Remember how I reported that there was a shortlist for Finnick Odair in the upcoming The Hunger Games: Catching Fire film? Well, ummm … yeah, it turns out that it may have kinda sorta been (oh how do I put this?) total bullshit. The producers of the next movie sat down with the LA Times to basically tell everyone to calm their asses down, because there’s no shortlist, no decision has been made yet.
“That’s the thing that’s crazy — people are like way ahead of where we are,” Nina Jacobson told us on the red carpet at the MTV Movie Awards on Sunday. “We’ve not narrowed things down by any means. It’s funny to see how things can take on a life of their own.” But are the filmmakers taking fan input into account while seeking out their Finnick? Not entirely, says Jacobson. “It means something that people can see [an actor] in that light, so you know [the actor] will be accepted by a lot of people, on the one hand,” she said. “On the other hand, you have to kind of ignore it. You have to just sort of act like you’re sitting in a room and you want to just pick the person who gives the best audition and looks and feels most like the part.”
So basically, there really isn’t a shortlist of pretty, bland actors who could one-note their way through the role of Finnick? Thank God. There’s still hope for that Jesse Williams casting that I need to make my life complete! Also: It would totally piss off all those racist Hunger Games fans. BONUS!