Elle Fanning said she was a fan of the character Effie Trinket before she cast to take on the role in the next “Hunger Games” film. Fanning has fans of her own to thank for getting to play the part.
The actress, who will soon star in “Predator: Badlands,” sat down with “Badlands” director Dan Trachtenberg and co-star Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi for an interview at San Diego Comic-Con. At the end of the interview, panel moderator Josh Horowitz turned the conversation to “The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping,” congratulating Fanning on what he called “perfect casting.”
“I think fans kind of made this happen in a way,” Fanning said. “The studio said, like, they were getting kind of hounded online, being like ‘Elle needs to play Effie,’ and they were like, ‘OK.’”
You can watch the full interview below.
She’s not the only fan-casting subject to get the actual job. Notably, David Corenswet was a popular choice to play Superman on online forums (particularly after his appearances in “Hollywood” and “The Politician”) before he eventually landed the part. “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” intentionally winks at an online comparison between John Krasinski and a bearded Mister Fantastic, particularly during Dan Slott’s run on the character, drawn by artists like Artgerm and R. B. Silva.
Fanning called herself a “huge fan” of the “Hunger Games” franchise prior to her casting. When an online fandom created enough fervor over wanting to see the actress take on the part of Effie Trinket, it wasn’t long until the star of “The Great” got the call.
“The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping” takes place during the 50th annual Hunger Games ceremony — setting it 24 years before the events of the first book/movie. This installment of the Hunger Games saw its combatants face the Second Quarter Quell — the rules of the murder competition change to commemorate each 25th ceremony. For the 50th Hunger Games, each District had to submit four tributes rather than the traditional two. Haymitch Abernathy (Katniss Everdeen’s mentor, portrayed in the original films by Woody Harrelson) competed in and won the Second Quarter Quell for District 12.
Because the film takes place more than two decades before the first “Hunger Games” movie (and 40 years after “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes”), “Sunrise on the Reaping” required an all-new cast to step into the shoes of the franchise’s iconic characters. Joseph Zada stars as Haymitch alongside Ralph Fiennes as President Snow (formerly played by Tom Blyth and Donald Sutherland), Jesse Plemons as Plutarch Heavensbee (originally Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Kieran Culkin as Caesar Flickerman (taking over for Stanley Tucci). Fanning steps into Elizabeth Banks’ shoes as Effie Trinket.
“Effie has always been my favorite character,” Fanning said. “Elizabeth Banks, she brought so much, just even beyond those books, layers to that character, and she’s, I love her. And I have gotten to talk to Elizabeth. We’ve texted and she sent me flowers and said, ‘May the odds be [ever] in your favor.’ So, very special. I haven’t started filming yet, but I’m, we’re thinking and hopefully making the fans happy.”
“Different wardrobe probably than this one,” Horowitz said, referencing “Predator: Badlands.”
“Yes, definitely,” Fanning replied. “Wardrobe is important.”
