The director of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part - Francis Lawrence - chats about rounding the series off…
This interview contains some spoilers forMockingjay Part 2, though weve tried to keep them to a minimum.
That said, you may prefer to read this after youve seen the film/read the book.
Although before he can get there, theres one last hurdle to jump: the dreaded press junkets.
We caught up with a slightly under-the-weather Lawrence the day after the London premiere.
I saw it yesterday, and its great.
How does it feel to have it all out there?
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Thank you!
Well, its not entirely out there yet.
Ill feel better once its out there out there.
Im always a little anxious at this time.
To see what the reactions going to be?
Its been pretty good so far.
So far, yeah!
It must have been quite intimidating to take on a franchise like this, way back withCatching Fire.
How did you approach that?
It was exciting, you know?
Yeah, little did I know!
Where it got really challenging was a few months into the prep forCatching Fire.
I was asked to stay on for the next two, and I agreed.
Its been a pretty intense three and a half years.
InMockingjay Part 2, or in any of the movies, really?
That was a very important moment.
So that, for me, was a scene thats really important.
Yeah well, I mean, why does she vote yes?
Why do you think?
I always wondered that in the book.
I actually like that you might make a choice.
I originally thought that she had had enough and was angry enough that she was just fine getting vengeance.
But I understood how one could be angry enough, right?
The other version is that its a long-con.
And the look is not the Im voting for vengeance look.
Its Im up to something look.
The other scene that I was really invested in was [spoiler]s death.
Maybe he wont die.
Were you ever tempted to change it?
Aww, so he was always dead.
I didnt want to change any of that.
But one of the fun things is keeping people guessing.
We definitely choreographed that so he had a big save before it happened.
Is it too dark?
A lot of people think its too dark for a book.
But again we wanted to make the book and thematically its very, very important.
It wouldve been a very different ending if that hadnt happened.
For everybody, yeah.
The movie would not play out the way it does if that event didnt happen.
What was the most fun thing to shoot?
I think the most fun we had was when we moved to Paris.
It affected a lot.
It affected us emotionally, big time, and it was something we never really got over.
It helped to move to Europe.
Logistically, he had finished most of his work.
Hes in the film quite a lot.
Yeah, a fair amount.
I wouldve made him a bigger presence if he had still been around.
He wouldve been a bigger presence at the execution and the scene after the execution…
There wouldve been more of him.
Your whole cast is pretty incredible.
I love all of them!
Mahershala [Ali] is also amazing…
And you could go on.
There are so many amazing people in these movies.
Yeah, the cast is just insane.
I particularly love Jena Malone as Johanna Mason, shes just brilliant.
Yeah, you know, originally, I wanted Johanna to be black or Hispanic.
I was scared of her.
She just killed the audition.
And Jena was it.
It is a very bleak and angry story in a lot of ways.
Did you feel that atmosphere on set?
Theyre also a group of people who can turn it on and off, especially Jen.
Jen is like, on/off.
No matter how intense and dramatic the moment is, theres no recovery time or building into it.
She can be telling fart jokes and you call action!
and shes in and doing that scene with the cat.
And you call cut!
and shes out of it and talking about lunch.
I mean I think we underestimate kids sometimes…
Yeah, I think we do too.
I think thats why the books were so popular.
Suzanne didnt get scared in the telling of the story for kids.
And we have to do the same with movies.
I think this is important for kids.
This isnt glorifying violence, at all.
Its actually the opposite.
Okay, so whats next for you now?
No, not a long break, a little break!
Hopefully something in the New Year.
Im developingThe Odysseywith Lionsgate, and Im developing two things, hopefully, for Jen.
Theres one story in 14th century France about the last judicial duel.
Theres one about free divers… And another one about a Russian spy.
So completely different genres and types of stories.
Finally, we ask everyone this, so whats your favourite Jason Statham movie?
Ive never seen aTransportermovie.
Im trying to think… Oh, you know what,Spy!
I liked him inSpy.Spywas great because he was really funny in that, so Ill saySpy.
Perfect, thank you very much!
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2is released in the UK on 19th November.
