Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen

[miss kay]

We all had someone dream cast for Katniss in our minds and Jennifer, an oscar nominated actress, came out of left field.  She's taller, older, and lacked the "olive skin" tone the book Katniss had. Were you able to overlook those differences?

[Abel Toy]

Were you able to overlook those differences?

Yes indeed. She's just the perfect Katniss, even if she doesn't really fulfill the physical description. She's so perfect and such a good actress.

[Archer-Fire]

I was able to look past it..

When i heard she had been cast... I didn't have many thoughts on her because I hadn't heard much about her..

I remember though when the first story came out in Entertainment magazine about her with the first pictures of her as Katniss.

Read the article with my brother on the way to a concert. We both basically fell in love with her personality. Learning she was a fan of the books and that she was dedicated and getting Katniss right. One of her focusing being on footwear making sure the boots for her wardrobe were made so she could run in them.

And then seeing her as Katniss in the Hunger Games! She blew me away. AMAZING! She was Katniss in that movie and I can not wait to see her in Catching Fire

[KingAlanI]

Concern about Jen's weight seemed like usual Hollywood image BS.
Jen usually acted Katniss' age, but it occasionally showed that she's a few years older, particularly in the scenes with Rue, seeming more like a mother than a friend at points.
Rue's scenes with Katniss were the most genuinely emotional part of the movie, including Katniss' funeral ritual.

[Ivana2804]

Concern about Jen's weight seemed like usual Hollywood image BS.
Jen usually acted Katniss' age, but it occasionally showed that she's a few years older, particularly in the scenes with Rue, seeming more like a mother than a friend at points.
Rue's scenes with Katniss were the most genuinely emotional part of the movie, including Katniss' funeral ritual.

It makes sense for her to be motherly to Rue. Rue is just 12 and reminds Katniss of Prim, and Katniss has been practically a surrogate mother to her little sister.

[KingAlanI]

Jen usually acted Katniss' age, but it occasionally showed that she's a few years older, particularly in the scenes with Rue, seeming more like a mother than a friend at points.

It makes sense for her to be motherly to Rue. Rue is just 12 and reminds Katniss of Prim, and Katniss has been practically a surrogate mother to her little sister.

Yeah, you're right, maybe that does fit with Katniss having to grow up too fast too soon, instead of being a flaw in Jen's otherwise wonderful performance.

[SoldierMellark1]

We all had someone dream cast for Katniss in our minds and Jennifer, an oscar nominated actress, came out of left field.  She's taller, older, and lacked the "olive skin" tone the book Katniss had. Were you able to overlook those differences?

I read the book first, but hadn't thought about the details of how it appeared on screen such as what Katniss lookwed like, so I wouldn't be disappointed by getting the wrong idea. Jen and most of the rest of teh cast nailed it.

[baby-boi]

I could careless about Jen's age. Age in Hollywood doesn't matter. There are actresses in their 30s who look young enough to play Katniss.

My only with Jen as Katniss(Movie-Katniss) is her height and weight. Book-Katniss is a 100% underdog. She's not that attractive, she's one of the smallest tributes, she's boring and she's not the smartest. Movie-Katniss, on the other hand, is a front runner. The only thing against her is that she hails from the poorest district.

[Ivana2804]

I could careless about Jen's age. Age in Hollywood doesn't matter. There are actresses in their 30s who look young enough to play Katniss.

My only with Jen as Katniss(Movie-Katniss) is her height and weight. Book-Katniss is a 100% underdog. She's not that attractive, she's one of the smallest tributes, she's boring and she's not the smartest. Movie-Katniss, on the other hand, is a front runner. The only thing against her is that she hails from the poorest district.

Movie!Katniss is no smarter or more "fun" than Book!Katniss. And I wouldn't be so sure how attractive Katniss is or is not. She doesn't consider herself attractive, but she wouldn't. Haymitch says upon seeing her and Peeta that they are "attractive enough" to look really good when the prep teams finish with them. Her prep team are exasperated with her for her lack of proper Capitol grooming, not because she's naturally unattractive. And when they do dress her up and give her a makeover, she's obviously attractive enough to capture the imagination of the entire Capitol. And the Capitol people are mostly shallow - would they really be going gaga over an unattractive girl? True, they don't talk about her looks all the time, but there are a few references such as Haymitch mentioning Thread spoiling her "pretty face" that's supposed to be on the cameras. She's certainly considered one of the "young and attractive Victors", and she herself mentions that in the parade, she and Peeta look "young and strong and beautiful" like the Victors are supposed to be. The only times someone says she's not attractive is Finnick teasing/making a joke in Catching Fire (when Katniss asks him if this is the first time he's not pretty and he retorts with a question how she managed it all her life) but that's a joke; and when hijacked! Peeta saying that she's "not very pretty", but the non-hijacked Peeta called her "beautiful" in Catching Fire. Finally, the fact that Capitol people wanted to give her breast implants, which is often taken as proof that she's built as a stick, doesn't actually prove that, since there's no mention of anyone wanting to give her butt or hip implants, and many women with normal or curvy build have average sized or smaller breasts and would probably be asked to get breast implants to be the nation's poster girl, if the Capitol's tastes are anything like the current Hollywood tastes where really big and firm breasts are the standard to aspire to, which leaves 90% of women "lacking".

