New 'Catching Fire' Character Portraits in October Vanity Fair

October's Vanity Fair includes a feature on Catching Fire, including some never-before-seen portraits of Katniss, Peeta, Effie, Gale, and Finnick shot by Lionsgate CMO, Tim Palen.

Jennifer Lawrence Vanity Fair October 2013

The Hunger Games films may have begun as Suzanne Collin’s hugely popular trilogy of books aimed at young adults, but with a new director and a star who scored the best-actress statuette at this year’s Oscars, the second installment of this blockbuster franchise is all grown up.

“One of the big overarching themes for all the books is this idea of the consequences of war, and one of the unfortunate consequences of war is post-traumatic stress,” explained Francis Lawrence, who directed The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, out this November. In this movie, not only have young leads Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson aged nearly two years, but also their characters, Katniss and Peeta, have returned to their home district haunted by what they’ve seen and done. “That’s one of the first things you see in the movie,” the director adds. “They’re changed people because of having been in the Games.”

The Games is the annual event that unites the 12 districts of the fictional nation of Panem. Twenty-four teens are chosen to battle to the death using a variety of weapons in a gruesome display meant to cow the populace. Only when it became their turn to kill or be killed in the earlier film, Katniss and Peeta broke the rules - and for the first time there were two victors. This act of defiance sparked a rebellion in the districts, and in Catching Fire Peeta and Katniss must struggle with their roles as unwilling icons - not to mention taking another round in the arena against other previous champions.

Those new foes include Jena Malone, Amanda Plummer, Jeffrey Wright, Lynn Cohen, and a sensuous and tricky Sam Claflin. They expand an enviable ensemble that already featured Donald Sutherland as the nefarious president of Panem, Elizabeth Banks as Katniss and Peeta’s increasingly self-aware chaperone, and Liam Hemsworth as a young miner who competes with Peeta for the affections of our heroine. The director - no relation to his star - describes the group as “The sort of fantastic actors that you empathize with, that you feel a warmth for.” That is, until they start trying to kill one another.”

- Chris Rovzar

Thanks to Quarter Quell.org for the tip and FashionScansRemastered for the scans!

Victors Revealed: Finnick

 

Finnick has finally made his long-awaited appearance on the Victors Revealed banner at the Hunger Games Explorer!

Click the image to check out the completed banner full size in Hi Res (it's huge):

Thanks to QuarterQuell.org for the hi res image

Sam Claflin on 'Catching Fire' - "This saga occupies an important place in the hearts of millions of people."

In a new interview, Sam Claflin spoke with Italian magazine, Grazia, about 'Catching Fire,' Finnick Odair and his friendship with Jennifer Lawrence. And he finally REALLY confirmed the wedding! Congrats Sam and Laura!

He was chosen for one of the most coveted roles in Hollywood and still can't believe it. Sam Claflin will portray Finnick Odair, a key figure in three highly anticipated sequels of the The Hunger Games saga. Not bad for an actor who, in just three years of his career, has starred opposite Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz in Pirates of the Caribbean - On Stranger Tides, and with Charlize Theron and Kristen Stewart in Snow White and the Huntsman. Sam, 27, is perhaps the only movie star who blushes and lowers his eyes when he speaks about himself, however, he does not contain his excitement when we mention his marriage to actress Laura Haddock, one of the protagonists of the series tv Da Vinci's Demons.

We meet him in Los Angeles to talk about the new Hunger Games, and it's only been a week since the wedding. The British actor proudly shows his wedding ring: "I flew in from London for this interview, at the climax of the honeymoon!" He says. "But in the end, it is not so bad to stay a couple of days here in California, on the shores of the ocean."

GRAZIA: When you were chosen for the role of Finnick, the Hunger Games fans unleashed on the internet. Did you expect that?

Sam: "No, I had not the slightest idea of ​​what people were interested in for the casting of  the Hunger Games. Then I started to get messages on Twitter: many congratulations, some negative reactions, some even a little extreme. I was amazed: I discovered that this saga occupies an important place in the hearts of millions of people."

GRAZIA: The main reaction was: surprise ...

SAM: "I was the first to be surprised! Finnick is described in the books as a kind of divinity: he's beautiful, he's a great warrior ...

At the casting, before me, in came a guy, one of the most handsome men I've ever seen. At that point I thought I had no chance. Instead, I had myself underestimated the fact that we actors, by definition, we are able to transform according to the role."

GRAZIA: In fact, you put on a lot of muscle in no time. How did you do it?

SAM: "Chicken and asparagus for three months in a row and hours of daily training. I've always been an athlete, but not a fan of the gym, on the contrary, I always look for an excuse to avoid it ... Now we will shoot the two sequels of the film and for one whole year, I will not have the opportunity to avoid the daily training. My wife will be glad to see me in such good shape."

GRAZIA: What is Jennifer Lawrence like, the star of the "Hunger Games"? Did it go to her head since she won the Oscar?

SAM: "On the contrary, she's a very open girl and likes to make jokes all the time. Jennifer is amazing as an actress and as a person. In recent months she has become a great friend of mine. "

GRAZIA: So it's because you're friends that she said in an interview that you're a very attractive guy?

