Volunteering as Tribute with the Cast of ‘The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping’

The latest The Hunger Games prequel allows audiences to experience sixteen-year-old Haymitch Abernathy’s journey of surviving the 50th Annual Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell. I spoke with stars Mckenna Grace, Ben Wang, Maya Hawke, Kelvin Harrison Jr., and Lili Taylor about introducing a new generation to these characters, the individual transformations of the District 12 tributes, and more. The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, based on Suzanne Collins’ best-selling novel, will be released in theaters on November 20.

Set in the world of Panem 24 years before the events of The Hunger Games, the story follows Haymitch into the arena, where he forms an unlikely alliance with fellow tribute Maysilee Donner and joins a coalition determined to challenge the Capitol’s control under President Snow. As the competition unfolds, Haymitch risks everything to take down the Games from within the arena — setting in motion the rebellion that will change Panem forever.

Along with Haymitch, audiences will see many familiar faces at a different chapter in each of their stories, including Wiress, Beetee, and Mags, mentors who helped prepare and train the new tributes to participate in the Games. This parallels how Maya Hawke, Kelvin Harrison Jr., and Lili Taylor will usher in a new generation to meet these already beloved characters.

“My hope is that every time a new one of these movies and books comes out that it introduces a new generation to read all of them all the way through,” Hawke told me. “Falling in love with reading is one of the greatest gifts any young person can have happen to them because you never have to be alone again and you can really keep your brain healthy. And so, that is a beautiful hope of mine, and these books have wonderful moral lessons and information about the world that is a great introduction to thinking critically about the world and the systems that you passively participate in.”

Taylor added, “It just felt like more of a general vibe of carrying the baton, and the primary purpose being to help the mentees and to just give them everything that I have.”

“At the time, stuff really resonated with me, and I was like, ’Oh God, I’m latching on to this,’ but I was more focused on connection,” Harrison Jr. then commented. “It was so much about connection and really connecting with Haymitch and trying to process in real time the grief.”

Two of those tributes are Maysilee Donner and Wyatt Callow, both from District 12. “They are just very different personalities, and I don’t think that they probably had much interaction in the district, and so I think that it’s very interesting for Maysilee because she comes from a candy shop. Her family is more well off in District 12, as well as you can be in District 12,” Grace shared. “She’s not vain by any means, but she really cares about the way that she presents herself, the way that she dresses, and the way that things do, and she has a lot of anger at the world around her, which I think comes out in poor ways, so she’s probably not so popular. I think a lot of people think she’s really mean, and I think that it’s cool because for the first time in the Games, she really gets a chance to connect with people, and funnel that anger right at the system versus the people around her, and creates these important bonds, and kind of plays a very sisterly role to a lot of people.”

Wang explained, “When you meet [Wyatt], he’s a pariah of the community. He belongs to a family of gamblers, of people who participate in what people see as the exchange of blood money, right? They bet on children who go into the Games, and he’s their odds maker, so he sets the betting odds, which means he looks at each kid and says what their chances of dying are. That makes him a pretty unpopular person because The Hunger Games is this dark stain on the community in this world, right, to the people of the districts. But when he goes into the arena, that’s when, for the first time, I think his abilities that he was born with are appreciated. For the first time, people are saying, ’Yeah, tell me, tell me about the odds. I want to know it. It helps us. It helps our team. It gives us an advantage.’ It’s also where he finally, I think, has a place to put all of this kindness that he’s always had, but had nowhere to put it because he just didn’t have any friends.”

Watch my full interviews below: