waste of budget and film to cast an actress for her. You cut right to the chase if Mags is initially reaped. Finnick can hear the screams in the arena and its enough for Annie and her story to be introduced without wasting film. The more concrete and concise a storyline is in a book to film adaption, the better. In fact I liked that I didn’t know much about Annie in Catching Fire or that Finnick didn’t know if he’d live to ever see her again. The reunion of Finnick and Annie in Mockingjay was all the more poignant and surprising. That should be her introduction, because it’s so key to the entire trilogy. Additionally, if this mystery woman is being kept so secret, her role in the movies should be monumentally large or unexpected. Annie just doesn’t add anything to the overall plot of Catching Fire minus the screaming. I’d say because a District 13.pn website exists, it’s likely to be someone associated with 13. Coin would be great, but a cameo from her is like a tag scene to a Marvel movie. You want to be surprised by it when you see it (though the filmmakers could think otherwise). It’s likely to be a fusion of Bonnie and Twill and her description will probably be something along the lines of a “A young fugitive who knows a secret that will affect the future of Panem forever”. It’s enough to garner interest to those who haven’t read the books and for those who have to wonder about the role of thirteen in the movie. I don’t think the reveal is going to live up to the hype to be honest.
@Corie:
As I said, despite it being a war story, I still don’t like some of the things that happen. Katniss does try awfully hard to brush off Gale once she’s settled on Peeta.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts about the hunger games.
Regards
I really hope they bring in annie!!! She is important in alot of places in the book. Wheater they would plan on vetoing those scenes, I don’t know. It would be pretty hard. Madge is really not important to the movies anymore.
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This is simply Katniss & Prim’s mother.
It is probably either maysilee donner or Annie cresta. But that’s just my guess so don’t hate me cause I’m beautiful!!!!!! And also who knows!
I hope it’s Madge!!!
It was katniss’s mother. Great.
I beleive that it could be madge there is a possiblitly. Alma coin i don’t think will be introduced till mockingjay because thats when she becomes important. Either madge or Annie they never offically said if madge was cut out completly and there is rumors that Annasophia Robb could be playing her or I believe its Annie because she was never offically put in or not.