The Hunger Games was a hit soon after its release in 2012. Starring an ensemble cast including Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Woody Harrelson, and Liam Hemsworth, the film series continued with three more movies and became one of the most popular film series in Hollywood. The audience loved the story, characters, performances, and multiple action sequences in the movie and The Hunger Games cast had to go through intense training to perform their own stunts and action sequences.
The lead star of the series, Jennifer Lawrence, learned archery to prepare for her role as Katniss Everdeen. However, despite all the training, filming one of the scenes was really hard for the cast, especially for Hemsworth, who suffered from its effects for weeks.
The Most Challenging Scene For Liam Hemsworth
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 features a fight sequence that takes place as Katniss and her crew travel underground in order to avoid interaction with The Capitol. However, they get engaged in a fight after they encounter a group of Mutts in the tunnels.
However, filming it wasn’t an easy task for the cast and crew of the movie. Director Francis Lawrence shared during an interview that it was one of the most challenging sequences to film. “It was absolutely the most miserable three weeks,” he said.
He shared that it was a fun sequence, but it was also “miserable” at the same time, as they had to duck in the tunnels. And it was especially hard for Liam Hemsworth due to his tall stature. Jennifer Lawrence shared that her co-star had to constantly squat in the tunnels as he couldn’t possibly stand straight.
“Poor Liam couldn’t stand up straight for three weeks,” she recalled filming the scene with the Poker Face actor. The cast further shared that it was even difficult for them to film the scene in water as it made their gear extra heavy. However, things turned out well because Francis Lawrence was very well organized.
The Hunger Games Cast Started Losing Morale During the Sewer Sequence
Director of the last three and the upcoming Hunger Games movies, Francis Lawrence, has shared how filming the underground sewer scene affected the cast. He shared that it was one of the sequences that led the cast to lose their morale and affected their mood.
“When you get to a certain point and you’re seven months into an 11-month shoot and you hit a sequence like this, where the mood and morale of the cast and crew is at rock bottom, what it’s like, psychologically, to push through that to get what you need.”
Lawrence also shared that although everything was on schedule, things were still miserable for everyone. However, he is happy that all their suffering and hard work paid off as the sequence turned out to be very well. “But, I’m truly happy with the result,” he said in an interview. Not just the director, but fans of the movie series also loved the sewer scene.
The Hunger Games franchise is available on Hulu.
Source: Collider
