Lionsgate has been on a trend lately releasing daily press notices announcing the latest addition to the cast of ‘The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.’ Today’s announcement heralds the arrival of E. Roger Mitchell to the Quell Games.
Mitchell is an accomplished stage actor and has had roles in ‘Battle Los Angeles,’ ‘The Crazies,’ ‘One Tree Hill,’ and ‘The Shield.’ He will be seen next in the movie ‘The Last Exorcism 2,’ the sequel to ‘The Last Exorcism.’
In ‘Catching Fire,’ Mitchell will be playing Chaff, a Tribute from District 11 who won the 45th Annual Hunger Games. He is described as tall, dark, friendly-looking and missing a hand as he lost it during his participation in the Games. (Fits Mitchell to a ‘T,’ don’t you think? Except for the missing hand which a little CGI couldn’t fix.)
WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD!
Chaff is a great character to play as there is a heroic moment with Peeta that he shares that will hopefully make it in the film. He and Haymtich (Woody Harrelson) are drinking buddies and have bonded to become good friends. In the book, they concoct a plan to ensure the safety of certain Tributes and he even insinuates that President Snow (Donald Sutherland) might have changed the rules in order to throw Katniss back into the ring.
END SPOILERS!
So with this latest announcement of the addition of Mitchell, the Tribune spots are nearly filled and production will begin in the next few weeks. It will be exciting to see Simon Beaufoy’s adaptation of the book and the direction Francis Lawrence will take on it. With the success of Gary Ross’s ‘The Hunger Games,’ the bar has risen with fans hoping to be as impressed with ‘Catching Fire’ as they were with ‘The Hunger Games.’
