OFFICIAL: Jeffrey Wright Cast as Beetee in ‘The Hunger Games: Catching Fire’
After two and a half weeks, our casting drought has finally ended, with Lionsgate announcing today that Jeffrey Wright has been cast as District 3 victor Beetee in ‘The Hunger Games: Catching Fire’.
Santa Monica, CA, September 7, 2012- Lionsgate® and the filmmakers of THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE are pleased to announce that Jeffrey Wright has been cast in the role of Beetee in the much anticipated film adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ worldwide smash hit novel Catching Fire. Hailing from District 3, Beetee earns the nickname “Volts” because of his electronics expertise.
Critically acclaimed and known to theater, film and television audiences alike, Wright garnered a Tony® Award in 1994 for his work in Tony Kushner’s Pulitzer Prize-winning epic “Angels in America” and reprised his “Angels” role in HBO’s 2003 mini-series adaptation of the play, earning both a Golden Globe® and an Emmy® for his groundbreaking performance. Since then he has played memorable roles in films as diverse as BASQUIAT, SOURCE CODE, CASINO ROYALE and QUANTUM OF SOLACE, W, SYRIANA, and CADILLAC RECORDS. Wright can next be seen with Mark Walhberg, Russell Crowe and Catherine Zeta-Jones in Allen Hughes’ political thriller BROKEN CITY.
Source: Lionsgate Publicity
just for reference, jeffrey wright in source code:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-h0w-cySVSaM/TZ3lAWoW0UI/AAAAAAAACaA/XGaYmPrQqsU/s1600/source-code-jeffrey-wright.jpg
i’d recommend if you can (hmm, maybe for a mockingjay movie night?), get a hold of source code, not only is jeffrey wright fairly beetee-ish in it, but it’s also a damn good movie.
I agree Source Code is a really good movie, but in order for it to be good you have to ignore the big gaping plot hole at the end. I forget what it was exactly, but I had to erase it from my mind so that I could still come away happy. lol
Sounds awesome! I’m so excited! Can’t contain myself!
yay! Not how i imagined him but i guess we’ll have to wait and see him in action!
Haha- he’s like how I imagined Plutarch, and the guy who is playing Plutarch is kinda how I imagined Beeted
I’m excited
@satsuma–
(ah, it seems i posted my second comment just as you posted yours, what a coincidence).
yes, i do think beetee had his moments when he was morally-questionable too, but i thought rutledge came across more villainous overall than beetee ever does. in the end they were both working for the “greater good” and if they had to sacrifice ethics in the name of that then so be it, but i felt beetee had moments when he definitely cared for what was right for the individual too (he voted no for the capitol games, for one… and katniss never really had a problem with him, which goes a long way toward defining my personal opinion of the character)– whereas rutledge didn’t. that’s just my personal opinion, though.
they definitely have many similarities, that’s for sure, which is why i think source code is a good film to watch if you want to have an idea of what wright might do with beetee’s character.
Hm, interesting choice. Not exactly what I pictured, but I think I like it.
Carla, I agree that Rutledge is a much darker character than Beetee, and I think he also has an arrogance about him, that Beetee doesn’t have.
I think that perhaps, Beetee winds up rejecting the “Capitol Games” because, unlike Coin, he himself has been through the Games and knows what it’s like to be directly responsible for someone’s death. Or perhaps SC meant for him to have realized after the bombing of the Capitol kids that there is a limit to how much the ends justify the means.
I also don’t expect Wright to play Beetee as exactly the same character, just that there are enough similarities that I can totally see him pulling off Beetee as well.
I like all the positive comments on here
When I look at the facebook page all I see is hate X( I hate looking those comments but I like to see what people think.
oh yes he is perfect, i know Lionsgate already knew , long before they announced it. That is so cool, i love him in angels in america !
@satsuma– yes, we are in agreement.
i do think the deaths of those kids might’ve shaken beetee, just as i think they definitely shook gale. either way it’ll be interesting to see how wright approaches the role; i liked that tip you mentioned about him consulting with quantum physicists for his role in source code. i at least hope he’ll take the time to read the HG books, since he’s going to be in all three movies and all.
@crystal– i think i know which plot hole you mean (not going to spoil it for people, though), but… was it really a plot hole, or was it one of those things meant to make you think?
i prefer to go with the latter, personally. 
Okay, something bizarre. My husband, who really knows nothing about all this casting stuff… taped Source Code today. lolol!!
I loved him in Lady In The Water! He was the guy who did the crossword puzzles all the time. Very cool.
Isaac needs to stop commenting, I think we have had enough.
I can see him as a smart guy…
@Fancy cat I wasnt saying anything rude or mean. I only commented 4 times. Others comment more than me. I dont see why I have to stop commenting :/
ahahahah awesome!
One of his lines in source code gets common use in jokes between my friend circle, whenever its about common lame explanations in sci-fi movies xDDDD
“parable calculus, quantum mechanics, very complicated…”
Seems like another spot-on role to me
So happy! Welcome to the cast! I love mustache!!!!!
Always thought of Beetee as older but you can never go wrong with someone who takes care of his peoples.
Compleeeeetely different from how I pictured Beetee but I’m sure he’ll be great!
I always pictured Beetee as pale, like he didn’t go outside much, but I’m sure Lionsgate knows what they’re doing, and it’s acting that’s most important.
Awesome! I know he will do a great job. Congratulations, Jeffrey!
YAY! more castings
He looks okay, hopefully he can play the part 
so wierd, im sure this guy is a great actor but theres no way i can see him as beetee, hes way to different to what i pictured, infact hes the opposite
Enh…nope. I can’t see it. I picture Beetee as a skittery old white guy, not a middle-aged, balding black guy. Sorry, but this casting decision looks more like a forced attempt at diversity than anything else. Why no Tony Shalhoub? Tilo Pruckner is the spitting image of how I see Beetee (if you don’t know him, look him up. Great German actor, played another mad scientist in Iron Sky)