Josh Hutcherson on 'The Hunger Games' and Philip Seymour Hoffman

Josh Hutcherson has been doing some press promoting his upcoming Escobar: Paradise Lost (opens on Friday) and he was asked about The Hunger Games, of course. He spoke with NOW Toronto recently, and had a bit to say about how all-consuming the promotion can be and how the cast coped with the loss of Philip Seymour Hoffman. And there's a funny anecdote about selling spray tans. Listen to the audio below:

From NOW Toronto:

Josh Hutcherson will give you tips on kissing, but he'll probably be grinding his teeth throughout the lesson. The 22-year-old Hunger Games star, who you may only know as Peeta, is already a veteran at soldiering through inquisitions about kissing, sexting and everything else that would accompany his photo in Seventeen and its ilk.

"Honestly, all those magazines where they ask you who is your celebrity crush, or what's the best way to kiss someone - I'm just like, 'It's not my field of expertise,'" Hutcherson says, laughing off the silly headline-making answers he can't avoid giving.

"The hardest thing about those interviews is they talk about things I just don't care about. You feel like you have to fake an interest, and then all of a sudden you're not being yourself. But if I were being myself, I would be like, 'I don't want to answer that.' And then I'd be like an asshole. So it's awkward."

I refrain from questions about kissing J-Law while Hutcherson leans forward with concentration and regularly smiles, which is nice since his resting face looks like a sulk. We're in a hotel room overlooking the downtown skyline during the Toronto Film Festival, discussing Hutcherson's latest effort outside the long Hunger Games shadow.

In the crime thriller Escobar: Paradise Lost, Hutcherson plays Nick, a fictional Canadian surfer taken under the wing of the titular real-world drug lord. Nick was originally written to be Irish, but the actor wasn't up for tackling such a challenging accent, so he made the decision to be a Canuck.

"We wanted him to be very genuine and not American," Hutcherson recalls. "Americans come with the baggage of overconfidence - not that Canadians aren't confident."

Following its premiere, the cast had to defend the film against accusations that it romanticizes Escobar, who's played charismatically by Benicio Del Toro before the facade is peeled away to reveal the kingpin's monstrous nature.

"The thing that was scary about Escobar was that he wasn't obviously menacing," Hutcherson says. "He seemed like a family guy and did many good things for the poor community. Honestly, up until this movie, I didn't know all the horrendous things he did. I had this idea of him as a Robin Hood. As I did more research, I saw all the horrific things."

Jennifer Lawrence Interviews Eddie Redmayne

Jennifer Lawrence clearly needs her own chat show and she proves it in the new issue of Interview magazine. Jennifer calls up Eddie Redmayne for an interview and, lucky for us, she basically interviews herself. The whole thing is a must-read, but here are our favorite bits:

On Jennifer and Eddie's mutual love of reality tv:

LAWRENCE: You watch Real Housewives, Eddie? 

REDMAYNE: I've been a closet lover of faux-reality TV sinceThe Hills. It's bad. 

 Jennifer Lawrence and Friends at PumpLAWRENCE: I feel like I'm going to cry. We're making a breakthrough. I went to Pump the other night to meet [restaurateur and Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star] Lisa Vanderpump. I had her sign a bottle of vodka, and when she gave it to my friend who was with me at the Oscars, my friend said, "Jennifer, this is so much better than the Oscars!" [laughs] We took so many pictures with her. We were like, [referring to season four of the show] "Puerto Rico was a witch hunt. Brandi [Glanville] and Kyle [Richards] were so mean!" 

On the end of The Hunger Games and her relationship with Josh and Liam:

Liam, Jen and Josh at the London premiere of Catching FireREDMAYNE: Are you guys finished with Hunger Games now? 

LAWRENCE: I think we're done with the press tour. I've got, like, one more thing to shoot for Hunger Games. We just have one scene to do for the end. 

REDMAYNE: It's over? Wowzer. That's quite intense. That's, like, several years of your life. 

LAWRENCE: I know. I'm not happy about it at all. 

REDMAYNE: Wait, can't they write some more? 

LAWRENCE: I know, right? I would totally do it. And now Liam [Hemsworth]'s doing a movie in Australia for two months. It's the longest that the three of us have ever spent apart. 

REDMAYNE: Are you like siblings?

LAWRENCE: Yeah. We were just on the plane, and Josh [Hutcherson] was eating something that I don't like—salmon or something. I was eating my own snack and he kept eating my snack. I was going to share with him because I'm not an asshole, but then finally I was like, "I can't eat your snack. So it's not fair that you're eating my snack!" Our security guard just started laughing at us. And we were like, "It's been a lot of years!" [laughs]

On her start in the business:

REDMAYNE: So are you having Thanksgiving? 

LAWRENCE: I'm flying to Kentucky tomorrow. That's where everybody lives. That's where my nephews are, so I go back there. 

REDMAYNE: Are any of them actors? 

LAWRENCE: No. Do you have actors in your family? 

REDMAYNE: No, not at all. It's a positively weird gene. How did you get into this? 

