Jennifer Lawrence says her ‘Hunger Games’ reunion with Josh and Woody was “crazy”

Jennifer Lawrence says stepping back into Katniss’ boots on The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping felt less like a comeback and more like a family reunion. On the Call Her Daddy podcast, she described walking onto set and seeing the same camera operators and the same first assistant director she’s worked with for years, with director Francis Lawrence once again at the helm and longtime producers Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson back behind the scenes.

“It was so crazy.”

The most emotional jolt came from being reunited with Josh Hutcherson. Lawrence said the two were practically inseparable between takes — “so beautiful,” as she put it — to the point where they wouldn’t even walk to the bathroom without their arms around each other. Woody Harrelson is also back in the mix, reuniting the trio that anchored the original films.

• Jennifer Lawrence — Katniss Everdeen
• Josh Hutcherson — Peeta Mellark
• Woody Harrelson — Haymitch Abernathy
• Francis Lawrence — director (his fifth Hunger Games movie )
• Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson — producers
• Christopher Surgent — first assistant director

The trusted A.D.

Lawrence singled out first assistant director Christopher Surgent as a key part of that “coming home” feeling. The pair’s history stretches across four films — The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 and Part 2, Red Sparrow, and Causeway — and their collaboration has gone beyond set logistics. Surgent served as an executive producer on Causeway, where Lawrence also took on producing duties.

Francis Lawrence, who steered four previous Hunger Games installments, is guiding Sunrise on the Reaping as well; he’s even said the first assembly cut ran 4 hours and 12 minutes.