Facts about "The Hunger Games" I'm sure you didn't know!

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HUNGER GAMES FACTS

• Author Suzanne Collins was trained in sword fighting, but believes if she were really in the Hunger Games, she’d only be scored a 4.
• Collins didn’t originally plan to make The Hunger Games a trilogy. When she got to the end of the first book, she knew there had to be a sequel, because she knew Katniss would be punished for almost eating the nightlock berries
• When Collins was 6 years old, her father fought in the Vietnam War. She said that her father felt “it was his responsibility to make sure that all his children had an understanding about war, about its cost, its consequences,” and that’s “the heart of” The Hunger Games.
• The first Hunger Games movie was banned in Vietnam.
• Elizabeth Banks said that the hardest part of wearing Effie’s elaborate costumes was the nails. She couldn’t use the bathroom without having someone help her unzip her costume and hand her toilet paper.
• Banks’ favorite Effie costume is the monarch butterfly outfit she wears at the reaping in Catching Fire. It’s made of feathers that were hand-painted to look like butterflies.
• Jennifer Lawrence’s favorite Katniss costume is the gold dress she wears during the Tribute Parade in Catching Fire.
• The Hunger Games has been translated in 51 different languages.
• Collins sat in on Josh Hutcherson’s audition and said that “three lines into the read [she] knew he’d be fantastic.”
• Ultimately, Collins hopes people who read or watch the series will ask themselves “questions about how elements of the book might be relevant in their own lives,” like not taking your next meal for granted and being politically aware.
• The Capitol is thought to be in Denver, as it's bordered by the Rockies, and District 12 is suspected to be West Virginia, because Appalachia and coal.

• Although the character of Effie Trinket appeared in all three books and was featured prominently in the movie, the character’s name, Effie Trinket, was never actually mentioned in the movie.
• Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth think that the only way The Hunger Games and Twilight are similar is that they both have large fanbases.
• Alexander Ludwig says that the best thing about playing Cato is that he can be free with the role and be as bad as he wants.
• Jennifer Lawrence recorded “Rue’s Lullaby” for the Hunger Games soundtrack.
• Alexander Ludwig found the scene where Rue is decorated with flowers ‘extremely moving’.
• Elizabeth Banks says she’s a massive fan of Peeta, because he’s a lover, not a fighter.
• Vanilla ice-cream was served on the set everyday.
• The tribute interviews were filmed at Knight Theater.
• Actor Alexander Ludwig gained 30 to 40 pounds in order to play the role of Cato.
• Author Suzanne Collins came up with the idea for the book after watching footage of the invasion of Iraq and a reality TV show. The two ideas combined to form “The Hunger Games.”
• Liam Hemsworth and Jennifer Lawrence, both natural blondes, dyed their hair brown for the film, while naturally dark-haired Josh Hutcherson dyed his hair blonde.
• The producers had to bring towels to the set for the stars, as Alecander Ludwig revealed that it was hot enough to make them sweat during feeling.
• Jacqueline Emerson, who played Foxface, accidentally gave herself a black eye while doing a curlup during her Hunger Games training.

• The cast had a swear jar, and whenever an older cast member would swear in front of a younger star, they had to put money in the jar.
• Jennifer Lawrence decided to pursue an acting career after a boy from Kentucky made it big in Hollywood. That boy was Josh Hutcherson.
• Jennifer Lawrence won her first oscar when she was 22, and fell over on her way up to the stage.
• On the last day of her six week training, she had an accident where she hit a wall while running at full speed. Luckily, she wasn’t seriously injured.
• She pulled out of playing the female lead in savages to play Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games instead.