After nearly a year of speculation, Jennifer Lawrence has confirmed that she features in the upcoming Hunger Games movie, Sunrise on the Reaping.
The actor will reprise her role as Katniss Everdeen in the latest installment of the franchise, set for release in theaters next month, and will appear alongside two other Hunger Games original cast members: Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark and Woody Harrelson as an older Haymitch Abernathy.
Speaking on the Call Her Daddy podcast, Lawrence called the experience “unbelievable” and “so emotional.”
“It was so crazy. Because it was the same crew, it was the same camera guys, the same AD [assistant director] who I’ve worked with a million times too, because I love him. And Josh and Woody … and it was so emotional,” she said. “Josh and I didn’t walk to the bathroom without our arms around each other; it was so beautiful.”
The news of Lawrence and Hutcherson’s return was reported by multiple outlets in December 2025, but wasn’t officially confirmed until Oct. 28 — and neither actor appears in the movie’s trailer.
The size of their roles in the film is unknown, but they’re expected to be small and potentially appear in a flash-forward, Variety reported last year.
It has been three years since viewers last caught up with the citizens of Panem. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which did not feature Lawrence or Hutcherson, kicked off the prequel era, telling the story of what happened before Katniss and Peeta’s Games. The Ballad movie rewound 64 years to follow a young Coriolanus Snow, and next up, it’s Haymitch Abernathy’s turn in Sunrise on the Reaping.
An adaptation of Suzanne Collins’s bestselling book of the same name, Sunrise on the Reaping, in theaters Nov. 20, covers the 50th Hunger Games — the second Quarter Quell. The movie tells the story of Haymitch’s turn as a tribute, helping audiences understand how he becomes the surly mentor that Katniss and Peeta meet nearly two and a half decades later.
Here is who has been cast in Sunrise on the Reaping and the part each actor plays.
Who stars in ‘Sunrise on the Reaping’?
Joseph Zada as 16-year-old Haymitch Abernathy
Up-and-coming Australian actor Zada, from Netflix’s East of Eden, plays 16-year-old Haymitch, a District 12 tribute who takes part in the Games during a reaping held on his sixteenth birthday. Harrelson’s version of the character first appeared in the first Hunger Games movie, set 24 years after Sunrise on the Reaping.
Whitney Peak as Lenore Dove Baird
Peak, who starred in HBO Max’s revival of Gossip Girl, plays Haymitch’s girlfriend Lenore. She’s part of the Covey, a group of traveling musicians, and a relative of Lucy Gray Baird, the lead female character in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
Mckenna Grace as Maysilee Donner
Grace, known for playing Phoebe Spengler in the new Ghostbusters franchise, plays Maysilee, another District 12 tribute picked to enter the arena alongside Haymitch.
Ralph Fiennes as Coriolanus Snow
Fiennes takes on the role of Panem dictator Snow for the first time, playing the midlife version of the character that both Donald Sutherland (in the first four movies) and Tom Blyth (in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes) have played.
Elle Fanning as Effie Trinket
Fanning portrays a young Effie Trinket, a role previously held by Elizabeth Banks. In Sunrise on the Reaping, Effie’s an assistant on the District 12 prep-and-styling team during the Games.
Glenn Close as Drusilla Sickle
New to the Hunger Games franchise, Close plays District 12’s cruel escort, Drusilla.
Maya Hawke as Wiress
Fans of the franchise will remember Wiress, the winner of the 49th Hunger Games who was introduced to audiences during Catching Fire. She was played by Amanda Plummer in the 2013 film adaptation, and Hawke portrays the role in Sunrise on the Reaping.
Jesse Plemons as Plutarch Heavensbee
Another familiar character, Plutarch is a Capitol cameraman secretly working against Snow. He was played by Philip Seymour Hoffman in the original movies.
Kieran Culkin as Caesar Flickerman
Culkin is also new to the Hunger Games franchise, playing Caesar Flickerman, the host of the Games. Stanley Tucci held the role in the first four movies.
Billy Porter as Magno Stift
Porter plays Magno, District 12’s stylist and Drusilla’s estranged husband.
Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen
Lawrence confirmed on Oct. 28 that she’ll be resuming her role as Katniss in the new movie. How much screen time she’ll get remains to be seen.
Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark
Lawrence also confirmed that Hutcherson will appear in Sunrise on the Reaping.How big a role he’ll play in the movie is also unknown.
Woody Harrelson as an older Haymitch Abernathy
Lawrence also namedropped Harrelson as another actor returning for Sunrise on the Reaping. Again, nothing is known about his role, as the movie focuses on the character’s younger self, played by Zada.
Ben Wang as Wyatt Callow Wang
Wang, known for his role in Karate Kid: Legends, plays Wyatt, another District 12 tribute.
Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Beetee Latier
Harrison, who starred in the horror film It Comes at Night,plays the younger version of Beetee. Jeffrey Wright appeared as the older Beetee in the first four movies.
Iris Apatow as Proserpina Trinket
Apatow, the younger daughter of filmmaker Judd Apatow and actor Leslie Mann, plays Proserpina, Effie’s sister.
