See ‘Sunrise on the Reaping’ Characters Side-By-Side With Original ‘Hunger Games’ Cast (PHOTOS)
We already knew that The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping movie would be everything we’ve ever dreamed of and more, but these side-by-side comparisons of the young characters and their counterparts for the original film series prove that our return to Panem will be well worth the wait.
Sunrise on the Reaping follows Haymitch Abernathy (Joseph Zada) before he became the drunken victor, played by Woody Harrelson, whom Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) meet after they are reaped into the 74th annual Hunger Games. During his own Games, which just happens to be a Quarter Quell, Haymitch is forced to fight double the tributes to return to his love Lenore Dove Baird (Whitney Peak). However, once he arrives at the Capitol, Haymitch learns that he may be the first spark they need for the rebellion years down the line.
On November 20, 2025, exactly one year before Sunrise on the Reaping is set to hit theaters, Lionsgate dropped the trailer for the film, giving Hunger Games fans a first look at the younger versions of characters like Haymitch and Effie Trinket (Elle Fanning). Want to take a closer look? Swooon‘s got you covered!
Below, we’re comparing every original Hunger Games character that we see in the Sunrise on the Reaping trailer with their younger counterpart. Oh, and be sure to save this page because we’ll be adding more characters as new previews come out!
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, In Theaters, November 20, 2026, Lionsgate
Haymitch Abernathy
If you’ve seen We Were Liars, you know that Zada is the perfect actor to fill Harrelson’s shoes. From the trailer, it seems that young Haymitch sports a curlier ‘do than his older counterpart, but other than that, the resemblance is spot on.
As for the costume, it appears that Haymitch isn’t going to wear the shorts Ma made out of a flour sack like he does at the start of the book, but one fan noted that the pattern on his shirt is nearly identical to the patchwork quilt seen later in their house. Coincidence? We think not.
Effie Trinket
Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks) is a bit of a fashion chameleon, so we weren’t sure what kind of look we would get for young Effie. However, our first look at Fanning as the younger Effie proved that the odds were most certainly in our favor.
In the Sunrise on the Reaping trailer, Effie wears a 20s-style hairdo, featuring a net beaded with blue stars. She also sports a butterfly necklace, which is perhaps a nod to the iconic monarch butterfly fit she wears to the reaping for the 75th Hunger Games. All together, her fashion looks a little bit more homemade than it does in the original trilogy, but this is definitely on purpose. She is an aspiring stylist, after all!
Plutarch Heavensbee
When it comes to Plutarch Heavensbee, who begins Sunrise on the Reaping as a cameraman at the District 12 reaping, we didn’t know what to expect. The trailer reveals that Jesse Plemons, who plays the younger version of Philip Seymour Hoffman‘s character from the original series, always rocked a side part. That being said, in his younger years, Plutarch had longer hair and a mustache. Right now, that’s all we’ve got on the series’ OG rebel.
President Coriolanus Snow
Sunrise on the Reaping may not be as President Snow heavy as Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, but that doesn’t mean that Ralph Fiennes, who plays an older version of Tom Blyth and a younger version of Donald Sutherland, didn’t take our breath away during the trailer.
Our first look at Fiennes’ Snow features a blood red coat, mirroring his uniform at the Academy and his paisley robe from Mockingjay, Part 2. Naturally, he’s also wearing his signature white rose, this time pinned just below his collar. An iconic look, as per usual.
