Jesse Plemons to star as Plutarch Heavensbee in 'Hunger Games: Sunrise of the Reaping'
Jesse Plemons has joined the cast of The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping as the younger version of Plutarch Heavensbee.
Multiple entertainment outlets, including Variety, reported the casting on April 25.
"Jesse is one of he most talented actors of his generation, with a proven record of picking his roles selectively," Lionsgate Motion Picture Group co-president Erin Westerman said.
"We are honored that he has chosen to bring his own take to one of the most fascinating figures in Panem, and feel that his previous collaboration with Philip Seymour Hoffman makes it all the more special. His Plutarch will be both a tribute to the character fans have already come to know and a portrayal he makes his own."
Hoffman, who died in 2014, portrayed Plutarch in Catching Fire (2013). Before his passing, he had already filmed the majority of his parts in Mockingjay Parts 1 (2014) and 2 (2015).
For the Mockingjay films, director Francis Lawrence rewrote some scenes around Hoffman's character as he did not use CGI to replicate the late actor's performance.
Hoffman and Plemons played a father-son duo in the 2012 film The Master.
In the Hunger Games trilogy films, Plutarch was the gamemaker for the 75th games in which protagonists Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) took part in. He later turned out to be a leader of the rebellion against the Capitol, where the richest and most powerful citizens of Panem live.
Plutarch is also featured in Suzanne Collins' 2025 novel Sunrise of the Reaping, the second prequel to The Hunger Games after The Ballads of Songbirds and Snakes. The latest release takes place 24 years before the events of the first Hunger Games book and follows 16-year-old Haymitch Abernathy, who becomes Katniss and Peeta's mentor.
Apart from Plemons, the prequel film also stars Joseph Zada as Haymitch, Whitney Peak as Lenore Dove Baird, and Mckenna Grace as Maysilee Donner.
