The odds are not in their favor. Josh Hutcherson wishes the best for his Hunger Games character but knows happy endings are few and far between in the film franchise.
“It’s funny. ‘Cause we actually spitballed about [where the characters would end up] on set one day,” the actor, 27, exclusively told Us Weekly earlier this month. “We were sort of talking about like … the Hunger Games and Peeta and Katniss are older and they have a kid and then the movie ends, but then what if we pick up the story and it’s like 10 years later and there’s a new rebellion that has to happen or something like that ended up.”
Hutcherson, therefore, is not holding his breath for a stress-free life for his alter-ego. “I’d like to hope and think that they are living happily and that the world is equal and lovely. But history is doomed to repeat itself,” he noted. “So I feel like there might be some more unrest that would come along.”
The Future Man alum (Peeta Mellark), Jennifer Lawrence (Katniss Everdeen), Liam Hemsworth (Gale Hawthorne), Woody Harrelson (Haymitch Abernathy), Elizabeth Banks (Effie Trinket), Stanley Tucci (Caesar Flickerman) and Donald Sutherland (President Snow) starred in the four-film series from 2012 to 2015. The movies can be streamed for free on Tubi until September 24.
While a prequel titled The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is in development, Hutcherson has not “gotten a call” to reprise his role. However, he revealed to Us that he “would love to play Peeta again” and “happily would” return to the franchise, adding that he “had great chemistry from the get-go” with Lawrence, 30.
As for memories from the set, the Bridge to Terabithia star reflected on moments that went “terribly wrong” during filming. “Jen knocked me out one time, kicked me in the side of the head,” he recalled. “Then we were shooting a scene and Liam almost broke his ankle, doing a running stunt, and had to get hauled off in an ambulance and a whole thing. I mean, it was a very physical shoot. There wasn’t a day where you didn’t have a new bump, a scrape, a bruise, something.”
Although the cast does not have a group text, they keep “in contact pretty closely” with each other. According to Hutcherson, “Throughout the years, we always get together and see each other when we’re in the same place.”
The Hunger Games movies are available to stream on Tubi for free until September 24.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
