Rachel Zegler Cast as Lucy Gray Baird in ‘The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’

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Rachel Zegler, whom you may have seen most recently in West Side Story, has won the lead role of Lucy Gray Baird in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.

Lucy Gray Baird is a young female tribute from impoverished District 12 who is mentored in the Games by a young Coriolanus Snow and becomes his very complicated first love. 

“Lucy Gray is an incredibly complex character, a performer who has to use every skill in her arsenal to survive,” Producer Nina Jacobson said. “Our casting team, Deb Zane and Dylan Jury, spearheaded an exhaustive search, reading hundreds of actors in search of our perfect Lucy Gray. That search ended when Rachel Zegler blew the roof off with her depth and breadth of talent as an actor, singer and performer. Like Lucy Gray, her voice and charisma command the stage while her inner strength and humanity transform those around her.”

“Like everybody, I first saw Rachel Zegler in ‘West Side Story,’ and like everybody, I knew I was watching a star who would command the screen for a generation,” said Francis Lawrence. “Lucy Gray is a perfect match for her as an actress: the character is bold, independent and defiant, but also vulnerable, emotional and loving. Rachel will make this character unforgettable.”

‘The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes’ in cinemas November 17th, 2023 

Tom Blyth has been cast as young Coriolanus Snow in 'The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes'

Tom Blyth, currently starring in Epix’s new Western adventure series Billy The Kid, has been cast as the young President Coriolanus Snow in the upcoming Hunger Games prequel film, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes! 

“Tom's performance will both fulfill and disrupt everything you think you know about Coriolanus Snow. He's a tremendous talent who will show why Snow always lands on top.” said Nina Jacobson. Director Francis Lawrence added, "Coriolanus Snow is many things — a survivor, a loyal friend, a cutthroat, a kid quick to fall in love, and a young man ambitious to his core," Tom's take on Snow showed us all the complex ambiguities of this young man as he transforms into the tyrant he would become."

The film, based on the prequel novel by Suzanne Collins, tells the origin story of a teenage Coriolanus Snow (played by Donald Sutherland in the original movies) and how he starts down the path of becoming the tyrannical President of Panem.

Here's Tom talking about the role, the films and books. It seems like he completely gets why so many of us love The Hunger Games and the universe Suzanne Collins' created.