SAM: "Who, me? (Blushes) It is not true, it was a joke: it's a stereotype that Americans have of us Brits, they say that we talk in such a gracious way that it makes us sexy. I'm actually very shy. I get embarrassed even when someone I do not know starts a casual conversation with me in a store. My wife and I have recently bought a puppy, and when I walk her, it's a disaster: anyone who sees her, approaches, caresses her and starts to chat with me. In fact, look at how cute"(pulls out his phone and shows me the picture of the puppy)

Of course, when The Hunger Games: Catching Fire comes out this fall,  the fans are going to chase his autograph ... Perhaps, only then, Sam Claflin will understand that he has become a star.

For your information: His puppy's name is Rosie.

Thanks to our friends Sam Claflin Fans for the tip and the translation by Sam Claflin Italia!

Sam Claflin Talks Finnick & 'Catching Fire' With Elle

Sam Claflin recently chatted with ELLE Magazine to discuss his role as Finnick Odair in Catching Fire:

 

Amid all the YA dystopian literature that’s captivated scores of teens and teens-at-heart, there’s hardly been a character so beloved by fans than Finnick Odair of Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games series. A previous Hunger Games victor who’s brought back into the arena to compete with other past champions, including Katniss and Peeta, Finnick is tall, tan, and beautiful. Thusly, the role presented certain challenges to producers when it came to casting for Catching Fire, the second installment in the HG movie trilogy, out in November. But, in a race that included hunks such as Armie Hammer, Taylor Kitsch and Garrett Hedlund, who should prevail? That would be Sam Claflin, perhaps marginally known for enduring but less-weighty roles in films like Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Snow White and The Huntsman. Fans certainly voiced their concerns about the relative newcomer, but once production photos of Claflin—dyed, tanned, buff—surfaced on the Internet, their fears were quickly quashed. Now, the 27-year-old Brit is poised for international superstardom in one of the most popular franchises of all time.

ELLE: Hello, Sam! Let’s get to it. You’ve said in previous interviews that when you went in for your first Catching Fire audition, you didn’t know what the role was for. How could that be?

Sam Claflin: I was sent over a script and there was no title to what I was reading. It was just two scenes with a character called “Finnick” and a mini-character breakdown. I started reading the scene and saw the name Katniss, and I’d just recently seen The Hunger Games, so I thought, “OK, is this a connection?” But I didn’t know it was a trilogy. I just thought it was a one-time film. So I typed Finnick Odair” into Google an all these book and fan pages came up and I was kind of like, “whoa.” So I just went through all of it and did as much research as I could the night before.

ELLE: And how did that first casting interview go?

SC: I thought I had a pretty good idea of who the character was, but I was pretty off. I thought he was just kind of a bad guy. And obviously he’s kind of painted in that light in the beginning, so I honed in on the fact that he was mysterious and untrustworthy as much as I could. But thank God Frances [Lawrence] was there for my recall because he directed me in a very different way than I was expecting the second time.

ELLE: How so?

Click to read more ...

New Finnick Still From 'Catching Fire'

Here's a brand new still of Finnick Odair in Catching Fire, thanks to Page To Premiere. Obviously, it's the 'Want a sugarcube?" scene from Catching Fire where Finnick offers Katniss sugar in exchange for her secrets. 

"Want a sugar cube?" he says, offering his hand, which is piled high. "They're supposed to be for the horses, but who cares? They've got years to eat sugar, whearas you and I..well, if we see something sweet, we better grab it quick."

Sam Claflin's Fiance Talks Finnick and 'Catching Fire' Fans

Sam Claflin's lovely fiance, Laura Haddock, talked to Empire Magazine (June issue) about Sam, his fans, and his new sex-symbol status:  

Professionaly, Haddock is presently juggling a number of future projects. Personally, though, the future is set - she's engaged to Sam Claflin, who will shortly best his parts in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Snow White & The Huntsman to go stratospheric as The Hunger Games: Catching Fire's revolutionary sex bomb, Finnick Odair.

"Sam being a pin-up is funny," says Haddock. "We have this big monthly session where we sit down with his fan mail, him with a big marker pen and me and his mum with a cup of tea, and he signs all these things that have come in. The other day he got a bracelet from this girl who's a fan of The Hunger Games. It had his district on it. And he put it on and took a picture of it and sent it to her by Twitter, which made her day. But he's not taken it off! He loves it!" She laughs. "Otherwise he gets all of these pictures of him, where he's looking all sexy and serious..."

And her point is? "Well he IS very sexy," she says. "But he's really not very serious. You know, he looks gorgeous in that film. But if you said that to him he'd say, 'What? Me? I'm from Norwich!'"

Here's the bracelet she was referring to in the article! Lucky @Tanyelala

WATCH: Sam Claflin Talks 'Catching Fire' Trailer and Annie Cresta!

Sam Claflin presented last night at the Jameson Empire Awards (see our story HERE) and he gave us some amazing information during the pre-show live stream interview. He's seen the Catching Fire trailer AND he talks about Annie Cresta as Finnick's motivation. Will we see Annie in the movie? It's a relief to know that she's part of the storyline AND that there is a trailer ready and waiting for us.