Cast of The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping Explained

Cast of The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping Explained

Casting a prequel means finding actors to play younger versions of characters audiences already have fixed in their heads. This one required a new Haymitch, a new Effie, a younger Snow, and a Caesar Flickerman decades before the version people remember. The solutions Lionsgate arrived at are interesting, and occasionally unexpected.

About the Film

Before the cast of The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, the essentials.

The film adapts Suzanne Collins’s novel of the same name, published in March 2025, and is scheduled for release on November 20, 2026. It is the sixth film in the franchise and the second prequel, following The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.

Francis Lawrence returns to direct, having helmed every Hunger Games film since Catching Fire. Billy Ray, who co-wrote the first Hunger Games screenplay, wrote the script. Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson produce through Color Force, with Lionsgate distributing. James Newton Howard returns for the score.

The story is set 24 years before Katniss Everdeen’s, beginning on the morning of the reaping for the 50th Hunger Games, the Second Quarter Quell, in which a sixteen-year-old Haymitch Abernathy competes.

Joseph Zada as Haymitch Abernathy

Leading the cast of The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is Joseph Zada as Haymitch, the role Woody Harrelson originated across the original four films.

Zada is an Australian actor known for Invisible Boys, and plays Johnny Sinclair in the Prime Video adaptation of We Were Liars. Playing a character defined by Harrelson’s performance is the casting decision the film will be judged on most.

Whitney Peak as Lenore Dove Baird

Whitney Peak plays Lenore Dove Baird, Haymitch’s girlfriend and a Covey girl living in District 12.

The Covey connection links her to Lucy Gray Baird, played by Rachel Zegler in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, tying the two prequels together. Peak is known for the rebooted Gossip Girl.

Mckenna Grace as Maysilee Donner

Mckenna Grace plays Maysilee Donner, a fellow District 12 tribute in the 50th Games.

Maysilee matters to franchise continuity: she is the original owner of the mockingjay pin Katniss receives in the first film. She resents the Capitol and resists it, and she and Haymitch come to depend on each other in the arena. Grace previously appeared in Ghostbusters: Afterlife.

The Capitol Figures

Several established characters appear in younger form, and this is where the cast of The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping gets particularly notable.

Ralph Fiennes as President Coriolanus Snow. Fiennes takes over from the late Donald Sutherland, and has spoken publicly about the challenge, describing Sutherland’s shoes as big ones to stand alongside.

Elle Fanning as Effie Trinket, the role Elizabeth Banks played in the original films.

Kieran Culkin as Caesar Flickerman, the Capitol’s television host, originally played by Stanley Tucci.

Jesse Plemons as Plutarch Heavensbee, played by the late Philip Seymour Hoffman in the original trilogy.

Glenn Close as Drusilla Sickle, a Capitol escort character.

Billy Porter as Magno Stift.

The District Characters

The rest of the cast of The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping fills out both tributes and District 12:

• Ben Wang as Wyatt Callow, a fellow tribute.
• Maya Hawke as Wiress, later played by Amanda Plummer.
• Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Beetee Latier, later played by Jeffrey Wright.
• Lili Taylor as Mags Flanagan, later played by Lynn Cohen.
• Percy Daggs IV as Ampert Latier.
• Molly McCann as Louella McCoy.
• Iona Bell as Lou Lou.
• Kara Tointon as Willamae Abernathy.
• Smylie Bradwell as Sid Abernathy.
• Scot Greenan as Burdock Everdeen.

That last name is worth pausing on. Burdock Everdeen is Katniss’s father, appearing here as a young man decades before the original story.

The Wider Ensemble

Additional credited performers in the cast of The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping include Jhaleil Swaby as Panache Barker, Laura Marcus as Silka Sharp, Rada Rae as Wellie, Kaine Buffonge as Hull, Jefferson White as Mr. McCoy, Iris Apatow as Proserpina Trinket, and Edvin Ryding as Vitus.

The Returning Stars

Listings for the film include Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen and Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark.

Neither appeared in the trailers released in November 2025 or April 2026, and reporting suggests any appearance would likely be a flash-forward. Neither has been seen in Panem since Mockingjay Part 2 in 2015. Given this is a Haymitch-centered story, the obvious follow-up concerns Woody Harrelson, and Lionsgate has confirmed nothing. Treat these listings as unconfirmed until release.

Why the Casting Is Interesting

A few observations about the cast of The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping as a whole.

The Capitol roles went to heavyweights. Fiennes, Close, Plemons, and Culkin represent considerable prestige casting for roles that, in a prequel, could easily have gone to lesser-known performers.

The leads are relative newcomers. Zada and Peak are far less established than the actors surrounding them, mirroring the franchise’s history of launching young careers, which Lionsgate has explicitly referenced.

Continuity was clearly a priority. Casting younger versions of Wiress, Beetee, Mags, Effie, Caesar, Plutarch, and Snow signals a film deliberately connected to the original trilogy rather than standing apart.

Two roles required replacing deceased actors, since both Donald Sutherland and Philip Seymour Hoffman played their characters originally.

Release and Trailers

A teaser arrived November 20, 2025, a year before release, featuring much of the cast of The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping. A fuller trailer followed April 13, 2026, with a Meet Haymitch featurette in July 2026.

The film opens in theaters on November 20, 2026.

The bottom line on the cast of The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is that Joseph Zada leads as a sixteen-year-old Haymitch Abernathy, with Whitney Peak as Lenore Dove Baird and Mckenna Grace as Maysilee Donner, the original owner of the mockingjay pin. They are surrounded by an unusually strong supporting ensemble including Ralph Fiennes as a younger President Snow, Elle Fanning as Effie Trinket, Kieran Culkin as Caesar Flickerman, Jesse Plemons as Plutarch Heavensbee, Glenn Close as Drusilla Sickle, plus Maya Hawke, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Ben Wang, Lili Taylor, and Billy Porter, with Francis Lawrence directing for a November 20, 2026 release.

Key Takeaways

• The film adapts Suzanne Collins’s 2025 novel and releases November 20, 2026, directed by Francis Lawrence.
• Billy Ray wrote the screenplay, with Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson producing for Color Force.
• It is set 24 years before Katniss’s story, at the 50th Hunger Games, the Second Quarter Quell.
• Joseph Zada stars as sixteen-year-old Haymitch Abernathy, the role Woody Harrelson originated.
• Whitney Peak plays Lenore Dove Baird, a Covey girl linking the film to Lucy Gray Baird.
• Mckenna Grace plays Maysilee Donner, the original owner of Katniss’s mockingjay pin.
• Ralph Fiennes takes over as President Snow following Donald Sutherland, and Jesse Plemons plays Plutarch Heavensbee.
• Elle Fanning plays Effie Trinket and Kieran Culkin plays Caesar Flickerman.
• Younger versions of Wiress, Beetee, and Mags appear, played by Maya Hawke, Kelvin Harrison Jr., and Lili Taylor.
• Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson appear in listings, though their involvement is unconfirmed and possibly a flash-forward.