The release of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes has finally arrived, with the cast and creative team recently gathering in New York City to celebrate with a red carpet event. Based on the novel by Suzanne Collins, the film is a prequel to the original Hunger Games series and follows Coriolanus Snow. The movie stars Billy the Kid‘s Tom Blyth, West Side Story‘s Rachel Zegler, The Woman King‘s Viola Davis, and Euphoria‘s Hunter Schafer alongside many other talented cast members.
Set several decades before the original Hunger Games trilogy, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes explores the origin story of President Snow, the franchise’s main antagonist. Snow (Blyth) is appointed as a mentor in the 10th annual Hunger Games, advising a girl named Lucy Gray Baird (Zegler). After Lucy sets herself apart through her performance during the reaping, the two end up forming an alliance of sorts, working together to win the competition. The film explores the origins of the games and how Snow came to be the dictator fans are familiar with, while also raising questions about the world’s lore and the ultimate fate of Lucy Gray.
Screen Rant interviewed several cast members at the event in New York City, including Tom Blyth, Hunter Schafer, and Josh Rivera, who discussed their characters, standout moments from filming, and the lore of the Hunger Games world.
Tom Blyth Talks The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes
Coriolanus Snow
Screen Rant: I’m curious, the novel is told from your character’s perspective, but obviously a lot of that is internal and you can’t just outright state your intentions while you’re acting. How did you sort of internalize that monologue from the book when you were playing the character?
Tom Blyth: Yeah, Francis Lawrence, the director, and I spoke about this really early on, which is that it’s kind of difficult to transpose that text from the book to film, because it is kind of written in his first person, interior mind perspective. And so to make that into a film version, which you can’t unless you underlay a bunch of monologue, a bunch of voiceover; it’s kind of hard to do.
So a lot of that was about building his interior life from the inside out so that you could see it in his eyes. You can see his watchfulness, his perspective, so that Francis, graciously – and I’m very grateful for him doing this – was able to leave the camera on me for moments of watchfulness so you can see Corio’s thoughts happening in real-time. And I think he trusted me in the edit, which I’m very grateful for. You kind of get to see that play in his eyes more than anything.
What was it like working with Viola Davis?
Tom Blyth: I mean, she is just the OG. She’s the best to ever do it. I was with her this morning, and even after working with her for months and going to dinner with her the other night and knowing her fairly well at this point, I’m just still kind of starstruck, much to my own embarrassment. But she’s the coolest person in the world. She’s so skilled at what she does.
She’s got a freaking EGOT, and yet she’s so down to earth and is more real than anyone in the room. And I learned that from her – keep it real, keep it playful, keep it fun. What we do is a joy and a privilege, and it’s supposed to be entertaining, even if it’s making you think. I’m very grateful to her for being so generous.
Are there any behind-the-scenes moments that stick out to you especially?
Tom Blyth: Oh, there are so many. It’s so hard to pick one with this. You know what, I think my first day working with Peter [Dinklage] really sticks out to me. I’ve always admired Peter’s work, but the way he brought his whole self to the work, the way he uses the language, the way he is such a generous presence on set. So down to earth, and yet one of the most skilled actors in the entire universe. I just appreciated watching him and absorbing from him, and he’s been very gracious to me.
And do you think Lucy Gray survives?
Tom Blyth: That’s a great question. Without spoiling anything, I think so. I have a feeling she’s out there somewhere. It’s left very ambiguous. It’s very mystical, but that is Lucy Gray.
Hunter Schafer Talks The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes
Tigris Snow
Screen Rant: First, I would just love to hear a little bit about how you connected the dots with your character, knowing where she winds up in the future, but there’s this stretch of time where there’s no narrative set there.
Hunter Schafer: Yeah.
How did you connect those dots between who you’re playing and the person you’ve become?
Hunter Schafer: Yeah, it was kind of comforting because we have the 64-year time jump and we could kind of take some creative liberty in creating a new Tigris that’s kind of untouched by Snow’s tyranny and body mods and everything. So we got to make someone new. And then Francis was really encouraging for me to just kind of bring some of myself inside her.
And I’m curious, do you think Lucy Gray survives?
Hunter Schafer: I don’t know. That’s such a hard question. I would like to, she’s got a fighting spirit, so I would like to believe she did.
Josh Andres Rivera Talks The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes
Sejanus Plinth
Screen Rant: First I would love to hear a little bit about how you approached the character knowing what Snow eventually becomes, and your character has this friendship with him, but obviously doesn’t know what the future holds for him.
Josh Andrés Rivera: What’s nice is that, as far as Sejanus goes, the less I know the better. Obviously, I read the book, but I try not to really get too much into Snow’s character mess because I think the more that Sejanus is believing in him and believing in his capacity to be a good person, I think the more powerful that turn is for both characters. And I don’t know if you’ve seen it. Have you?
No, I’m seeing it tonight.
Josh Andrés Rivera: Oh, I’m excited for you. You’ll know what I’m talking about then.
How do you feel like your character changes over the course of the movie?
Josh Andrés Rivera: Well, this is one of the great challenges, I think for this movie in particular, is I have a set of goals in the beginning and an environment and circumstances that I’m combating in the Capitol, and then the environment changes for Sejanus. And you think in some way he’s getting what he wants a little bit, but then quickly you find out that that’s not the case and he has to pivot in a different direction.
I think that changing the forces that are up against your character midway through the film, that was a really fun thing to think about, because I had this kind of disposition that I built and I was like, “All right, we’ll try on some different circumstances and see what happens.”
And for my last question, I’m curious, do you think Lucy Gray lives?
Josh Andrés Rivera: Personally, I think so. I’m going to give a definitive, yeah, I think so.
About The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes
Tells the story of the origins of the future President Coriolanus Snow, as he mentors District 12 tribute Lucy Gray Baird in the 10th annual Hunger Games.
Check out our other interviews for The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes here:
- Francis Lawrence
- Nina Jacobson
- Crew On The Red Carpet
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
- Release Date:
- 2023-11-17
- Director:
- Francis Lawrence
- Cast:
- Tom Blyth, Rachel Zegler, Hunter Schafer, Jason Schwartzman, Peter Dinklage, Josh Andrés, Josh Andrés Rivera, Viola Davis
- Rating:
- PG-13
- Runtime:
- 157 Minutes
- Genres:
- Action, Adventure, Drama
- 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
