I am very happy that Hutcherson is playing Peeta; a couple weeks ago I posted about my hope that he would get the role. I did not have any strong feelings on who should play Gale, apart from someone a bit rugged and believable as a hunter at home in the woods. I do not remember seeing Hemsworth's name among fan choices for Gale, so I was surprised at that part of the announcement. I have not watched any of Hemsworth's prior work, so I will to trust director Gary Ross's decision (and I'm going to ignore the fact that Hemsworth dated Miley Cyrus). I am totally avoiding reading any online article comments because I do not want to read people's negativity about the actors cast. How can we say so-and-so is a bad choice if the movie hasn't even started filming yet? I doubt author Suzanne Collins would go along with a decision to ruin her vision of the characters she created. If you are not sure about whether Hutcherson and Hemsworth are the right choices for the roles, maybe you'll change your mind after reading Collins' support of the casting of Peeta and Gale.
As of now, no other actors have been cast. EW.com suggests Robert Downey Jr. for the role of hard-drinking Haymitch and Elizabeth Banks for the bubbly Effie. And one writer, Karen Valby, has the same actress suggestion for Prim as me -- Kiernan Shipka from Mad Men!
What do you think of the casting? Do you agree that Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth will fit into their roles alongside Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss? And, most importantly, how are you going to stand the wait until the movie hits theaters on March 23, 2012? I think we need to get a countdown going on the blog!