Media Update: Casting of Katniss, Peeta and Gale in the Hunger Games Movie

The Hunger Games is a young adult book trilogy by Suzanne Collins. While I complain about the similarities to Battle Royale, a beloved Japanese novel/manga/movie of mine, Collins has written a wonderful, complex story that gives me renewed faith in the young adult genre (no thanks to Stephanie Meyers).
The Hunger Games movies are going to be the supposed next big thing, expected to fill the hole that will be left in the wake of Breaking Dawn. That's a big gap to fill, considering the overwhelming success of Stephanie Meyers' books.

 Katniss Everdeen

The casting of Katniss has almost the same prestige as the next Lisbeth Salandar in the American version of Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. So many actresses wanted the role of Katniss. My personal choice was Lyndsy Fonseca, who plays Alex on Nikita and was the main love interest in Kick-Ass. I think she had the right look; dark brown hair and olive toned skin, as well as the acting chops; I mean, have you seen Nikita? Lyndsy kicks ass, but shows great emotional range.
The role went to Jennifer Lawrence, fresh off her Oscar campaign for her movie, Winter's Bone. I don't feel extremely happy, nor extremely upset over the role. I did not see Winter's Bone, but it involved Lawrence de-glamorized; hunting and skinning squirrels. I'm pretty sure this rough and tough role was the winning ticket to her Katniss casting.
I can respect her acting chops. She must've done something amazing to score that Oscar nod, so I'm not worried about how she'll act.
I am concerned by how she looks though. Jennifer Lawrence is a beautiful blond, who showed off a very voluptuous figure at the Oscars.

Katniss is supposed to be 16 years old, and has long straight black hair, grey eyes, and olive skin. She is also small in stature and is considered light for her age; she is one of the smallest during the Games, not to mention she comes from the Seam in District 12, which is full of poverty.
The woman above looks nothing like Katniss. Although things like hair, eye and skin color can be tweaked with good old Hollywood magic, I'm not sure if she can pull of the 16 years old Katniss. Her acting won't be her downfall. It will be her look.
Peeta Mellark
Peeta is the main male role in the Hunger Games. He will be prominently featured because he is Katniss' partner during the Games, as well as one of her love interests. He is described as being of "medium height, stocky build, and has ashy blond hair that falls in waves over his forehead." From the get go, the role seemed to be between two actors, Josh Hutcherson from The Kids are Alright (Oscar Nominated movie) and Hunter Parrish, from Showtime's Weeds. Many critics considered Hutcherson the front runner simply because of his acting chops; he garnered some good press from The Kids are Alright. But many fans criticized his look, simply because he did not have the wavy blonde hair. He had the stocky build, with the strong jawbone that I've always imagined Peeta to have. I don't know much about Hunter Parrish; Weeds does well as a Showtime show and I love Mary-Louis Parker. Parrish does have the wavy blond hair, but it seemed that critics were behind Hutcherson. Parrish had the fans behind him.
Critics are critics for a reason though, and Hutcherson won the role.

 Gale Hawthorne
The other male in the story, and the third angle in the love triangle. Gale is similarly described like Katniss, having straight black hair, olive skin, and grey eyes. He is also tall; when Katniss meets him at age 16, he is already 6 feet tall.  He is two years older than her, and described as being incredibly handsome and masculine.
Like EW before me, I was all for Ben Barnes as Gale. He is hot... and has long flowy dark hair...and he's hot...and tall...and hot...and masculine...but mostly hot.
And he has an accent. Hot...
Aside from EW/my choice for Gale, I haven't been paying much attention to Gale's casting. It might be simply because I didn't really take to his character the way I did to Peeta; or maybe because all the names being tossed around as considerations by the studio, I had no idea who they were.
The casting went to Liam Hemsworth...no no not Thor. The other Aussie Hemsworth. Miley Cyrus' ex beau.

Liam Hemsworth

Yes, a handsome Aussie. But can he act? The only movie I know that he was in was The Last Song. That's not really saying much. I'm not so worried about his look. I mean yes, he needs longer hair and maybe a tan, but have you seen his brother with long hair? (No? Here's a look)

Christ Hemsworth....MEOW! XD

That's hot man candy. XD
If his brother can pull it off, he can too right?
Honestly, I'm indifferent to Gale's casting (unless it was Ben Barnes....all aboard the hottie train XD)
I never cared much for the Katniss/Gale angle of the love triangle; I felt they had little chemistry and their relationship was never fleshed out properly, simply because Gale was not in the trilogy as much as Peeta.
I guess Gale is the technically hot man eye candy in te group. From the very beginning, I pictured him as this sexy Ben Barnes looking guy who did the Legolas thing (look pretty and shoot arrows).
Conclusion
 There's a lot of fan grumbling over the choices. I think the biggest problem is the look of them all. None of the three perfectly resemble the descriptions in the book. I know Lawrence has gotten Collin's approved stamp, and I am not concerned about her acting skills. But at the same time, I understand where the fans are coming from. All three do not resemble what I pictured at all.
But that just means the Hunger Games have more to prove to audiences.