'The Hunger Games' Star Elizabeth Banks Talks Difficult Scenes

With the release of "The Hunger Games" just over a month away, fans of Suzanne Collins' trilogy can't help wondering if the movie will live up to their expectations.

But if the filming conditions are any indication, it will. According to Elizabeth banks, shooting the "Hunger Games" wasn't too different from being in the games themselves.

"It was difficult to shoot under insane conditions, about 105 degrees," Banks, who plays the pink-haired Effie Trinket, told MTV. "We had all these young kids there dropping like flies. It was madness."

But when the going got tough, Banks had her friend Woody Harrelson, who plays the drunken former Hunger Games champion, to cheer her up.

"I think whenever it's difficult, one of my favorite ways to deal with it is to joke around," Banks continued. We take the work seriously, but try not to take ourselves too seriously. Woody [Harrelson] is a great partner in crime, he tells really off-color jokes and is fantastically self-deprecating and fun to be around."

While Banks is sure the film won't let fans down, she can't help being skeptical of her own character. "Effie has a really theatrical, over-the-top, completely not me look to her," Banks told The Huffington Post. "I have no idea if people are going to be into it. I hope they are."

"The Hunger Games" hits theaters on March 23. For more, click over to MTV.

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Comments

[itsjules]

03:15 AM on 02/28/2012

I just finished the trilogy and immediately started it right over again. I can't WAIT to see this! Very excited!

[geoff ward]

07:17 PM on 02/27/2012

I love false smiles.

[anonymouse2]

01:01 PM on 02/27/2012

Construction and migrant workers pull it off all the time. Take your millions and suck it up, lady.

[bowbow696]

11:15 PM on 02/27/2012

What did you expect her to do. She was asked a question and she gave an honest answer. She wasn't complaining in the first place.

[MattBenincasa]

12:44 PM on 02/26/2012

It amazes me how bitter people are at the success of others.

[Phxgwen]

01:10 AM on 02/25/2012

Ok, on the surface her complaint seems really superficial. But imagine your job is to wear about 40 lbs of clothing and makeup and somehow pretend it is not hot sweaty and uncomfortable repeatedly take after take. And she is mostly complaining about the under age locals who showed up as extra and were asked to wear clothes similar to the 30's and stand in humid hot weather for hours and hours on end until they started fainting.

[bowbow696]

11:15 PM on 02/27/2012

Again she was asked a question, what do you expect her to do? I expect her to answer it truthfully, and if the weather conditions were difficult I want to know about it. I don't want her to sugar coat her answers because some person on the internet might assume shes complaining.

[Janet Inkley]

09:43 PM on 02/23/2012

If you're going to read an article in "Entertainment" and then pick apart what the actress says... you really need to stop reading. Or reacting.

[FlaviaDeLuce]

02:04 PM on 02/23/2012

Difficult scenes or difficult weather? Her character didn't do the most "work" in the books.. what a shoddy article

[lilbunnyfufu]

08:50 PM on 02/22/2012

I love how people can turn these statements against her. I can't wait to see this movie!

[patman77]

11:58 AM on 02/22/2012

I was a hob vendor extra on those district 12 filming days. It was brutal hot. she was great and so where all the crew. and especially my d-12 friends cast of thousands.

[Beast2000]

12:01 PM on 02/22/2012

That is so awesome you were there! Lucky!

[Kat MillerInskeep]

09:41 AM on 02/24/2012

Wow what an experience that must have been! I can't wait for this movie to come out.

[geoff ward]

07:26 PM on 02/27/2012

What movie ? Is it in colour ?

[george flaherty]

10:47 AM on 02/22/2012

If the movie is anything like the book its going to be great,don't go to movies very much but after reading the book will certainly be a must see movie.

[foodle]

01:15 AM on 02/22/2012

1%-er problems ...

[BlackJAC]

08:01 AM on 02/22/2012

I see you've never actually worked on a movie set.

[albertinad]

08:47 AM on 02/22/2012

I've worked in Haiti and it was far hotter, and people were dropping like flies, and nobody got paid. Zero sympathy for folks who CHOOSE to work in/on/for A MOVIE.

[CaptainObvvious]

02:33 PM on 02/22/2012

I've worked in construction where I worked harder, in worse heat and made in two years what she likely made in a day.

She was hot but then got to go chill in her trailer and enjoy the catered food made by world class chefs and get a massage.

Must be tough.

[Bruce Forbes]

02:13 PM on 02/22/2012

At least she worked her way there. She's very bright, a graduate of Penn, and a very underrated actress.

[foodle]

01:11 AM on 02/22/2012

Gee 105 degrees. How horrible. Does she understand that people routinely live in those conditions and hotter, without the aid of air conditioned trailers and underlings to fetch them ice water?

[Russ Noe]

01:28 AM on 02/22/2012

She probably doesn't, being from the US and all. Do you have to stand in front of a camera and hot lights when it's 105, act and not sweat? She was not so much complaining but just saying, matter-of-factly how it was.

[hypyrwyf]

12:54 PM on 02/24/2012

Somebody asked her about it, should she lie and say it was balmy and breezy if it wasn't?

[-swift]

12:46 PM on 02/27/2012

What she should have said was "It was really hot and tough on everyone - and the HP commentators can go fugk themselves."

[cookmeyer1970]

11:38 PM on 02/21/2012

Can't wait for this movie!

[ComedyFan]

08:13 AM on 02/22/2012

Same here! The trailers look great - exactly how I pictured things as I was reading the books.

[LeMeBeClear]

09:37 AM on 02/28/2012

Me too! Except the people look nothing like I pictured for some reason! Except Effie! She looks exactly like I imagined! I read the books first and then had my son/sister/mom/and husband all read them! Very good books! Not my usual style, but I'm glad I gave them a try. Now they are my favorite books I've read in years!

[Rachel Snowling]

11:37 PM on 02/21/2012

So, this movie is just Battle Royale: the American version?

[sabelmouse]

07:36 AM on 02/22/2012

i can't speak for the movie but the book isn't.

[BlackJAC]

08:02 AM on 02/22/2012

The most recent MAD had a bit where they recaptioned photos from the movie: one is Jennifer Lawrence thinking to herself "This is the last time I appear on a Japanese TV game show!"

[marred]

10:44 PM on 02/21/2012

I'm sure watching this film will be just as brutal. I'll pass.