Elizabeth Banks Covers September Women's Health Magazine

Our Effie, Elizabeth Banks, is on the (double) cover of the September 2013 issue of Women's Health Magazine. 

Elizabeth Banks swears a lot. OK, maybe not a lot compared with, say, Chris Rock. But she definitely lets F-bombs fly more than most actresses would during an interview at Hollywood's Chateau Marmont. This is not a complaint, by the way. In fact, her potty mouth is pretty awesome. Equally refreshing? How frank Elizabeth is. She'll tell you exactly what she thinks unless she doesn't want to discuss something. If that's the case, she lets you know straight up instead of offering a canned answer.

Then there's her amazing sense of humor—no surprise, considering she's held her own alongside hilarious costars in everything from 30 Rock and Modern Family to the cult indie comedy Wet Hot American Summer.

Her schedule, however, is no joke. The 39-year-old is the mother of two boys (both under 3), runs a production company with her husband, Max Handelman, and in November will once again play Effie Trinket in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. She shows up to lunch fresh from one meeting and afterward heads to another to pitch TV execs a show.

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'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire' Trailer Edit "Stay Alive"

Check out a great an edit of the The Hunger Games: Catching Fire trailer, "Stay Alive." There were reports that this edit is an official TV spot, but it's fan made. It's still a great edit of the trailer. Enjoy!

Amandla Stenberg On The Hunger Games & Race in Hollywood

RookieMag just posted a really interesting interview with Amandla Stenberg. She talks candidly about her experience with some of the (hopefully FEW, come on people!) negative reactions from her casting as Rue in The Hunger Games. Her maturity belies her youth, and is one of the many reasons we love her. 

What has been your favorite role to play so far?

I don’t know if I can pick a favorite, because my experience has been so varied. But what I loved about The Hunger Games is that it had a fantastic cast. It was basically like summer camp. We were all in the woods together for three months. There were a lot of pranks pulled and sleepovers and that kind of thing. It is kind of a rare experience where all the members of a cast like each other. There were no conflicts or anything.

Was it weird to have your Hunger Games character made into an action figure?

[Laughs] It was pretty bizarre. The Hunger Games was one of the very few films I’ve made, and I got an action figure! It was pretty crazy. It’s really cool. I love to play with it with my niece. I like the fact that it is an image of young girl and it is not a weird sexualized action figure like you often see.

Oprah recently interviewed Alfre Woodard, Viola Davis, Phylicia Rashad, and Gabrielle Union about the challenges black actresses face in Hollywood. They discussed the lack of quality roles for black women as well as the criticism women of color sometimes receive in a hostile and competitive media landscape. At this point in your acting career, have you experienced anything like this? If so, what is your hope for the future?

With The Hunger Games, there was some drama over the fact that a lot of people didn’t expect my character Rue to be African American. So, I received some negative feedback. I kind of distanced myself from it because it seemed very silly to me. I didn’t really think I needed to focus my energy on it.

I don’t really check my personal mentions that much on Twitter. I think it is best to abstain from looking at them rather than come across one negative comment and have it stick in my mind. This happens to a lot of young people in the industry, and it kind of breaks them down. When [those tweets] happened I really tried not to look at what was going on. It was pretty shocking to see some of the articles that compiled the tweets I received. I remember calling my friend Jackie Emerson and telling her I wouldn’t understand all of the drama even if Rue wasn’t supposed to be black, and she comforted me. She told me I had to realize it was nothing personal, but it was unfortunately how society was reacting to the “shocking” presence of an African American actress. [Laughs] I tried not to let it get to me.

I’ve also been told “We’re going in another direction” when I’ve auditioned for roles, and the “other direction” turns out to be a girl with blue eyes and blonde hair. I do agree that perhaps it is more competitive when you’re an African American actress. But at the same time, I can almost use it to demonstrate my ability, because since there are fewer roles for African American women, I can make a deeper impression. I can feel more special about my roles because I know I’ve worked hard to get where I am and I know that I’m one of the people who have made it.

In the future, I think there will be a lot more roles in this kind of new wave of African American actresses like Kerry Washington. Kerry Washington is really revolutionizing the industry. She’s a great role model for me

Be sure to check out the rest of RookieMag's article, and find out about Amandla's charity work and much more HERE. 

Wes Bentley on Jennifer Lawrence and 'The Hunger Games' Frenzy

Wes Bentley (Seneca Crane) recently spoke to NextMovie while promoting his film, The Time Being (in limited release today) and he talked a little about The Hunger Games fan frenzy, and the advice he gave to a certain newcomer on her rise to stardom (yes, it's Jennifer Lawrence). 

