If you were like me, you were mad Hailey Steinfeld didn’t win the Oscar for True Grit. She owned that film. And she certainly wouldn’t have dropped the F bomb like Melissa Leo in her acceptance speech- frickin’ potty-mouth.

But she spoke to MTV on the Red Carpet and revealed she is circling the lead role in the heavily anticipated (by me at least, and by my wife- who teaches middle school English) dystopian novel The Hunger Games.  From their interview:

After much speculation (including reports Hailee had previously met with “Hunger Games” producer Nina Jacobson), she confirmed that she has met with director Gary Ross to discuss the much-coveted role of Katniss Everdeen. And while nothing’s official, she did say that she’s very much still in the running:

“It’s definitely something that we’re taking one day at a time and making sure that everything is in place,” she explained.

Don’t know The Hunger Games or it’s two sequels? Check them out. But a quick summary: in the not-too distant future almost everyone lives in poverty, and each district sends gladiators to fight in matches to the death in televised amazing violence. Oh, and the gladiators are teenagers. So our story follows Katniss and how she transverses the Hunger Games, defying the despotic rulers of her country and inspiring others. And while this is a young adult book, I have no frickin’ clue how they will make this a PG-13 movie, which is what they have promised.

Other people supposedly circling the role include Chloe Moretz, who certainly showed us how much ass she can kick in Let Me In and Kick Ass, but I gotta go with Steinfeld in this. I know Hollywood is looking for another Harry Potter type franchise here. But Harry Potter is like Tom Clancy or John Grisham– The Hunger Games is like George Orwell or John Steinbeck. So just like The Grapes of Wrath needed Henry Fonda, someone with a lot of acting chops, I think Hunger Games needs a similar touch. So, gotta go with Steinfeld. Certainly being able to bill the movie as featuring “Academy Award Nominee…” can’t hurt in making this both a commercial success and a critical hit.

Hoping we get an update on this soon, and it goes from rumor to reality. I know a lot of you robots have read this book- what do you think? Is there anyone better than Steinfeld for this role?