All 41 Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping Characters Explained

The enduring appeal of The Hunger Games franchise lies partly in how much of its world remains unexplored. Suzanne Collins first introduced readers to Panem, a dystopian version of North America ruled by the wealthy and merciless Capitol, in the 2008 novel that launched the series. Each year, one boy and one girl from each of the twelve districts are forced into a televised fight to the death, with only one survivor allowed to leave. Through Katniss Everdeen, portrayed by Jennifer Lawrence in the original films, audiences witnessed the Capitol’s extravagance, the brutality of the Games and the rebellion that eventually challenged its power. Collins later traveled further back in time with The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which explored the younger years of future president Coriolanus Snow, played by Tom Blyth in the film adaptation.

The next chapter heading to theaters is The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping. Like Collins’ 2025 prequel novel, the film centers on a young Haymitch Abernathy, the District 12 victor who later becomes Katniss’ mentor and is played in the original movies by Woody Harrelson. Haymitch is not the only familiar name in the story, however. The prequel introduces a new generation of characters, including younger versions of figures audiences may already recognize. Here is a guide to all 41 characters connected to Sunrise on the Reaping. Light spoilers ahead!

At the heart of Sunrise on the Reaping is Haymitch Abernathy, portrayed in his youth by Joseph Zada. This Haymitch is a long way from the weary, sarcastic mentor played by Harrelson. He is idealistic, hopeful and in love, but his life changes forever when another tribute tries to flee and is killed. In the aftermath, Haymitch is selected to enter the Games himself.

The situation is even more horrifying because Haymitch’s Games are part of the 50th Hunger Games, a special Quarter Quell held every 25 years. For this edition, each district must send two boys and two girls into the arena, doubling the usual field from 24 tributes to 48. Haymitch ultimately survives and wins, a fact already revealed in the original story. The prequel’s real impact comes from showing exactly how that victory happened—and how profoundly it scarred him. His backstory is among the franchise’s most painful and complicated tales.

Mckenna Grace plays Maysilee Donner, one of Haymitch’s fellow tributes, and also briefly appears as Maysilee’s twin sister, Merrilee. Maysilee has a sharp and sometimes bullying personality, yet she and Haymitch form an unlikely partnership once they are trapped in the arena together. Her greatest significance to the wider saga is tied to the mockingjay pin: Maysilee originally owns the item that later becomes a defining symbol of Katniss’ rebellion. Her closest friend in District 12 is also the future mother of Katniss.

Ben Wang portrays Wyatt Callow, the second male tribute selected from District 12. Quiet and withdrawn, Wyatt rarely reveals what he is thinking, but his intelligence makes him a valuable ally. He understands the machinery of the Games better than most because his family has spent years betting on their outcomes, giving him a practical sense of how the competition works.

The final District 12 tribute is Louella McCoy, played by Molly McCann. Young and gentle, Louella once called Haymitch her “sweetheart” because of her enormous crush on him. Before the Games begin, however, something deeply disturbing happens to her. The details are best left unspoiled, but the crisis forces the Capitol to find a replacement at short notice.

Lou Lou and Louella McCoy are not the same person. Played by Iona Bell, Lou Lou is the unsettling substitute created to take Louella’s place in the Games—a disturbing kind of human stand-in whom Haymitch gives her nickname. She quickly becomes one of the most unnerving figures in the entire franchise, and the film leaves open the possibility that she may have come from District 11.

Knowing that survival will depend on cooperation, Haymitch tries to build a network of allies before entering the arena. One of those potential partners is Ampert Latier, played by Percy Daggs IV. Small in stature but highly intelligent, Ampert is the son of a former victor and has been selected as punishment directed at the Latier family. Fans of Veronica Mars may recognize the family connection: Daggs is the son of Percy Daggs III, who played Wallace Fennel on the beloved series.

The Hunger Games often introduce more tributes than the story has time to fully develop, and the expanded 48-person field in Sunrise on the Reaping is no exception. Still, several competitors receive meaningful screen time. From District 1, Jhaleil Swaby plays Panache Baker, whom Wyatt describes as both quick-tempered and popular with Capitol viewers. His district partner is Silka Sharp, portrayed by Laura Marcus—a glamorous tribute whose beauty is matched by her ruthlessness.

