The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping has officially cast two of the movie’s leading roles: young Haymitch Abernathy and his girlfriend Lenore Dove Baird, earning a massive reaction from fans.
The new film, based on the bestselling novel by Suzanne Collins and the sixth installment in The Hunger Games franchise, is set to hit cinemas in November 2026.
Lionsgate has confirmed that Joseph Zada will play Haymitch, while Whitney Peak will play Lenore. While both actors are successful in their own right, many fans have taken to social media to celebrate what a relief it is to see relative unknowns cast by a major franchise.
X user @azzurrochurro wrote: ‘Casting unknowns as leads, we are so back!’
@rhinoteeth agreed: ‘The only franchise still casting unknown actors instead of people based on their Instagram followers 💪💪’
@GaliCITHX was thrilled with Whitney Peak as a choice for the female lead, writing: ‘Are you kidding me? Her casting is amazing! She is the perfect Lenore Dove✨🤍’
@ultronymous chimed in: ‘Finally, new actors are being hired!’
@BlueRobin101 also celebrated the news: ‘Young unknowns! That’s great!’
It’s worth noting that Whitney has undoubtedly been involved in some notable projects, starring in the HBO Max revival of Gossip Girl from 2021 to 2023, as well as the Apple TV+ series Home Before Dark in 2020, and the Netflix series Chilling Adventures of Sabrina from 2019 to 2020.
Joseph Zada has appeared in television series such as Total Control and the Stan Australia series Invisible Boys, as well as the Australian movies Bilched in 2019 and The Speedway Murders in 2023. He is also set to appear in the Netflix series East of Eden and the Amazon Prime Video television show We Were Liars.
Still, there’s a world of difference between suddenly facing Harry Styles—minus the sequins—on a World War II battlefield, and vaguely wondering if you recognise young Haymitch from fifteen blurry minutes of a TV show you once caught in a dermatologist’s waiting room.
Casting well-known actors has the benefit of drawing audiences, sure, but when you’re trying to create a world as separate from our own as Panem, big stars make it harder for viewers to immerse themselves in the fantasy.
It can also be challenging to disentangle associations with actors from their previous roles or even their movie star personas. For example, when Matt Damon appeared in Thor: Ragnarok, it felt like the boom mic and green screen suddenly came into view. What’s this Red Sox fan doing on my screen in his schmaltzy Halloween costume?
The Hunger Games franchise has a long legacy of casting relative unknowns; after all, Jennifer Lawrence would have never gone on to win an Oscar and become an A-lister if she hadn’t first been cast as Katniss in 2012.
Co-president of Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Erin Westerman made it clear that the studio intentionally avoided casting big names in these latest roles.
In a statement on April 23, she said: ‘The Hunger Games franchise has long been a launching pad for remarkable young actors, and Jo and Whitney carry that legacy forward with incredible heart, depth, and fire.After auditioning hundreds of gifted performers from around the world, these two stood out—not just for their talent, but for the emotional truth they brought to these iconic roles.’
She continued: ‘Haymitch has always been a fan favorite, and his origin story is one of the most anticipated in the franchise. His relationship with Lenore Dove is deeply woven into the emotional history of Panem. We can’t wait for fans to experience the story that shaped one of the most compelling characters in the series.’
In an era where Hollywood casting feels like a community theater production recycling the same actors – where one actress might play both Elle Woods and Lady Macbeth in the same season – more films should take a cue from The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping and invest in fresh talent.
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