Happy Hunger Games! The movie finally premiered in theaters last night, breaking records for midnight ticket sales, and in honor of the release of The Hunger Games, we're sharing even more exclusives from our Q&A with the film's stars Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth. Read on for tons of on-set secrets, movie spoilers (shh!) and we even get the guys to admit their first impressions of each other!
J-14: Even though you two don't work together all that much, you both work with Jennifer Lawrence, who plays Katniss, a lot. What was it like getting to know her?
Liam Hemsworth: She's honestly one of the best actresses I've worked with.
Josh Hutcherson: Jennifer and I hit it off right away! We became really close friends instantaneously.
Liam: She's just a really cool chick!
J-14: Okay, spill: first impressions of each other!
Liam: I was friends with Josh before the film and we hung out a lot when we weren't working. He's awesome!
Josh: Liam's a super good-looking, tall, Australian guy — but he's a total goofball!
J-14: What was your favorite scene to film?
Josh: Well, the biggest moment for [mine and Jennifer's] characters is the cave sequence where I confess my love. We shot all of the cave scenes, literally, in two days — but it's awesome!
J-14: Both of your characters love Jennifer Lawrence's character — just in different ways. Was that awkward at all?
Josh: Not really — to me, it's just like another part of acting. It's just part of the characters. I think anytime you have an intimate scene with anyone you have to think of it that way.
Liam: For most of the stuff, me and Jennifer were always kinda joking around, just having fun and enjoying it.
J-14: Finally, with such a strong fan following for the book series: do you feel pressure taking on the roles of Peeta and Gale?
Liam: I think, from the beginning, everyone's wanted to stay pretty true to the book. I'm sure there will be a lot of things you're going to be surprised by!
Josh: But there's definitely an added pressure. For me, as much as there was this added pressure, it was also kind of a call to action. The fans are so into it — so I had to do a good job to make sure I did right by them!
Photo Courtesy of Murray Close/Lionsgate
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