Elizabeth Banks Talks About Jennifer Lawrence and Being ON THE MOCKINGJAY SET!

Elizaeth Banks at Sundance. Portrait thanks to EW E!Online spoke with Elizabeth Banks at Sundance while she was promoting her film, Little Accidents, and they asked her about co-star Jennifer Lawrence. We LOVE Jen, obviously, but don't you think her co-stars get a little sick of having their entire interviews be about someone else? Anyhoo, Liz gave up one little tidbit that is still FREAKING me out (in a good way). She's in Mockingjay Part 1.

"Yes, I was on [the Mockingjay] set the Thursday she was nominated," Banks dished to E! News at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival junket for her film Little Accidents sponsored by Chase Sapphire on Main at the Nintendo Chalet. "We all kid with her more than anything."

Banks, who also called J.Law's second Oscar nomination for American Hustle "pretty cool," continued, "A lot of poking fun at her. She can handle it, which is a lovely quality of hers."

So what's the craziest thing Banks has ever seen Lawrence do?

"I could never repeat the craziest," she said. "She'd get in a lot of trouble."

"We don't give away all of our set secrets," Banks said, adding of Lawrence, "She is exactly what people hope that she is, which is really fun, easygoing gal you'd want to hang out with. You definitely want to have a beer with her."

See the video HERE. 

Yeah, yeah, Jennifer Lawrence, blah, blah we love her but - GUYS!! Elizabeth Banks was on the Mockingjay set which means Effie is really in the movie. She's not listed on the IMDB page for Mockingjay Part 1 but now we know she's in the film!

Elizabeth Banks Improvised Your Favorite Lines in 'Catching Fire'

Some of the best lines in Catching Fire are uttered by the incredible Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket. She provides much needed comic relief in the film, and some of the most heart-wrenching emotional moments as well. So we were thrilled to hear that Elizabeth actually improvised most of those hilarious one-liners, and fought for them to be included in the movie for the sake of the fans. Read her interview with MTV for more:

While the wild wigs, costume and makeup that make Banks nearly unrecognizable go a long way to building the memorable character, it turns out that the actress herself came up with several shout-outs and lines that will undoubtedly further cement Effie's place as a fan favorite.

For example, remember the best line of the first movie? Of course you do:

In Catching Fire, Banks managed a sly wink at the infamous quote while offering a running commentary on the Capitol landmarks she's walking Katniss and Peeta through: "The library, all mahogany."

"I brought that back, I threw it in there," she said of the line, which was unscripted. "I did it, and Francis called cut, and I went over to him, and said, 'You have to keep that in the movie, because the fans will go bananas.' " (We DID!)

Lawrence left it in and the fans did indeed go bananas, if exclamation point-filled Tumblr reactions are any evidence. Banks didn't just put her own spin on hardwood references though. She also revealed that the "Ooh, curtains" comment about a fellow Capitol citizen's choice of accessory, as well as the memorably snapped "chins up, smiles on" tossed in the glum Katniss' direction were her ideas.

"I get to improv a lot with Effie, which is fun," she said. "There were really very few words scripted so I got to have fun with that sequence."

VIDEO: Elizabeth Banks and Lenny Kravitz on GMA

Elizabeth Banks and Lenny Kravitz stopped by Good Morning America to talk Catching Fire, Effie and Cinna today.

VIDEO: Elizabeth Banks on Jimmy Kimmel Live

Check out Elizabeth Banks on Jimmy Kimmel last night:

VIDEO: Elizabeth Banks on Ellen

Elizabeth Banks was on Ellen to promote The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, talking about the film’s intensity and wearing Effie Trinket’s wardrobe. 

Costume Design In 'Catching Fire' - What The Well Dressed Warrior Wears

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire costume designer, Trish Summerville talked to The New York Times about her inspiration behind Katniss' and Effie's costumes in the movie. She also gives us some insight into how she designed Peeta's looks and, sigh, it's all for love:

Katniss Everdeen as fashion’s It Girl? That’s how the costume designer Trish Summerville imagined the teenage warrior portrayed by Jennifer Lawrence in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire: As a previous victor, she must be camera-ready as Panem prepares for the 75th games.

“Considering how the Capitol and Panem ingest and digest capitalism and consumerism, and all the parties and galas they go to, they change fashions more quickly than each season,” she said.

