A producer of The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping has offered an update on the casting of young Haymitch Abernathy. Haymitch is the mentor to Hunger Games contestants Katniss and Peeta in both the original Suzanna Collins young adult novels and their movie adaptations, in which he was portrayed by three-time Oscar nominee Woody Harrelson. The upcoming Sunrise on the Reaping adapts Collins’ newly published novel of the same name, which is a prequel following Haymitch’s victory in the 50th annual Hunger Games.

Variety recently had the opportunity to speak with Nina Jacobson, who has been a producer on the Hunger Games movies from the beginning. In the interview, which was conducted a day before the release of the novel on March 18, she revealed that it has been a challenge to find actors who can portray young Haymitch, especially because “we haven’t been able to read actors” out of fear that their audition sides would be leaked online and spoil the novel ahead of its debut.

Another challenge is finding an actor who will do more than just copy Woody Harrelson’s original performance, because “nobody can be Woody Harrelson but Woody Harrelson.” She revealed that they are looking for someone who has the “mischief that he has in him inherently” but can also layer that with the innocence of a younger version of the character who has not yet been through his biggest traumas. Read her full quote on the subject below:

It’s an interesting challenge. Because of this early manuscript not being published, we haven’t even been able to read actors for fear that sides could leak! We’ve been holding our breath for a long time, but I think that what we’re looking for in that role is, you don’t want somebody who’s impersonating Woody, but you want somebody who very credibly feels like they could be a young version of this character, before the trauma and grief and rage that the fallout of the Games create.

Nobody can be Woody Harrelson but Woody Harrelson. But you have to find that mischief that he has in him inherently and try to understand, if you turn back time from the man you meet at the beginning of “The Hunger Games,” who he was before all of that, and why he became that.

It’s a great role. One of the things that’s so unusual about this is that very rarely does a franchise give an actor a chance to really show their chops and the range that they have, but these roles do.

What This Means For Sunrise On The Reaping

Haymitch Is An Important Piece Of The Puzzle

Although the movie’s November 20, 2026 release date puts pressure on the production to cast Haymitch quickly, it could still take some time. As Jacobson implies, the process will be difficult. In addition to threading the needle between the two versions of the character, they will need to find a new lead who can stand out among the original Hunger Games stars Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson as well as Tom Blyth and Rachel Zegler, who played the main characters in the cast of Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which followed the origin story of the villain Coriolanus Snow.

However, because the movie’s development was announced at the same time as the release date of the Sunrise on the Reaping book, they have already made significant progress on putting together the script. This means that the next step will most likely be to get auditions properly started right away. As soon as the actor playing Haymitch is found, the rest of the cast should fall into place relatively quickly, as they will be able to do chemistry reads with the actor portraying the lead character.

Our Take On The Haymitch Casting Update

The New Haymitch Could Already Be Mostly Decided

Even though they have most likely not yet read very many actors to play Haymitch in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, if any at all, it is still possible that the process could be briefer than expected. Although auditions had to be held off until the publication of the novel, this would not have prevented the producers and returning director Francis Lawrence from looking at actors’ reels and other work, so there may already be frontrunners for the role who are now being contacted to schedule auditions.

Source: Variety