<\/p>\n
(Last Friday, the creators and cast of Catching Fire<\/i> met the press in Los Angeles at the Four Seasons hotel; here is the question Cinephiled asked specifically, with some expansions and supplemental material included.)<\/p>\n
Cinephiled: Fans have found these books and these films and the story they both tell for a variety of reasons, whether it’s the personal relationships or the political allegory or just the action. would any members of the cast like to share what they most enjoy about this series of films? <\/b><\/p>\n
Josh Hutcherson:<\/b> How do we decide who should answer?!?<\/p>\n
Jennifer Lawrence:<\/b> Is it\u00a0 …? (Sighing; looking to see if any other cast member will step up.) It’s me isn’t it? I’m just kidding … I would love to tell you what I love about these movies. I think that … I was very excited when I started reading these books that there was such a … big series that young adults would be reading and something that was actually very important; I think it’s a very powerful message to show just how powerful one voice can be. It’s very easy, as a society, for us to just kind of follow the feet in front of us, and history does kind of\u00a0 repeat itself — and I think that it’s an important message for our younger generation to see how important they are in just shaping our society and our future …<\/p>\n
Donald Sutherland:<\/b> For me, it was … essential for me personally to find a way to become a part of this — because it more clearly represents the dangers of an Oligarchy of the privileged than anything I’ve seen for a long, long time.*<\/p>\n
Elizabeth Banks: <\/b>Also bad-ass female protagonists.**<\/p>\n
Josh Hutcherson:<\/b> And not-so bad-ass Peeta.<\/p>\n
* Sutherland, later, when asked how he feels about President Snow, added “I love him; he loves himself. He loves his job. He’s right<\/i>; he’s ready to take away $15 billion worth of Food Stamps … he’s a good<\/i> guy.”<\/p>\n
**Banks, later, also noted “Well, Jennifer … is an amazing actress who gets amazing roles, and I wish that she gets them always and forever for the rest of her life.\u00a0 I’ve been doing it a little longer, and I know that there’s a lot of girlfriends out there, (girlfriend) roles and a lot of wives and a lot of supporting roles that are a less interesting than Katniss, and I hope for her that she gets to play Katniss-level roles forever and ever. They’re rare, and I think that with this movie and Gravity<\/i>, I’m so excited to be seeing such amazing strong female role models in the movies for the 50% of moviegoers who are ladies …”<\/p>\n
Catching Fire<\/i> opens Nov. 22 …f<\/p>\n
Watch the London press conference here:<\/p>\n