August 25, 2026 12:00 p.m. ET
Three months out from the release of the Hunger Games prequel film Sunrise on the Reaping (or SOTR), he is well aware that his face will be gracing periodicals, posters, billboards, and beyond. In fact, it’s already begun. Zada is currently inundated with videos and photos of his visage on the big screen, as moviegoers flock to theaters for the biggest summer blockbusters — namely The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day — where they’re also treated to a trailer for SOTR, hitting theaters on Nov. 20.
But right now he’s more concerned about collecting covers with other famous faces.
“Look at what I found,” he exclaims, holding a seemingly fresh Rolling Stone issue up to his computer camera. On the front is Katniss Everdeen herself, JLaw, gazing coolly at the camera. “I found this at a vintage store.”
And that’s just one piece the actor recently acquired. He goes on to flash a 2024 Paul Mescal cover, then a 2023 Timothée Chalamet. Zada admits he’s collecting these issues as research, hoping to learn from the “great interviews” as he prepares to embark on his first mega-franchise press tour. He’s looking for inspiration and, to be frank, an idea of “what the hell” he’s meant to talk about while speaking with reporters.
So, what has he learned from all his reading?
“Mainly it’s just people just being themselves,” he shares. “The best ones, my favorite ones. So I think [I’ll] just stick to that.”
And he’ll have plenty of opportunities, given that he’s got plenty to promote. Shortly before Sunrise came his way, Zada filmed Netflix’s upcoming East of Eden opposite Florence Pugh, filling the very role that helped cement James Dean into the canon of young adult angst in Elia Kazan’s 1955 movie. The limited series — from Kazan’s granddaughter, Zoe — is slated to hit the streamer in October, just one month before Zada makes his big studio film debut in SOTR.
“Can I tell you how annoying that is?” asks Zada’s costar Mckenna Grace, who at just 20 years old boasts over 70 film and TV credits to her name. “Your feature film debut being Hunger Games is genuinely ridiculous! And the fact that he’s so good in it is just like, Ugh, whatever, you’re perfect. We get it.“
Eyerolls and joking complaints aside, she says, “Nobody deserves it more than him.”
On this, Zada’s costars all agree: He is a budding talent who has proven himself more than capable as the lead of such a huge, high-profile film.
“It’s a massive undertaking to be the lead of a movie like this,” says Jesse Plemons, who stars as Plutarch Heavensbee, a role previously filled by the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman. “When it comes to training beforehand, and then just the physical and emotional toll that his character goes through, it was really impressive.”
Beyond the stress of leading the film as Haymitch Abernathy, a role first played by Woody Harrelson, Zada was also tasked with living up to some hefty expectations. Director Francis Lawrence puts it quite simply: “He had to fill Woody’s shoes.”
A dark chapter
The first Hunger Games prequel, Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, took viewers all the way back to Panem’s 10th annual Hunger Games to trace the story of District 12’s first-ever victory. Now, it’s time for their second. Set 40 years after BOSS and 24 years before Katniss enters the arena, the film finds Katniss’ future mentor, Haymitch Abernathy, celebrating his 16th birthday — until his name is called at the Reaping and his life is forever changed.
“This movie is kind of the first domino,” says Whitney Peak — who plays Haymitch’s girlfriend Lenore Dove — hinting at the rebellion Katniss will one day help lead.
This time around, fans know the ending of the story. But getting there is everything, and it won’t be easy. The same was true for making the film.
Though Lawrence has directed all the Hunger Games films since 2013’s Catching Fire, “Suzanne does not tell us when she’s writing a book,” he insists.
The director says not even Lionsgate believes this claim, but in reality, Collins is almost as elusive with him and franchise producer Nina Jacobson as she is with her fanbase. SOTR was only different because he picked up on some early hints of its existence.
For one, while filming Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Lawrence got a surprising note from Collins asking him not to use a prop — Billy Taupe’s piano accordion — in a certain scene. She told him, “It’s gotta be different because it’s gonna mess me up.”
While that gave him an inkling that Collins was working on another book, he and Jacobson weren’t let in on any of the details until the manuscript was written. Secrecy was paramount: Collins had mailed a copy — in multiple pieces — to her agent; Lawrence and Jacobson then drove to the agent’s house to read the manuscript in his backyard. And while walking through his office, another hint caught their eye: a bookmarked copy of Catching Fire.
“It had a little tab in it, and I opened it up and it’s the scene where Katniss and Peeta look up the archives of old games and they see how Haymitch won his games,” Lawrence says. At last, he knew: “She wrote about Haymitch.”
He finished Sunrise in a single sitting. And then the real work began.
Lawrence gave the manuscript multiple reads before flying to meet with Collins in New York, where they broke the novel down into a movie, enlisted screenwriters Billy Ray and Michael Lesslie to pen the script, and entered a stage defined by “hundreds and hundreds of hours of calls.”
But perfecting the script was only one piece of the puzzle. They also had to find their young Haymitch.