LAWRENCE: When my parents were going to be working when I got off from school, they started me with theater. I didn't really like it, and I only did it for a few weeks. I was 14, and then somebody took my picture on a street in New York, and then I read a screenplay for a film called Gracie [2007]; it was about soccer. I had always sucked in school and hated sports, and then I read that and was like, "This I get! This I love!" I became so convinced that it was going to work out that I told my parents I was moving to New York. I look back and I'm like, "Oh my God. You were a fucking idiot! You could've died!" 

On getting out of her comfort zone:

LAWRENCE: You seem very driven by fear. 

REDMAYNE: Yeah. 

LAWRENCE: Does that go away for you, or is that your fuel? Like, I'll be afraid on the first day of work and then I feel it and then I'm driven by confidence. I don't know if that's tricking myself, because Silver Linings was the only time I felt scared the whole time. 

REDMAYNE: Why was that, do you think? 

LAWRENCE: Probably because I was out of my comfort zone. It was my first movie with David [O. Russell]. And he's always shouting at you. [laughs] You'll be doing a scene, and he'll be like, "Say this! Do it the exact opposite way!" Or "Do the whole scene in slow motion!" It's a way of pulling you away, which is why you'll watch it and you won't recognize yourself.

Read the entire article at InterviewMagazine.com 

Josh Hutcherson Will Guest Judge 'Face Off' on Syfy Jan. 27th

Photo thanks to UPI

Photos thanks to EW

Well, this is unexpected! Josh Hutcherson will guest judge an episode of Syfy’s reality hit Face Off.

In the upcoming eighth season’s third episode — titled “Let the Games Begin” — Hutcherson will join The Hunger Games makeup department head Ve Neill and her fellow judges (Glenn Hetrick and Neville Page) to critique the contestants’ cinema-inspired predator creature designs. Josh’s episode airs Jan. 27 at 9 p.m. We can't wait!

 

The 'Mockingjay Part 1' Cast Talk About Ebola

Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Julianne Moore, Mahershala Ali lent their time to Jeffrey Wright's new video for the Ebola Survival Fund. The Mockingjay cast dispels some of the misconceptions about the disease and helps spread the message to help bring a permanent end to this epidemic.

You can contribute too! Donate at www.EbolaSurvivalFund.org. 

Josh Hutcherson Named One 2014's Coolest Straight People In Entertainment by The Advocate

The Advocate has named Josh Hutcherson one of the "Coolest Straight People in Entertainment" in their year in review. Their list includes those who have raised the bar on what it means to be an LGBT ally in entertainment.

Click for full size image

From Advocate.com:

Josh Hutcherson
The 5-foot-7 star of the Hunger Games saga stands head and shoulders above many other heterosexual males of his generation who count themselves among the growing number of LGBT allies. At the age of 19, Hutcherson became the youngest person to ever receive the prestigious Vanguard Award from GLAAD for his dedication to equality for LGBT youth through his heavy involvement with the Straight But Not Narrow Campaign — a branch of the gay-straight alliance movement. This year the 22-year-old continued adding his star power to the crusade, and brought several of his famous friends to the fight as well. He hosted the third annual celebrity basketball game benefiting Straight But Not Narrow in August, where he weighed in on why he believes the need to support LGBT youth won’t fade simply because civil rights like marriage equality are becoming a reality across the county. “Marriage equality is great, but it doesn’t help a lot of people, especially young people who are in school,” he told The Advocate. "They can’t even get married yet. So those are the ones who are dealing with [bullying] and at such a formidable age well.”

With allies like Hutcherson on our side, there’s no doubt the odds are in our favor. 

New 'Mockingjay Part 1' Stills

There's another new batch of Mockingjay Part 1 stills out today thanks to the Russian distributor of the movie, Volga Film. Check out a few new images including some different angles of Katniss, President Coin, and a cool shot of the rebel film crew (and BUTTERCUP!). Click the images to enlarge:

 

'Mockingjay Part 1' Press Video Round Up Part 2

The Mockingjay Part 1 cast has been making the rounds doing press for the film. Check out some of the latest TV appearances and interviews from Los Angeles, the New York press junket and more. We will update this post as more videos come out! See the Press Video round-up part 1 HERE and see all the pics and video from the Los Angeles premiere of Mockingjay Part 1 HERE. 

The Mockingjay Part 1 Facebook #AskMockingjay fan event:

Jennifer, Josh and Liam talks to Lionsgate UK:

Julianne Moore on Good Morning America:

Natalie Dormer on The Queen Latifah Show:

Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth on Fandango weekend ticket:

Sam Claflin on The Talk:

Click to read more ...

How Josh Hutcherson Helped Jennifer Lawrence Even When He Wasn’t on the Mockingjay Set

Mockingjay Part 1 director Francis Lawrence talks Vanity Fair through the film’s key scenes, how he had Josh help Jennifer access those painful emotions during Peeta's interview scenes, and how hovercrafts are less fun to work with than they seem.