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Hot new young actors, Dayo Okeniyi and Amandla Stenberg, have been cast for the roles of Thresh and Rue, the District 11 tributes, in the movie adaptation of “The Hunger Games” triology by Suzanne Collins.

Liam Hemsworth & Josh Hutcherson Join The Hunger Games

In the “The Hunger Games”, Capitol chooses one boy and one girl from each district to fight to the death. The boy and girl representing District 12, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, have already been chosen – Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson are the big stars of the movie!

You can follow The Hunger Games casting progress in the movie’s official Tributes Casting Tab on Facebook. “The Hunger Games” will hit theaters on March 23, 2012.

Jennifer Lawrence ushers in the sunshine in bright eye-popping yellow on the May cover girl for Teen Vogue.

The 20 year-old actress who won the coveted part of Katniss Everdeen in the big screen adaptation of The Hunger Games, spoke to the magazine about landing the role and the fans reactions to her.

“The cool thing about Katniss is that every fan has such a personal relationship with her, and they understand and know her in a singular way,” Jennifer says. “I’m a massive fan too, so I get it.”

Lawrence said Katniss’ strength and edge is tempered with a softness and feels grateful for director Gary Ross & author Suzanne Collins‘ support.

“She’s incredibly powerful, brave, and tough—and yet she has a tenderness and complexity,” Jennifer says. “It was very humbling hearing that Suzanne and Gary feel that I embody those traits.”

Before she gets to work on THG with newly cast costars Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth, Lawrence will be seen this summer as Mystique in X-Men First Class with rumored boyfriend Nicholas Hoult.

This issue of Teen Vogue is on newsstands now.

More photos of Jennifer below. Read more »

Actors Liam Hemsworth, best known as Miley Cyrus’ potential current boyfriend/ex-boyfriend, and Josh Hutcherson, who starred in “The Kids Are All Right”, have officially joined hottie Jennifer Lawrence in “The Hunger Games”.

Lionsgate announced in an official press released Josh and Liam will play the roles of Peeta Mellark and Gale Hawthorne, respectively. So, Josh is the love interest and Liam is the best friend. Hot love triangle?

Jennifer will play the lead role of Katniss Everdeen, the heroin of the best selling young-adult trilogy written by Suzanne Collins. The movie is scheduled to be released in March 2012.

[images: Robert Wallace/FayesVision/wenn.com]

The Hunger Games casting is in full swing with director Gary Ross and author Suzanne Collins working on getting the right actor in the right role.

Jennifer Lawrence has been chosen as Katniss Everdeen but the next two big leads are still up in the air. Peeta Mellark is thought to be the role that is next on the casting list (with the role of Gale not far behind)

A few actors have confirmed they have tested for the part including Alex Pettyfer, Josh Hutcherson, Lucas Till, and Hunter Parrish are the more well known actors. Also said to be shortlisted for the role are Evan Peters from Kick Ass and Alexander Ludwig of Escape to Witch Mountain.

Now Pettyfer appears to have dropped off the list of final contenders so perhaps he is no longer in the running.

These are all really good choices but I have always like Hutcherson for the part.

Who do you think should be cast opposite Lawrence?

[image: Moviefone]

Liam Hemsworth is reading the script for The Hunger Games right now and the actor wants in.

The Australian actor spoke to MTV in Park City, Utah at the Sundance Film Festival and revealed he loves the “action, gritty kinda of stuff” that drives the story when asked about the Suzanne Collins series of books.

Hemsworth hasn’t met with director Gary Ross but does feel he will have a sit down with the director in the near future. “I mean it’s pretty early right now, but, yeah, I’m sure I’ll meet on it soon.”

The Last Song actor’s name is being tossed in the ring for the role of Peeta, however unless they’ve cast Katniss and are keeping it a secret, they are no where near casting the role of District 12′s male tribute.

What do you think of the possibility of Hemsworth in The Hunger Games?

The Hunger Games trilogy of books is finally getting it’s due and is going to be on the big screen in 2012. The lead role of Katniss Everdeen is highly sought after for any up and coming actress and is totally up for grabs.

Online sites have circulated the news that actresses Chloe Moretz of Let Me In, her Kick-Ass costar Lyndsy Fonseca (now on the CW’s Nikita) and Skins star Kaya Scodelario have been sent the script but another name is being tossed around: Malese Jow. The Vampire Diaries actress has gained quite a following since her character’s untimely death at the end of season 1 on the TV show as the beloved vampire Anna. Jow is a huge fan of the books and wants in on the casting. MTV’s Hollywood Crush caught up with Jow and asked Malese for her take on the role:

Why do you think you would be good for the part of Katniss?
I’m going to sound like I’m tooting my own horn! Looks-wise, I think I’m good for it. When people first meet me, they’re always like, ‘What are you?’ as far as ethnicity. And I’ve been pegged as ‘ethnically ambiguous.’ I think the years the “Hunger Games” takes place, everyone is going be ethnically ambiguous. Everyone is going to have some exotic flavor to them. Slap some gray contacts on me, and I’m good to go.

As far as portraying Katniss and her strength, I feel like with “Vampire Diaries,” I got a lot of experience dabbling in that, and proving to people that I could pull that off. And I’ve grown so much since then. So I can only imagine what I could do if I was presented with the role of Katniss. I would do my absolute best. I would give it 2,000 percent for everyone. I know there are some die-hard fans out there.

Do you visit the fan sites?
I don’t have to go out and look for it. On Twitter and stuff, people have petitions going on that I see by default—things that are sent to me saying, ‘Oh my gosh! I want you as Katniss.’ The fan support for that is great. I feel like, online, I’m a pretty strong contender as far as who the fans want as Katniss, which is very encouraging. I think when it comes to something like this, a book series being turned into a movie, I think the people behind it should look to the fans and who they want. They’re the ones who’ve read it. They know Katniss; they know her personally. And for them to have favorites, that should definitely be considered.

I have to say, as a fan of the books (Suzanne Collins is fantastic!) this could be great. While I like Moretz as an actress, I just don’t see her as Katniss (Prim, perhaps – although I’m partial to Elle Fanning taking that part) and Fonseca is just too old to play 17. Scodelario has been a fan favorite for a long time, but I really like the idea of Malese taking on the Capitol and President Snow.

What do you think? Is Malese a good fit for the girl who outsmarts the political establishment? Who do you want for Katniss? Sound off below!

[image: Nikki Nelson/WENN.com]