District 4’s standout tribute is Maritte, played by Sky Frances, who is particularly skilled with a trident, fitting for a district built around fishing. Rada Rae portrays Wellie from District 6, a deeply anxious and easily frightened competitor. Ringina, played by Tatyana Muzondo, comes from District 7 and treats Haymitch with unexpected warmth despite their position as rivals. District 9’s Kerna, portrayed by Alina Reid, is similarly sensitive and compassionate, qualities that make her poorly suited to the arena.

Kerna’s fellow District 9 tribute is Clayton, played by Salimou Thiam. The remaining members of this group include Buck from District 10, portrayed by John Doeble, and Hull from District 11, played by Kaine Buffonge.

In the original Hunger Games films, Plutarch Heavensbee is a polished Capitol insider whose apparent loyalty masks a rebellious agenda. Philip Seymour Hoffman made the role his own before his death, and Jesse Plemons now takes over the character in Sunrise on the Reaping. Though Plutarch occupies a powerful position as a Game Maker, his covert assistance becomes critically important to Haymitch.

Following Elizabeth Banks’ flamboyant performance as Effie Trinket is no small challenge, particularly when the character’s signature look includes towering, theatrical heels. Elle Fanning steps into the role for this earlier chapter, portraying a younger Effie as she takes responsibility for styling the District 12 tributes. She is outwardly cordial toward Haymitch, but her unwavering support for the Capitol immediately creates tension between them.

After a voice role in Andy Serkis’ 2025 adaptation of Animal Farm, Succession star Kieran Culkin returns to live-action cinema in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping. His role is Caesar Flickerman, the flamboyant television presenter made famous by Stanley Tucci in the original films. The character also connects to the earlier prequel: Jason Schwartzman played Caesar’s ancestor, Lucky Flickerman, in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.

Ralph Fiennes becomes the third actor to portray Coriolanus Snow. Donald Sutherland played the aging president in the original films before his death in 2024, while Tom Blyth portrayed Snow as a young man in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. In Sunrise on the Reaping, Fiennes shows Snow entering a later stage of life as he embraces increasingly severe tyranny. The story also follows his efforts to build resistance to poison, an obsession that helps explain the bloody sores around his mouth in the original saga.

Drusilla Sickle is the longtime Capitol chaperone assigned to District 12, and Haymitch describes her in Collins’ novel as a woman whose surgically altered face makes her impossible to place by age. Glenn Close plays Drusilla in the film, though elaborate prosthetics and makeup transform her into the plastic-surgery devotee described on the page. Her relationship with the District 12 tributes is anything but peaceful, and she frequently clashes with them.

Billy Porter joins the franchise as Magno Stift, the Capitol stylist responsible for District 12’s tributes. Magno is also Drusilla Sickle’s legal husband, although their marriage does little to soften the hostility between them. Haymitch’s first impression of Magno is dominated by his bizarre, extravagant appearance:

“Magno Stift’s sun-leathered skin has been tattooed with a snakeskin pattern. He wears a long shirt made of metal diamonds and no visible pants. His sandals lace all the way up to his pelvis, and from each of his ears dangle tiny, living garter snakes that twist and turn in misery.”

Magno’s time overseeing the Games is interrupted after he licks toads and begins hallucinating. He also humiliates himself by mistakenly sending the tributes to their televised interviews wearing training clothes rather than proper outfits. Even with a potentially limited amount of screen time, Porter seems perfectly suited to make Magno one of the film’s most memorable and outrageous characters.

After a brief appearance in the hit Hulu series “Tell Me Lies,” Iris Apatow — sister of “Euphoria” star Maude and daughter of actress Leslie Mann and director and writer Judd Apatow — will show up in Panem as Proserpina Trinket, Effie’s younger sister. As a member of Haymitch’s prep team, Proserpina helps her sister, well, prepare him for the pre-arena “festivities.”

Proserpina Trinket isn’t the only prep team member we meet through Haymitch — she’s aided by her fellow Capitol denizen Vitus, played in the film by Edvin Ryding. Vitus is on the periphery of Haymitch’s story for the entire narrative, and if Ryding looks familiar, it’s because he plays Swedish Amphibious Corps member Erik Sundqvist in “28 Years Later” (marking a “reunion” of sorts between Ryding and Ralph Fiennes, who plays Dr. Ian Kelson in that film.)

There are a few other Capitol residents who play small but important roles in Haymitch’s story in “The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping.” Hersilia, played by Sandra Förster, works as a trainer to help the tributes prepare for battle, and Jax Guerrero’s Tibby is an overly helpful transportation officer.

