Peter Dinklage joins the growing cast of The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes as Casca Highbottom, dean of The Academy and young Coriolanus Snows’ nemesis.
“Dean Highbottom is one of the most powerful people in Snow’s life. As the austere and vindictive face of the games, he sets the rules that will determine every aspect of Coriolanus’s fate. I’m thrilled that Peter will be bringing him to life,” said director Francis Lawrence speaking to Deadline.
Producer Nina Jacobsen added, “I cannot think of an actor more perfectly suited to inhabit the role of Highbottom,” Jacobson said. “As the man credited with conceiving the Hunger Games and the Dean of the Academy, Casca Highbottom is a character with secrets. Peter’s magnetism, intensity and dark humor will infuse him with the intelligence, depth and pathos that the role demands.” Amen!
Nathan Kahane, President of Lionsgate’s Motion Picture Group weighed in, “With production underway, we couldn’t be more excited about the way this cast has come together and thrilled to be welcoming Peter Dinklage to Panem. Peter is not just a fan favorite actor who brings a commanding presence to every part he plays. He is one of the best actors alive. He will bring a formidable, charismatic authority to the important role of the dean of the Academy.”
Dean Highbottom is a complicated character in the book and a lot more interesting than he initially appears. We can’t wait to see what Dinklage brings to the character.