Music is an important element in the new The Hunger Games movie, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, so its main stars sought inspiration from some great artists to develop their characters.
In the long-awaited prequel to the best-selling saga written by Suzanne Collins, the story takes audiences 64 years before the events of the original book trilogy and its film adaptations to introduce them to a young, ambitious version of Coriolanus Snow, who eventually will become the president of Panem that Katniss Everdeen faces in order to free the Districts and from the oppressive government that only takes care of the rich, leaving the poor with nothing.
But long before he was a man with a lot of power in the Capitol, Coriolanus was a teenager trying to return his family to the glory days. To achieve this, he must make the District 12 Tribute in the tenth Hunger Games, Lucy Gray Baird, leave the arena alive and become the winner. Lucy is a musical artist who travels from place to place, without a fixed home, but who was in District 12 when she was chosen to participate in the Hunger Games.
Rachel Zegler not only demonstrates her acting skills by portraying her, she also shows off her singing talent, performing several songs in the movie. Therefore, since music is such an important element in the story, the actors were inspired by it to work on their characters or simply to disconnect during breaks.
During the press conference for the movie, Blyth and Zegler revealed which artists accompanied them on set. The star from West Side Story named “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right,” but the Joan Baez version:
“Because, that’s really a Lucy Gray type vibe, where she’s just kind of like, ‘You just ruined my life, but it’s okay.’”
While Blyth had an extensive playlist:
“Music’s a big way in for me. ‘Money Power Glory’ by Lana Del Rey is the first song on the playlist. Then it goes to ‘Eleanor Rigby’ by The Beatles, because that song, since I was a kid, just made me feel kooky and crazy. It feels unhinged. So, when Coriolanus undergoes his transformation, that was a big one. Then it’s like, all the way to Wagner’s ‘Flight of the Valkyrie’ when Coriolanus is feeling epic and like royalty. So, it goes all over the place.”
Music Also Plays an Important Role in the Original Hunger Games Story
In the original Hunger Games trilogy and the movies starring Jennifer Lawrence, music is also important. It is a point of connection between Katniss and her sister Prime, and it was also for the main protagonist and her father, who was the one who taught her the legendary song “The Hanging Tree.”
In The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes it is revealed that it was Lucy Gray Baird herself who wrote that song in a very specific circumstance that connects her story, that of Coriolanus Snow and Katniss, in a very emotional but also tragic way.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is currently in theaters. The movie also stars Peter Dinklage, Viola Davis, Hunter Schafer, Jason Schwartzman, Burn Gorman, and Josh Andres Rivera among many others. You can check out the trailer for the movie below.
