Why Jesse Plemons almost turned down Hunger Games role out of 'love' for late actor

The 38-year-old actor plays a young Plutarch Heavensbee, a secret rebel-insider, in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping.Hoffman was one of the most revered actors of his generation and won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 2006 for his portrayal of Truman Capote in the 2005 film Capote.He appeared as Heavensbee in 2013’s The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, and reprised his role in two subsequent sequels. In 2014, Hoffman died of an accidental drug overdose just eight days away from completing the shoot for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2.Jesse Plemons attends The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping UK Fan screening event at HMV Westfield Shopping Centre GettySpeaking to The Standard at the London fan screening event at Westfield on Wednesday, October 28, Plemons said he was initially sceptical about taking on the role. “My reservations about taking it on had everything to do with my admiration and love for Hoffman,” he explained.He said his initial instinct was to think: “I don't really wanna touch that.”“It’s the same with music biopics and that sort of thing. It's like, ‘Let's just leave that alone.’ Philip Seymour Hoffman died in 2014 during filming PA Archive“But I thought that it's really the character and, and Francis and the cast. There was more that enticed me about the world and the character.”Asked how he stepped into the role, one of the most pivotal in the franchise, Plemons said studying the book and the script were “such big pieces to the puzzle”.He added: “It is interesting sort of knowing where a character is heading and then filling in the sort of backstory,” he said, in reference to playing a character at the beginning of their journey.Jesse Plemons plays a young version of Philip Seymour Hoffman’s characterLionsgateThe sixth film of the popular dystopian franchise, based on the novels by Suzanne Collins, is due to be released on November 20, 2026.Read MoreHoffman portrayed the role in the original trilogy. He first appeared in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, as the head game-maker of the violent televised games set up by an authoritarian regime to maintain control of the fictional dystopian country of Panem. However, it was soon revealed that Heavensbee was working against the tyrannical Capitol the whole time, proving himself to be a huge ally of protagonist Katniss Everdeen.