One of the most tragic figures in “The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping” is Beetee Latier, a former District 3 victor who’s played by Kelvin Harrison Jr. in this prequel film and who works as a mentor to new tributes. (In the original movies, he’s played by Oscar nominee Jeffrey Wright, who brings a quiet, pensive energy to the role.) So why is he so tragic? After a failed attempt to rebel against the Capitol, Beetee is severely punished and is forced to watch his own son, the aforementioned Ampert, compete in the Second Quarter Quell. Despite knowing that he’ll almost certainly watch his child perish, Beetee is an invaluable asset to Haymitch … and even comes up with a potentially dangerous plan to interfere with the Games themselves.

Beetee isn’t the only former victor turned mentor who works with Haymitch to prepare him for the super-dangerous arena. Another is Wiress, who’s portrayed by Amanda Plummer in “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” and is played by “Stranger Things” veteran Maya Hawke in “Sunrise on the Reaping.” Wiress, who competed in the previous year’s Games and won them by utilizing a field of reflective surfaces to confuse her more physically powerful opponents, is brilliant — and instrumental in Beetee’s scheme.

The final major mentor we meet in “The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping” is Mags Flanagan, played by “Sex and the City” standout Lynn Cohen (who passed away in 2020) in the original films with Lili Taylor taking over the role in the prequel. Hailing from District 4, Mags is one of the older victors — it’s not clear which games she won, but it’s either the 11th, 12th, or 13th go-around — but that doesn’t diminish her wisdom.

A young widow whose husband was killed in a mining accident (District 12 is the mining district, which is also how Katniss loses her own father years later) and mother to four children, Willamae Abernathy, Haymitch’s mother, runs a tight ship. Played by Kara Tointon in “The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping,” she’s also devastated to see her oldest child be randomly chosen to compete in the Second Quarter Quell after the original tribute tries to escape the premises.

We don’t actually meet either of Haymitch’s two sisters during the narrative of “The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping,” but we do meet his beloved younger brother Sid Abernathy, played by Smylie Bradwell. In the book, Haymitch tells Sid “‘you’re twice as smart as me and ten times as brave'” right as Haymitch is “reaped,” leaving Sid in tears in Willamae’s arms as Haymitch departs for the Capitol.

Because Katniss’ father Burdock Everdeen dies in a mining accent years before the narrative of “The Hunger Games” begins, we’ve never seen him on screen … but in “Sunrise on the Reaping,” he’s played by Scot Greenan. Burdock is one of Haymitch’s close friends and supports him before and after the games in District 12, even as Haymitch suffers unimaginable losses.

Now that we’ve covered some of the more major District 12 players, let’s go over a brief list of the tertiary players. Grace Ackary will appear in “The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping” as Asterid March, best friend to Maysilee Donner and Burdock Everdeen’s future wife (meaning, yes, that she grows up to mother Katniss), with Ackary taking over the role from original actress Paula Malcolmson. Jeffrey Hallman is also playing a character that was originated by a different actor elsewhere in the Hunger Games franchise — Clerk Carmine, a Baird relative of Lenore Dove who’s portrayed by Konstantin Taffet in “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.”

We’ve obliquely referenced Haymitch’s … unconventional reaping, and it’s all thanks to Woodbine Chance (Serafin Mishiev), whose name is initially chosen and whose escape results not just in his death at the hands of Peacekeepers, but Haymitch being chosen in his place. Elsewhere, there’s local liquor brewer Hattie Meeney (Melody Chikakane Brown), with whom Haymitch works even though the practice isn’t strictly legal, Haymitch’s friend Blair (Devon Singletary), and Louella’s father Mr. McCoy (Jefferson White).

Even though the events of “The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping” predate the births of Katniss Everdeen and her eventual partner Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), both Hutcherson and Jennifer Lawrence are set to reprise their roles in the prequel (according to a December 2025 report in The Hollywood Reporter). So … how will that work?

Whether or not Woody Harrelson will also join the party is, as of this writing, anybody’s guess — but when you consider that the entirety of “Sunrise on the Reaping” is designed to explain why Haymitch is so surly and traumatized by the time he coaches Katniss and Peeta through their first games, it seems entirely possible that we’ll see a scene of an older Haymitch sharing this story with his two successors. It’s been decades since we saw Lawrence and Hutcherson as Katniss and Peeta, and it’ll be pretty great to watch these two talented performers step back into roles that earned them worldwide fame and acclaim.

“The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping” hits theaters on November 20, 2026.