It must be nice to get away from all of the "Hunger Games" craziness, especially now that you have a family.
Oh yeah, I enjoy it. You know, actually the beard helped with that too. Now I can walk through a pack of teenage girls and not one of them would know who I am, since I don’t have that beard.

Do people ever recognize you on the street now?
Yeah.

What do they say? Do you have a celebrity doppelganger?
Yeah, I did for a long time — Tobey Maguire. I remember I was in Mexico in some random town, and someone yelled out "Spider-Man!" (Laughs) So I get that sometimes, or when I think someone's recognized me for me, it's actually Tobey. That's happened less and less, though, and it doesn't happen a bunch. Oddly enough, it happens more when I'm not in L.A. or New York. It happens in smaller towns a lot.

Looking back on "The Hunger Games" a year later, do you still have a most memorable fan interaction?
I was, one time, working out at a gym in Albuquerque and I felt some people staring at me, and suddenly I felt uncomfortable. I didn't know why they were staring at me. And then, this girl came up to me and held out a racquetball to me. And I was just looking at the racquetball, and then she handed me a pen. She wanted me to sign her racquetball. I thought that was strange.

You got to work with Jennifer Lawrence before she became such a huge star. What was your relationship with her during filming? Because you also started acting at a young age, did you give her any advice as a newcomer?
You know, I didn't want to overstep my bounds and just give advice without asking. But we clicked, and I love Jen, like everybody does. She's just hilarious, and we got along great and had moments. And I just said to her, "Look, I know a little bit about what you might be feeling or what's about to happen, and if you ever just want to talk to somebody about it, then call me." Of course, it's way bigger than anything I ever had to deal with. And we text sometimes and joke, and she deals with it well, it seems like. But I'll always be there if she wants to give a call or if she's feeling like it's too much.

What are you geeking out over right now?
I'm a "Game of Thrones" fan, so I geeked out hard about that. I can't believe we have to wait a whole year for [Season Four].

How are you on social media? Do you tweet?
I just started. I just opened a Twitter account: @RealWesBentley. But that's all.

'Catching Fire' Trailer to Debut In Theaters Ahead of 'The Wolverine'

Would you like to see the Catching Fire trailer on the big screen? Go see The Wolverine this weekend! The Wolverine starring Hugh Jackman opens today, and the brand new Catching Fire theatrical trailer will be featured as one of it's previews. If you do go check it out, be sure to leave us a comment and tell us how it felt to see it on the big screen! 

Update on Sun, July 28, 2013 by PanemPropaganda

We're also hearing that the Catching Fire trailer will be shown ahead of The Conjuring in some cities. Let us know if you see it before any other films!

VIDEO: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Willow Shields, Lenny Kravitz, Jena Malone & Francis LAwrence Talk to Empire

Still the interviews roll in from Catching Fire's big appearance at Comic Con in San Diego. This new video features Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Willow Shields, Lenny Kravitz, Jena Malone and Francis Lawrence speaking with with Empire Magazine about the movie.

Beware, there's a 30 second ad before the video will play, but it's worth the wait. 

VIDEO: Lenny Kravitz on Cinna's Style

We all know that Lenny Kravitz is one stylish man. The singer and actor opened up about his costumes for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire as he returns to the role of Cinna. And it sounds like Cinna is a lot more like Lenny Kravitz, as far as the "look" goes.

"The clothing this time was more in line with how I dress," he told HitFix during Comic-Con. "I felt like I was wearing my own things throughout the film."

VIDEO: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Willow Shields & Francis Lawrence Talk 'Catching Fire' With PopSugar

PopSugar caught up with Catching Fire's Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Willow Shields and Francis Lawrence at the press line for the movie at Comic-Con. Lawrence spilled on the "complicated" relationship her character has with Peeta and Gale, the scene she's most excited for fans to see, and, oh yeah, something about a wedding dress! Josh actor joked about the funniest people on set (besides Jennifer Lawrence, of course) and the Catching Fire scene he's most excited for fans to watch. Hint: it involves vicious monkeys. Willow explained what it was like coming back to the cast, including the surprising reaction she got from onscreen sister Jennifer Lawrence. Shields also let PopSugar in on Prim's biggest challenge going into the saga's second chapter. Director Frances Lawrence is new to The Hunger Games family, but the Catching Fire director says it was easy to get along with the cast.