Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping’s New Haymitch Reveals Woody Harrelson’s Advice

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Published Oct 21, 2026, 1:05 PM EDT

Willa Rowe is a contributing writer at Polygon, covering games and entertainment. She is a New York-based journalist and critic whose work has been featured in Kotaku, Digital Trends, the A.V. Club, GamesRadar+, and more. She also co-hosts the Girl Mode podcast.

Joseph Zada got some interesting insight into his character from the man who played him first

The Hunger Games, Haymitch young and old

Most of the cast of The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping has the unenviable task of playing younger versions of characters previously portrayed by some of our greatest actors. That is especially true for Joseph Zada, who takes over the role of Haymitch from Woody Harrelson. To make the challenge easier, the two actors were able to compare notes on set, with the latter offering some helpful — if unexpected — advice to Zada.

As part of a wide-ranging story on Sunrise on the Reaping at ScreenRant, Zada revealed that Harrelson had some tips on how to get into character. "He told me to watch Cool Hand Luke, the Paul Newman film," Zada said. That might not have been what Zada was expecting, but Harrelson "said that everything that he's ever done, he's trying to do that."

Harrelson will also reprise his role as the older version of Haymitch in Sunrise on the Reaping. This means both actors got to spend some time together on set, which Zada said mostly consisted of the two telling each other stories. "He was just really interested in hearing about my experience," Zada said. It's interesting that Harrelson seems to have not given Zada specific advice about playing Haymitch, but rather focused on giving the younger actor tips on how to approach the profession in general. This probably means that Zada will bring his own perspective on the character, which is fitting considering he is almost entirely different from the version we know in the original films.

The Sunrise on the Reaping cast is making it their own

Every Hunger Games book gets blunter about the messages fans keep missing

As mentioned, much of the cast is in a similar situation to Zada. While that could be intimidating, it seems like the team was focused as much as possible on not looking at past performances. Kelvin Harrison Jr., who plays a young version of Beetee (the Catching Fire character portrayed by Jeffrey Wright), revealed that director Francis Lawrence told him, "'We're not doing impressions and stuff like that. So I really want you to do your own thing.'" That isn't to say the actors always chose to completely ignore their predecessors. Harrison Jr. said he wanted to make sure fans felt like his take on the character was familiar.

Elle Fanning shared similar thoughts on portraying Effie Trinket and following in the footsteps of Elizabeth Banks. While Fanning shared that Banks "wanted me to make Effie my own," she still wanted to live up to those high expectations. That included nods to Banks in the character's costume design. Fanning also tried to improvise and write her own lines at times, just as Banks did before her. Sunrise on the Reaping offers a new perspective on the story of Haymitch's Hunger Games. Having each actor bring fresh insight into familiar characters only feels apt.

The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping will be released in theaters on Nov. 20.

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