The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes star Ashley Liao offers a hopeful response to Clemensia Dovecote’s fate in the prequel film. During the movie, Dr. Gaul (Viola Davis) is experimenting with mutated snakes, which attack the Academy student. While she survives and has a major role to play in the book, this moment leaves her fate uncertain for the rest of the film.
Speaking with Comicbook.com, Liao addressed hopes that her Songbirds & Snakes character survived her dangerous encounter with Gaul’s snakes. The actor expressed interest in having Clemensia return in the future, particularly in the vein of fashion similarly to Tigris Snow. Check out what Liao had to say below:
A lot of people have asked me this question and they’re like, ‘What happens to her afterwards?’ And my number one thought is, ‘Well, she continues to slay, regardless.’ So I think that’s kind of been my good open-ended answer, which is like, ‘Oh, what happens to her?’ ‘Oh, she continues to slay.’ What else would she be doing? So I think when I watched the film, I hope for only good things for her
I don’t believe [her book ending was in the script. But I know that we did start off with a much larger script than what we currently have.
I don’t know how you fit this much into a three-part film, but Francis Lawrence did it, so he’s done it once again. I mean, am I biased to say that I’d love to see Clemmie’s further story?
For the book, I think there’s a very interesting parallel between Tigris and what we see in these films when she’s older, looking very catlike, and Clemensia’s similarity to having snake-like features, and maybe her fashion icon-ness just takes over and it becomes a trend. I would love to see that, but I’m a little bit biased.
Yeah, I would love to see her a bit of a fashion icon and a fashion mogul.
Did Clemensia Really Survive In The Songbirds & Snakes Movie?
While Clemensia disappears after being attacked by snakes in the movie, she is an integral part of the Hunger Games in the books. In author Suzanne Collins’ source material, she is confirmed to survive the attack, albeit with temporary scaled skin and yellowed eyes. She becomes a mentor for the Games, with her tribute, Reaper, being the last to survive before he’s killed by Lucy Gray.
Songbirds & Snakes‘ movie changes resonate because of her absence later in the film, despite how important she is in the book. However, despite Liao’s hope that Clemensia survived, co-writer Michael Lesslie confirmed that she was dead when speaking about the film in December 2023. Given the lack of clarity in the film itself about her fate, it’s entirely possible she could have either survived or died.
Much like the unclear fate of Lucy Gray, it appears The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes has another character whose bookends remain a mystery. Given her importance in the book as opposed to the film, it’s possible she truly did die in the movie version. However, without a body, it makes Liao’s hopes for her survival equally possible as Lesslie’s confirmation of her demise.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is a prequel movie set 64 years before the events of the original movie with Katniss Everdeen. The film centers on a young Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) and shows his rise to power as the leader of Panem. Taking place during the 10th Hunger Games, Snow is tasked with mentoring Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), the tribute from District 12.
- Release Date
- November 17, 2023
- Director
- Francis Lawrence
- Cast
- Tom Blyth , Rachel Zegler , Hunter Schafer , Jason Schwartzman , Peter Dinklage , Josh Andrés , Josh Andrés Rivera , Viola Davis
- Runtime
- 157 Minutes
- Writers
- Michael Lesslie , Michael Arndt , Suzanne Collins
- Studio(s)
- Color Force , Lionsgate
- Distributor(s)
- Lionsgate
- Sequel(s)
- The Hunger Games , The Hunger Games: Catching Fire , The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 , The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2
- Franchise(s)
- The Hunger Games
