The ‘Hunger Games’ guys cover Entertainment Weekly: airbrushed to the max?

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Entertainment Weekly seems to have the upper hand on presenting official first glances at The Hunger Games actors in character. We’ve already seen Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss, and now EW brings us Liam Hemsworth as Gale and Josh Hutcherson as Peeta. Kaiser, CB and I were discussing this cover over email, and the general consensus is that Hemsworth looks nothing like himself here. Kaiser also points out that Hemsworth probably lost some weight for the role, and CB thinks that the angle of the photo might have something to do with it, but I’m also leaning towards a lot of stage makeup and a heavy-handed Photoshop artist. Maybe the absence of facial hair matters too? I don’t know.

As far as this first look at the leading men of The Hunger Games goes, I’ve got to admit being slightly underwhelmed. Based upon aesthetics alone, Katniss would have absolutely no trouble tossing Gale over for the strapping Peeta. Of course, it makes sense that a baker’s son would spend his days lifting heavy sacks of flour and also end up with enough nourishment to fill out those guns too. Gale, however, is sadly lacking here. Yes, he is the one responsible for feeding his family, but the book makes it rather clear that he and Katniss’ unparalleled hunting and trapping skills do keep them afloat, so Gale shouldn’t look quite that skinny, right? Perhaps I was just expecting him to have a bit more stature. If this EW cover accurely depicts the male eye candy of the movie, I will probably hold out for the Lenny Kravitz cover for some real sex appeal, but EW does have some words from Liam and Josh as well:

Two months ago, Entertainment Weekly revealed the first images of Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen, the teenage hero of The Hunger Games, based on Suzanne Collins’ blistering dystopian trilogy about children forced to fight to the death on national TV (and due out next March). In this week’s cover story, we introduce you to the devoted young men who fight for her.

We sat down wth Josh Hutcherson, the 18-year-old actor whom director Gary Ross fought hard to cast as the deeply decent Peeta Mellark, at a cozy diner in Asheville, N.C., where The Hunger Games shoot was mid-way through filming. His hair was dyed blonde; his newly pumped-up biceps could believably belong to that of a baker’s son. And while Hutcherson (The Kids Are All Right) understands fans’ hand-wringing online, he’s here to assure you that Lawrence will not in fact tower over him on screen. “Jennifer’s not two feet taller than me!” he says with his easy laugh. “If anything, maybe she’s a half inch taller.” And Ross assures devotees of the books that 21-year-old Liam Hemsworth, who’ll play Katniss’ righteous childhood confidante Gale, is more than just some Australian beefcake who starred in Miley Cyrus’ last movie. “On first glance he’s such a hunk that it’s easy to just sort of ascribe a hunk-like simplicity to him,” says the director. “But this is a phenomenally subtle actor.”

Although Peeta and Gale circle each other warily throughout the series, it turns out that Hutcherson and Hemsworth bonded hard during their six weeks together on set. So much so that Hutcherson brought Hemsworth along on a weekend visit to his hometown in Kentucky to relax with his family and sample his grandmother’s famous fried chicken. “I think it’s going to blow people’s minds when they see that Peeta and Gale are actually best friends in real life,” says Hutcherson.

[From EW.com]

Hutcherson must be kidding about blowing our minds because it’s nothing new when actors become friends on set. He’s really young though, and I’m probably out of touch when it comes to youth slang these days. However, it’s nice to see a guy with some modicum of talent move up from indie film to a studio pic, and (again, if the EW cover is an accurate portrayal) I think that Hutcherson looks better as a blonde. By the way, he’s dating Vanessa Hudgens, and they attended Coachella together. Don’t hold that against him.

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Here’s a reminder of what Liam Hemsworth usually looks like. So different!

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Photos courtesy of Popwatch and Fame

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28 Responses to “The ‘Hunger Games’ guys cover Entertainment Weekly: airbrushed to the max?”

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  1. gee says:

    I think they both look accurate, especially Peeta. And Gale is supposed to be thin.. he’s starving.

  2. jinni says:

    They both look way older than teenagers. The part that makes the story horrifing is because kids are fighting eachother, but the actors playing the main teen characters look like grown-ups. Couldn’t they have hired actors that look or actually were younger to play these roles?

  3. cz says:

    When I first saw this cover yesterday, they said “here is Liam and Josh” and I thought it was labeled wrong. I thought “who is this guy on the left supposed to be?” haha….. This looks nothing like Liam.

  4. Sisi says:

    I expected Gale to be rather big in height and size & athletic compared to Peeta. And to be honest I expected Liam to be much taller than Josh too. Idk… Maybe Josh is standing on a box in the cover, and is Liam leaning back to make them fill the page more evenly. In that case the styling of the pic seems rather shitty because it doesn’t represent the book very well imo.

  5. gee says:

    @jinni, you’re right, they are too old but I’ve kind of given up on the age issue. The murdering children aspect will just be for the books I suppose.

  6. Marianne says:

    I do think its two much photoshop. I think he looks different because his hair is darker, but they also look a bit dirty. And I buy that Gale is a little skinny. Trapping a few rabbits here and there, probably isn’t the most filling meal. Thats why Gale and Katniss are always throwing thier name into the Reaping (that is correct right?) because they dont have a lot of money and need extra food.

  7. Marianne says:

    *too

  8. mln76 says:

    They both look way too ‘Hollywood’ it’s really hard to translate these type of books to film. Because the books were so edgy and ‘adult’ despite the young protagonists. I hope this doesn’t turn out to be another waste of great material like ‘The Golden Compass’ movie.

