A new generation of The Hunger Games is almost here! One of the most highly-anticipated upcoming book adaptations is The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which is based on Suzanne Collins’ 2020 prequel novel of the same name about President Snow’s beginnings in Panem as a teenager. The movie follows Snow as he mentors a former District 12 tribute, played by Rachel Zegler. In a cool full-circle moment, the new Hunger Games actress ran into the franchise’s original star, Jennifer Lawrence.
When both Zegler and Lawrence attended Dior's Paris Fashion Week Show on Tuesday, the pair of Hunger Games leads linked up while both seated in the front row alongside other stars like Jenna Ortega and Anya Taylor-Joy. Check out the moment for yourself:
a mother to many. a mother to Me pic.twitter.com/96ep8DaWIXSeptember 26, 2023
Zegler took to Twitter to share a sweet video of herself and J-Law posing for a photo while at the prestigious fashion show. I can’t quite make out what Lawrence was saying, but she looked to go into her classic jokester self in the middle of the picture-worthy moment that had Zegler throwing up a genuine chuckle.
As a longtime Hunger Games fan, I’m just so happy to see the two District 12 tributes united just ahead of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes hitting theaters in just a couple of months. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall to see how the pair of stars approached each other, what they talked about and if Lawrence imparted any advice on Zegler. As the new star wrote with the video, she considers the Oscar winner “a mother to many” and “a mother to me.”
Jennifer Lawrence is not expected to be in the Hunger Games prequel, for one because Katniss Everdeen would not have been born during the events of the movie. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes occurs 64 years before Katniss volunteers as tribute, though the upcoming film’s director has shared thoughts on how the two tributes could be related to each other.
In the latest The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes trailer, a new connection was actually made between Zegler’s Lucy Gray Baird and Katniss Everdeen since we learn that “The Hanging Tree” song was penned by the District 12 tribute during the 10th Hunger Games. Check it out:
Director Francis Lawrence, who previously helmed three of the four Hunger Games movies before coming back for The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, also previously shared that he believes Lucy Gray Baird to be the “anti-Katniss,” considering her character has a much different personality than The Girl on Fire. While Katniss was much more reserved and anti-social, Lucy loves a stage and performance and brings an entirely new perspective to the Hunger Games with her story as tribute.
You can catch Rachel Zegler in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes when it hits theaters on November 17.
