Elizabeth Banks on Elle Fanning in Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping
Elle Fanning has Elizabeth Banks’ stamp of approval for playing a young Effie Trinket in the upcoming “Hunger Games” prequel, “Sunrise on the Reaping.”
“I was so excited,” Banks said Monday night at the premiere of her new Peacock series, “The Miniature Wife,” when I asked what she thought about seeing Fanning in the trailer for “Sunrise on the Reaping.” “I think she’s perfect casting. I’ve always said it. The fans loved it and wanted it, so I was very happy with it.”
Fanning previously told The Hollywood Reporter that Banks congratulated her on the cast with a bouquet of flowers and a message that included the film’s iconic line, “May the odds be in your favor,” and signed, “All love, Elizabeth Banks.”
In the Francis Lawrence-directed prequel, Effie, who was played by Banks in the original four ‘Hunger Games’ films, is a stylist to District 12 Tribute Haymitch Abernathy (Joseph Zada) in the lead-up to the 50th Hunger Games.
An adaptation of the bestseller by Suzanne Collins. The film’s cast also includes Kieran Culkin as Caesar Flickerman, Glenn Close as Drusilla Sickle and Billy Porter as her estranged husband, Whitney Peak as Lenore Dove Baird, Mckenna Grace as Maysilee Donner, Jesse Plemons as Plutarch Heavensbee, Maya Hawke as Wiress, Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Beetee, Lili Taylor as Mags, Ben Wang as Wyatt and Ralph Fiennes as President Snow. Molly McCann will also appear as Louella, while Iona Bell will play her Capitol-assigned lookalike, Lou Lou.
Original franchise stars Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson are also expected to appear in the film.
In “The Miniature Wife,” Banks plays a woman who is accidentally shrunk to six inches by her scientist husband, played by Matthew Macfadyen. “They called it ‘War of the Roses’ to me, but she’s six inches tall. I thought that was really interesting,” Banks said. “I liked the theme of minimizing a partner’s feelings and what he or she wants, what their needs are and all those things. And I thought this was a great opportunity to use an absurdist lens to really analyze those kinds of dynamics in a relationship.”
She admitted she was nervous about how realistic she would look when she was little. “I was relieved that the CGI looked as good,” Banks said. “I was so scared that I wouldn’t look like I was really there. Honestly, no matter how many times they tell you it’s going to be okay, you just can’t imagine it.”
Her co-stars used a 6-inch doll as a stand-in for her character. “I was basically 3D printed like me,” Bank said. “I would like to say that this is probably the least mentally prepared I’ve had for a job, because I didn’t understand how much I would have to do solo, and how vulnerable it feels to have to imagine everything on your own. It’s really quite scary.”
All ten episodes of “The Miniature Wife” premiere April 9 on Peacock.
