For the next Hunger Games prequel film, Sunrise on the Reaping, the casting for Young Haymitch and other characters took a while because the Suzanne Collins book hadn’t come out yet. Now that the long-awaited novel is on bookshelves, it’s been revealed that the lucky actor portraying the young Hunger Games winner is Joseph Zada, with Hocus Pocus 2’s Whitney Peak portraying Haymitch’s girlfriend, Lenore. Hunger Games alum Rachel Zegler made sure to give her reaction to Peak’s casting, specifically, which is so on-brand for her.
Rachel Zegler may have been known to the world first in her Golden Globe-winning performance in West Side Story, but playing Lucy Gray Baird in Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes cemented her place in The Hunger Games series. While her character’s ambiguous ending leaves the actress out of any upcoming movies (as far as we know), Zegler is still being an on-brand team player, sharing on her Instagram stories how happy she is for Whitney Peak to be cast as Lenore and the connection to her own character:
For those like me who haven’t read the book yet, now we know that Whitney Dove’s character Lenore is somehow related to Lucy Gray Baird. I wonder if that means we’ll be hearing the actress belt out some tunes, as the Bairds are known for their musical ability.
Another thing we know about Lenora Dove is that she dates 16-year-old Haymitch Abernathy by the time he’s inducted into The Games. Something tells me Lenore will play a big role in Haymitch’s actions in competing in The Quarter Quell and what comes after.
It’s so heartwarming to see Rachel Zegler be such a Hunger Games superfan over a year after playing Lucy Gray. Then again, she was a fan of the dystopian film series well before that, seeing the first movie when she was a child. So I can imagine how happy the American actress must have felt to have a big role in the same series as an adult.
You could tell Zegler felt proud to play a character with similarities to Katniss in using her courage and strength to make the best of being thrown into a deadly arena for audiences to see. Even at the premiere of the 2023 prequel, the Snow White actress showed she was a Hunger Games buff wearing a stunning Katniss Everdeen-like dress similar to the fiery dresses the District 12 contestant wore during her interviews with Caesar. I’m sure seeing a fresh, upcoming actress like Whitney Peak join The Hunger Games family must feel like a full-circle moment for Zegler.
Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Co-President Erin Westerman told Deadline that casting decisions for the main characters of Sunrise on the Reaping came from wanting to launch the careers of lesser-known actors.
After all, Jennifer Lawrence was cast as Katniss, whose previous acting experience included the sitcom The Bill Engvall Show and the indie flick Winter’s Bone. The same was said with Tom Blyth, whose big role before being cast as young Snow in Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes came from the MGM+ series Billy the Kid.
Now, newbie stars like Joseph Zada and Whitney Peak will soon carry on the legacy of The Hunger Games series, which will lead to their breakthrough roles.
After seeing Rachel Zegler giving her props to Whitney Peak for joining the Baird family, it’s clear that this is the Y2K actress’s way of passing the torch for the next Panem citizen who’ll likely be getting a dose of The Capitol’s control. I’m anxiously excited to see Peak’s performance in the highly anticipated Sunrise on the Reaping movie hitting theaters on November 20, 2026.
