Hunger Games: Why Cooper Hoffman Didn’t Take Over His Dad’s Role in New Prequel Movie

Cooper Hoffman was never in line to inherit his late father’s Hunger Games role in the upcoming prequel. Director Francis Lawrence has explained why the 23-year-old actor was not cast as the younger Plutarch Heavensbee in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping.

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Lawrence said, “I love to work with people over and over, and Cooper is high on that list, but we needed someone who felt considerably older than Cooper is.”

Although he did not cast Cooper Hoffman, Lawrence spoke highly of the actor. The pair had previously worked together on The Long Walk. The 23-year-old actor was also impressed after Lawrence spoke warmly about his late father, Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Shedding light on Cooper’s acting, Lawrence further said, “I will say that meeting Cooper the first time [for my film] was very powerful. To see, and feel, the similarities they both have, it made me emotional.”

Who is playing the young version of Plutarch in the new Hunger Games prequel movie?

Jesse Plemons will play a younger Plutarch Heavensbee, a character portrayed by Philip Seymour Hoffman. Interestingly, they previously worked together in 2012’s The Master. In the film, Plemons played the late actor’s son.

Plemons earned an Academy Award nomination for The Power of the Dog. The 38-year-old recently appeared in Netflix’s Black Mirror. Some of his other notable works include Zero Day, Killers of the Flower Moon, Friday Night Lights, and Kinds of Kindness.

The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping opens in theaters on November 20, 2026.

Source: Comingsoon.net