  9. the original bellaluna says:

    Okay, someone’s standing on SOMETHING, because dude on the left is almost 6’5″ and dude on the right in only 5’7″ (according to IMDB, where I went to try to figure out what this mess is supposed to be about – not much help).

  10. StephanieMarie says:

    Errrr….Katniss should reconsider Gale if that’s what Peeta looks like..
    Not a fan of the dude on the right, I guess…

  11. dread pirate cuervo says:

    Not hot. Not hot at all. Was the one in black in the Vampire’s Assistant? I hated that kid’s character & he’s tainted forever now.

  12. lyla says:

    Peeta looks like a boxer and Josh H. is really short while the guy playing Liam is really tall. Either they blew up Josh to look equal in height, or he’s standing on a step ladder. lol

    Not really feeling any of the casting choices. Even with Jennifer L. who can act so well, she’s too womanly and vivacious to play the brittle, scrawny, darker Katniss.

    I wish they had gone with unknowns who were more age appropriate.

  13. Nina says:

    The Hunger Games is such a blatant rip-off of “Battle Royale,” a book taht was adapted for the big screen in Japan almost a decade before HG. Youtube “Battle Royale trailer” and you’ll see Suzanne Collins pilfered her way to success with a diluted version of Battle Royale. Even the story setup is almost identical.

  14. Pix says:

    Eh. It’s not what I pictured. But, if these boys can all act and the script and director are spot on then I am all for it. Those Twilight movies are a joke and absolutely unwatchable. I loved these books and I hope they can pull it off.

  15. cara says:

    @Pix-actually, I think it’s very clear they are totally “twilighting” Hunger Games. They’ve taken a page out of the twilight create-hype playbook time and again, in terms of how they are trying to roll this out to the public, including presenting Gale and Peeta in terms of teams to get behind. I liked Hunger Games better than Twilight as books, but as a stand alone series, HG is lacking. It’s a derivative plot that’s been done better in the past.

  16. Zoey says:

    They both look so DAMN wrong, it´s ridiculous, Gale especially. I´m so disappointed by these castings.

  17. danielle says:

    I think the biggest problem is casting older and more glamorous than in the book. (I think they do that with lots of children’s books – and I think not doing it was one reason why Harry Potter films are so much better than other kids books to movies) But I’m still hopeful that good directing and acting can overcome that.

  18. lotharia says:

    they are all too old and too polished. I mean, even the fact that they are experienced talented actors gives them too much shine to be honest. I think we needed them to cast young, fresh unknowns that could really break out the way that Hallee girl did from “True Grit.” I’m just really disappointed with the three main castings. Jennifer L. in her reaping dress looks like a grown woman with kids for crying out loud! I don’t care how good an actor you are, that’s very distracting for playing a near starving young girl who’s scrawny and young.

  19. cici says:

    Poor Liam as Gale. Because they cast Joh as Peeta, and he’s not the prettiest of boys, they are trying to make Liam less attractive in turn so he doesn’t overshadow josh onscreen since Peeta is THE one and all.

  20. AB says:

    Oh god! where is Alex Pettyfer when you need him! he would have been fantastic as either Peeta or Gale 🙁

  21. sierra says:

    honestly they just look terrible. What is hollywoods deal, I don’t like seeing plastic on the cover of a magazine it’s freaky.

  22. hoganbcmj says:

    Josh most definitely does NOT look better “as a blond.” And I think he is a total hunk normally. Liam doesn’t do much for me. His look is a dime a dozen.

  23. psylock says:

    @the original bellaluna
    In now way is Liam 6’5. I have met him and stood next to him. He is more like 6’1. IMDB usually adds a few inches to actors heights

  24. Shy says:

    @AB: Did you see Alex Pettyfer act? Did you see his non-acting in I Am Number Four? If they would cast him then Peeta or Gale would looks like “douche bag Alex Pettyfer”. Because that is the only role he can play. They would not look like Peeta or Gale.

  25. the original bellaluna says:

    @ dread pirate – Yup, that was him (dude on the right).

    @ psylock – Ok, but someone’s still standing on something, because even 6’1″ and 5’7″ don’t look like that. (Hubs is 6’5″+ and I’m around 5’10” – there’s a noticeable height difference.) 🙂 Or else dude on the right is being photog’d closer than dude on the left – which I can also see.

  26. Rachael says:

    I’m in agreement with the original bellaluna that Josh is standing on something. I dunno how tall Liam is but I’m assuming he’s over 6 feet. And Josh looks SO SHORT compared to Mark Ruffalo in The Kids Are All Right, and I don’t think Mark is particularly tall, is he?

    For those who were expecting Gale to be more bulky than Peeta … the books make it very clear that Peeta is quite bulky/muscular if I recall. Shorter and stocky like a wrestler is what I pictured when reading the books.

    I didn’t even notice how weird Liam looked here until I saw the comparison shot below. Wow.

    Anyway I just read this book series in June and loved it so I’m remaining hopeful about the movie until I can see it in full with my own two eyes to make my judgment. I’m not worried about the casting so much as the PG-13 rating they are going for. I dunno how the hell they are going to do that, especially for Mockingjay. That’s what makes me nervous, but we’ll see.

  27. R says:

    Ahemhemhem. I love being the little bitch but yea, they faked peeta’s arm hair. OBSERVE, it ends at his elbow. And he has absolutely none in that slightly disturbing picture of him in real life.
    it sort of makes you go like, haaaahaa poor him, hollywood doesn’t think he’s manly enough to play peeta au naturel, without arm toupees xD

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