Hunger Games News: Actors Who Almost Became Peeta Mellark (Photos)!

It was hard finding the perfect lil’ lady to play the role of Katniss Everdeen in the upcoming film ‘The Hunger Games,’ but it was apparently even harder to locate the perfect lil’ gentleman to play the role of Peeta Mellark, the number one compadre to Katniss Everdeen, played by the beautiful Jennifer Lawrence.

After all the searching and searching, actor Josh Hutcherson eventually captured the attention of producer Gary Ross, as well as the attention of the mastermind behind the story . . . Suzanne Collins herself. It’s always a plus when the author — the one who created the image of the character in the first place — says you’re the perfect fit for the role.

According to the author, Josh won her over in a heartbeat.

“I was fortunate enough to be in the room with Gary Ross when Josh came in to audition,” Collins reportedly said in a recent statement. “Three lines into the read I knew he’d be fantastic. Josh totally captured Peeta’s temperament, his sense of humor and his facility for language.”

 Gary Ross told Entertainment Weekly that casting Peeta’s role was a difficult task, and “[he] feels so lucky that [they] found someone who embodies every aspect of such a complex character.”

But who else was in the running for this coveted, and perhaps career-defining (just think about what happened to the Harry Potter stars and Twilight stars; it’ll be similar, very similar), role? Check out some of the guys that were being considered, and almost landed, the part.

Actors (from left to right): Alex Pettyfer, Hunter Parrish, Evan Peters, Liam Hemsworth (who wanted to play Peeta before landing the role of Gale), Lucas Till, Alexander Ludwig. Last Picture: Josh and Suzanne Collins. I included a picture of the author because I think it’s interesting how we have so many pics of all the actors portraying her characters and very few of the author who wrote the book. So let’s all give it up for the amazeballs Suzanne!

Image Credit to: Team Peeta (modified by CDL)

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