Production on The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is set to begin in September, and casting rumors for the feverishly anticipated follow-up to last fall’s blockbuster are blazing. It’s now been officially announced that Snow White and the Huntsman rising star Sam Claflin has been cast as fan favorite Finnick Odair, the Adonis-like adversary-turned-compatriot of Jennifer Lawrence’s Katniss Everdeen. Who else will join Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, Elizabeth Banks, and more in the new film? Here’s a look at familiar and brand new faces who will hope, when Catching Fire is released Nov. 22, that the odds will be ever in their favor.
In Suzanne Collins’s bestselling book, former Hunger Games champion Finnick Odair makes a memorable debut, wearing nothing but a fishing net … with some strategically placed knots for modesty. His chiseled features and irresistible charm—not to mention a side gig as a male prostitute—make him immensely popular in the Capitol. Though he begins as Katniss and Peeta’s stiffest competition in the 75th Annual Hunger Games, he quickly proves to be more emotionally complicated than he seems, becoming one of their most useful allies. A veteran of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Snow White and the Huntsman, Claflin beat out rumored contenders including Taylor Kitsch, Armie Hammer, and Garret Hedlund for the part.
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A former child actress who broke out with roles in films like Stepmom and Donnie Darko, Jena Malone, now 27, has carved out a diverse adult résumé with parts in indies (Into the Wild), special-effects heavy action flicks (Sucker Punch), and historical dramas (Hatfields & McCoys). She stars in her first major tentpole film as former tribute Johanna Mason in Catching Fire. Snide and shrewd, Johanna has a reputation as a ruthless killer, but also exhibits signs of severe psychological damage for her experience in the Hunger Games. Like Finnick, she unabashedly parades around naked and also teams up with Katniss.
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After the previous gamemaker Seneca Crane, played by Wes Bentley, meets his fate in a bowlful of poisonous berries, Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s Plutarch Heavensbee steps in to design the new all-star version of the Hunger Games, which demands all surviving victors to return to the stadium to fight to the death. Heavensbee’s allegiance, however, doesn’t lie solely with the Capitol. As for Hoffman, the Academy Award winner joins Jennifer Lawrence, Woody Harrelson, and Stanley Tucci as the fourth Oscar-minted actor in the Catching Fire cast.
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Sex and the City fans know her as Magda, Miranda’s loyal and lovable nanny from the Sex and the City TV series and movies. Now, stage veteran Lynn Cohen will be playing Mags, Finnick’s loyal and lovable mentor in Catching Fire. At 80 years old, Mags mumbles while she talks and slows down the alliance of Katniss, Peeta, and Finnick, but proves vital to their first day of survival. Finnick’s devotion to her is a major arc of the film.
Bruce Glikas
Best known for her work in Pulp Fiction and The Fisher King, veteran actress Amanda Plummer looks to make a comeback of sorts in Catching Fire. She takes on the role of Wiress, a twitchy and muttering former tribute whose bizarre behavior earns her the nickname “Nuts” from the Game’s fellow competitors. She proves her worth, however, when she decodes a key piece of the Game’s design that ends up saving Katniss and her allies’ lives.
Larry Busacca
Though still not confirmed, numerous reports link Monk Emmy-winner Tony Shalhoub to the role of Beetee, another former tribute and Wiress’s partner in crime. His penchant for gadgetry and invention earns him the nickname “Volts.” As they do with Wiress, most of the tributes dismiss him as batty—they refer to the pair as “Nuts and Volts”—but he proves his worth to Katniss and Peeta, who are smart enough to trust him.
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In the Hunger Games universe, there’s a group of competitors called “career tributes,” who train their entire upbringing in order to excel in the annual fight to the death and volunteer to compete in the contest in the place of weaker tributes chosen in the lottery. With his superhero stature (and superhero résumé to accompany it—he appeared as Aquaman on the CW’s Smallville), this model and actor seems a logical for the role. Gloss’s strongest skill is swimming, and Ritchson shouldn’t be too uncomfortable in a bathing suit. The actor caused Paula Abdul’s jaw to drop when he performed a striptease for the judge when auditioning for the 2004 season of American Idol.
Christopher Polk
Cashmere is Gloss’s sister, and another career tribute and former victor. She quickly becomes Katniss’s adversary, verbally sparring with the heroine before the two even enter the Hunger Games arena. Relative newcomer Stephanie Leigh Schlund will play Cashmere in Catching Fire. Schlund has appeared in Drop Dead Diva and will star in the upcoming Kevin Bacon drama series The Following, but, most interestingly, she is a former Price is Right model. Come on down.
Another tribute who turns out to be a major foe for Katniss, Enobaria is known for her ferociously violent style in the arena. On her way to victory in the 62nd Hunger Games, Enobaria’s breakout moment came when she ripped open another tribute’s throat with her teeth. The move became such a trademark that she later had her teeth cosmetically altered to look like fangs. Lending her own smile to the role will be Meta Golding, a TV actress who has appeared in the dramas Day Break, CSI, Criminal Minds, and House.
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Unlike most of the other former tributes, Seeder ingratiates herself to Katniss almost immediately when they first meet. Hailing from the same impoverished district as Katniss’s friend Rue, who tragically died in the previous Hunger Games, Seeder updates her on the status of the district’s uprising and assures her that Rue’s family is safe. Maria Howell, who has had small parts in The Blind Side and What to Expect When You’re Expecting, will play Seeder in Catching Fire.
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A career tribute from District 2, Brutus lives up to his name. He’s a strong and ruthless killer who joins the contingent of career tributes that Katniss and her allies face-off against. Taking on the fearsome role is Bruno Gunn, whose credits include Bad Teacher, Sons of Anarchy, and Oz.
Chaff isn’t as strong or confident as the other former victors Katniss and Peeta must go up against. He lost his hand during his quest to win the 45th Hunger Games, and judging by his relationship to Woody Harrelson’s boozy character Haymitch, took to drinking to cope. He becomes close to Peeta, especially, as the tributes train for the Games, for reasons that become evident during Catching Fire’s climactic final act. E. Roger Mitchell will play Chaff. The actor’s long film résumé includes roles in SWAT, Battle: Los Angeles, and The Crazies.
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