[carolyn]

When did the Capitol people say they wanted to give her breast implants?  I don't remember that at all.

[quickjoe]

I'm pretty sure it was mentioned in passing while Katniss as recovering from the 74th games. She vaguely recalled Haymitch shouting just outside her room, and it was later revealed that he was arguing with Capitol doctors about implants and the like.

[carolyn]

Thanks, Quickoe.  Just another detail that I totally did not catch!  I'll have to go back and look for it now.

[baby-boi]

I could careless about Jen's age. Age in Hollywood doesn't matter. There are actresses in their 30s who look young enough to play Katniss.

My only with Jen as Katniss(Movie-Katniss) is her height and weight. Book-Katniss is a 100% underdog. She's not that attractive, she's one of the smallest tributes, she's boring and she's not the smartest. Movie-Katniss, on the other hand, is a front runner. The only thing against her is that she hails from the poorest district.

Movie!Katniss is no smarter or more "fun" than Book!Katniss. And I wouldn't be so sure how attractive Katniss is or is not. She doesn't consider herself attractive, but she wouldn't. Haymitch says upon seeing her and Peeta that they are "attractive enough" to look really good when the prep teams finish with them. Her prep team are exasperated with her for her lack of proper Capitol grooming, not because she's naturally unattractive. And when they do dress her up and give her a makeover, she's obviously attractive enough to capture the imagination of the entire Capitol. And the Capitol people are mostly shallow - would they really be going gaga over an unattractive girl? True, they don't talk about her looks all the time, but there are a few references such as Haymitch mentioning Thread spoiling her "pretty face" that's supposed to be on the cameras. She's certainly considered one of the "young and attractive Victors", and she herself mentions that in the parade, she and Peeta look "young and strong and beautiful" like the Victors are supposed to be. The only times someone says she's not attractive is Finnick teasing/making a joke in Catching Fire (when Katniss asks him if this is the first time he's not pretty and he retorts with a question how she managed it all her life) but that's a joke; and when hijacked! Peeta saying that she's "not very pretty", but the non-hijacked Peeta called her "beautiful" in Catching Fire. Finally, the fact that Capitol people wanted to give her breast implants, which is often taken as proof that she's built as a stick, doesn't actually prove that, since there's no mention of anyone wanting to give her butt or hip implants, and many women with normal or curvy build have average sized or smaller breasts and would probably be asked to get breast implants to be the nation's poster girl, if the Capitol's tastes are anything like the current Hollywood tastes where really big and firm breasts are the standard to aspire to, which leaves 90% of women "lacking".

I agree....but I was not implying that Book-Katniss was ugly or unattractive. I'm just saying that she wasn't attractive enough to gain sponsors soley based off her looks(ala Glimmer and Finnick). Jennifer Lawrence is a lot better looking than Katniss Everdeen is intended to be. Book-Katniss is more like  Saoirse Ronan. She's cute but in an innocent way. Jennifer is borderline sexy

[Ivana2804]

I agree....but I was not implying that Book-Katniss was ugly or unattractive. I'm just saying that she wasn't attractive enough to gain sponsors soley based off her looks(ala Glimmer and Finnick). Jennifer Lawrence is a lot better looking than Katniss Everdeen is intended to be. Book-Katniss is more like  Saoirse Ronan. She's cute but in an innocent way. Jennifer is borderline sexy

Glimmer and Finnick were not gaining sponsors solely based on their looks. They were both playing the "sexy" angle with their behavior and trying to charm the audience, something that Katniss is unable to do.

And where did you get the idea that Katniss was "cute but in an innocent way"? Nobody ever described her anything like that in the books. I never got the impression anyone would describe her as "cute" or "innocent-looking". Peeta, maybe. Prim and Rue, definitely. But Katniss, I don't think so.

[SoldierMellark1]

I thought it was Cinna that argued on Katniss' bhealf for keeping a relatively natural look.
concern about Jen's casting seemed to me like more of Hollywood's ridiculous standards.