A Guide to the ‘Finnick Odair’ Casting Rumors

With The Hunger Games sequel ‘Catching Fire‘ to start filming in August, the biggest casting question on fans’ minds is: Who will play Finnick Odair?

The hunky District 4 victor, who gets thrown back into the Games with Katniss and Peeta, is an enduring character because of his many reversals for which the role will require a young Hollywood star with a great physique, willingness and ability to throw a trident, with a lot of charisma. When everyone thought that Gary Ross would be directing the sequel, press were hounding him for clues as to who he had in mind. But unfortunately, he never revealed he true thoughts:

“I mean, somewhere, I know it was in the press, I said I had an idea for Finnick Odair. But I don’t really. You start to have ideas as you read, obviously I read the books several times, and I went, oh this guy might be good or that guy might be good. And then I made the terrible mistake of saying that to the press.”

So, here is a list of possibles that have been associated with the part over the past few weeks, mostly by fan nominations, and have responded through interviews and on Twitter.

Jesse Williams

Jesse, the latest fan nomination, is an unexpected choice and yet he fits pretty well after he impressed people in Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard‘s ‘The Cabin in the Woods.’ When E! Online talked to him about the possible role, he seemed enthusiastic:
“I have heard that! I’ve seen a lot of that on Twitter. I didn’t know what the heck a Finnick was when I was getting a lot of the questions about it… I’ve since been educated, and that’s fun. People are really, really excited about it. There’s a website that’s dedicated to it—Jesse for Finnick. It’s kind of taking on a mind of its own. People are creative about that kind of stuff, and now I’ll try to figure out if that’s something that’s interesting to me.”

Armie Hammer

You may remember him from ‘The Social Network,’ ‘Mirror Mirror,’ and the upcoming ‘The Lone Ranger.’ Unfortunately, the news that Armie has taken on the thriller ‘Cut Bank’ means that he won’t realistically be around to shoot Catching Fire. And because there is a limited amount of shooting time - four months - it is unlikely that we will see him as Finnick, but he is still a hopeful candidate.

Chris Zylka

You’ll recognize Chris as playing Jake on The CW’s ‘The Secret Circle,’ but what some didn’t expect was his enthusiasm about the role. Other stars mentioned they may not have even known there was a second Hunger Games book until a reporter mentioned it, last month Chris tweeted, ”Okay, finally on the second Hunger Games book, and yes!! I need to play Finnick Odair.” Not many know much about him, but they like his spirit.

Robert Pattinson

While it’s Twihards and not studio executives who want RPattz to take up Finnick’s trident, they do have an “ironclad reasoning”? “Finnick is described in the books as ‘one of the most attractive people in the world.’ Sounds a lot like Edward Cullen doesn’t he?” I don’t entirely agree that he should play Finnick, and for the ‘Twilight’ movies, Pattinson had makeup and CG to help him out. The only characteristic that Edward and Finnick have in common is the coppery hair.

Daniel Newman

At 35, Daniel seems to be the oldest guy considered for the role - the end of March Tumblr was aflame with rumors that he’d been awarded the part. The ‘Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves’ (1991) actor tweeted out a denial to his followers, making sure he didn’t get in trouble: “Just read that I’m playing ‘Finnick Odair in Hunger games.’ All the messages R awesome but U know I could B sued by Studio if I said anything.” Sounds like he’s might have been out of the game a little too long and isn’t all that interested.

Zac Efron

It’s no surprise that after he bulked up for The Lucky One, fans are suddenly seeing him in a sexier light. But when MTV clued him in to fans’ desire for him to play Finnick, he didn’t seem too up-to-date on the series. It was reported that “it was obvious he hadn’t heard anything about it, but he was also intrigued to hear that fans thought highly enough of him to be considered for the role.”

Going through this list, it’s easy to see that there isn’t a whole lot of variety in the potential candidates. The casting of Lenny Kravitz taught us that certain roles in the franchise don’t have to be white, so a little more diversity in the nominees would be nice.

Do you think one of these guys is fit for the role? Or should someone else be in the running for Finnick Odair?