The Hunger Games: Catching Fire recently scored a bit of a coup on the casting front with the announcement that Philip Seymour Hoffman had agreed to take on the role of new Gamesmaker, Plutarch Heavensbee, a surprising move that the Oscar-winning actor has been explaining to Entertainment Weekly .
Having not been involved with a franchise movie since Mission: Impossible 3 back in 2006, Catching Fire doesn't seem the most obvious fit for Hoffman, but apparently, it was the calibre of cast and crew that persuaded him to sign on.
"I liked the people involved," he revealed. "It’s a great group of actors. It’s a great environment. And the character was something I was attracted to. It was just an interesting role." Speaking of that role, Hoffman also had a few (spoilery) observations to make concerning his character's motivations…
"He’s somebody who’s part of the revolution, but you don’t know it," he continues. "The idea that somebody would be risking themselves in such an extreme way to join something that’s that dangerous because he thinks it’s the future… that’s interesting stuff, you know?"
Meanwhile, Hoffman is doing his homework on Suzanne Collins' books to ensure he knows everything possible about his character. "It’s good," he says of Catching Fire . "I’ve read the script, which is true to the book — I kinda ruined it for myself! But I’m reading it anyway, because I really want to find out everything I need to know about this guy."
Directed by Francis Lawrence, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire opens in the UK on 22 November 2013.