Katniss’s outfits — gowns of feathers, accessories in rough-hewed fibers — indicate her ascent in the Capitol while evoking her home in the impoverished District 12. Her male comrades, Peeta and Finnick, received magnetic, matinee-idol looks. And dressing Effie Trinket required tapping Alexander McQueen and House of Worth for statement pieces, including shoes that forced Trinket literally to stay on her toes.

For her grand entrance to the 75th Hunger Games kickoff, Katniss dons a fantasy wedding dress by the Jakartan designer Tex Saverio — the one she might have worn had her nuptials to Peeta not been quashed by the games.

Illustration by Tex Saverio “I wanted to have a subliminal feel of flames and feathers to keep her the Girl on Fire while also representing the Mockingjay,” Ms. Summerville said. Mr. Saverio’s froth of layered organza features a flame-inspired silver corset and fabric peacock feathers sprouting at the waist. As Katniss twirls, the gown erupts, and an iridescent Mockingjay dress rises from the ash. Using images of a mockingbird, blue jay, pheasant and peacock, Ms. Summerville worked with an illustrator and graphic designer to create patterns of feathers and wings, which she then had printed on chiffon and built into the Mockingjay dress.

Katniss wears a one-shouldered, cowl-neck sweater vest, almost like a shield, over her father’s leather coat. The piece, made by Maria Dora, a Los Angeles knitwear designer, is meant to see Katniss through summer, spring and winter.

Murray Close/Lionsgate

“I wanted to bundle her up a bit and give her something that had a feel of the Capitol,” Ms. Summerville said, “but still with keeping in those nubby, big natural fibers — something, say, her mom could have made for her.” Like a security blanket, the piece accompanies Katniss on her hunting expeditions and even to bed on the Victory Tour. “It’s trying to marry both sides of her duality,” Ms. Summerville said, “having her heart at home but also fitting into the Capitol world without selling out.”

“This time around we made Peeta’s character much more masculine,” Ms. Summerville said. She laughed as she recounted meeting Josh Hutcherson, the actor who plays him, and saw how athletic he was.

“I was like, ‘We have to dude you up.' ” Using jackets and more structured pieces that amped up his already muscular physique, she accentuated his rapid maturation between the first and second films, and hinted at the emotional and sexual allure that drew Katniss to him initially. Ms. Summerville used a lot of subdued greens in Peeta’s wardrobe “because Katniss’s favorite color is green,” she said, “so subliminally, he’s always trying to woo her.” (!!!)

When the Capitol escort Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks) returns to District 12 for the 75th reaping, she is adorned with monarch butterflies — on her dress, an actual Alexander McQueen couture design; her hair; even her eyelashes.

“In her mind, it’s springtime,” Ms. Summerville said. “Her chrysalis has turned into this butterfly, she gets to come out again, she gets to see the kids.” She wanted Effie to look uncomfortable. “I think it’s her penance to herself,” she said, explaining that Effie loves all the grandeur, but that “she’s also really conflicted about her role in calling the kids up for the reapings.” Effie’s waist is cinched a little too tightly, her heels are a little too high, and her clothes are nearly impossible to sit in.

US Weekly 'Catching Fire' Special Edition Scans

Thanks to lawrence-daily and strawberrycupcakeprincess on tumblr (thanks for the scans!), we can show you some peeks at the US Weekly Special Catching Fire Edition. The issue should hit November 1st, but it looks as though some people are getting their copies early. If you pre-ordered the issue on BN.com, keep an eye on your mailbox! We did, and we'll have the HQ scans for you as soon as we get the magazine- plus some issues to give away. We've lightened and sharpened them up as much as possible. Stay tuned for the HQ versions.

We're loving the pic of Johanna. We've heard there's something changing in the way they do the interview sequence with her, and this looks like it might be part of that moment. And Peeta being painted by the morphling?? I need to go lie down now.

More pics after the jump!

Click to read more ...

New HQ Behind-The-Scenes Effie Still in Allure Magazine

November Allure Magazine has a feature on how The Hunger Games wild hair and make-up looks are actually translating to real-life. And it just happens to include a great new behind-the-scenes pic of Elizabeth Banks getting prepped by both Linda Flowers (hair) and Ve Neill (make-up) on the Catching Fire set.