According to NYMag, John C. Reilly is all but cast as Haymitch in the Hunger Games. For those not in the know, Haymitch Abernathy is a drunk, which makes Reilly perfect for this. He’s also a former champion of the gladiatorial Hunger Games, and serves as a mentor for Katniss, the main character.
I was really concerned they’d do this wrong. They’d stunt-cast Jack Black or Adam Sandler to try to get a “name” in the cast. But the Oscar-nominated Reilly is perfect in my opinion. First, he can play the drunk.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZWXEPDHSWY
It wouldn’t surprise me if some casting agent had recently been watching Cedar Rapids and said, “That man’s perfect! Get me John C. Reilly!!”
Not to typecast as just a great drunk, Reilly can play… almost anything. He was nominated for his supporting role in Chicago and was, in my opinion, the best part of that movie for his amazing performance of “Mr. Cellophane.” His work on ridiculous comedies like Talladega Nights (where he improvised some of his best lines) and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story is legendary. But recently he’s been kind of slumming it for mainstream roles recently- ie, The Vampire’s Assistant, and his best performances have been in indie cinema like Cedar Rapids and Cyrus.
Because his most visible roles have been in screwball comedies, some fans are concerned Reilly can’t play Haymitch. I disagree.I think Reilly has the chops to play Falstaff (and if he can do Shakespeare he can certainly do juvenile fiction) and would love to have seen his work in Streetcar Named Desire on Broadway.
Also, according to the NYMag story, Reilly had been in talks to join James Franco in Oz the Great and Powerful. Without Robert Downey Jr in that role it makes it much less appealing, and he would be making a smart move away from that production to this, which could have the potential to not just be the next Harry Potter, but perhaps the next ET. The source material is just that good, and yes, Swankmotron, you should read it.
What about the rest of you robots? Is this gold, or a bad idea?