Elizabeth Banks in 'The Hunger Games.' Murray Close/Lionsgate/Courtesy Everett Collection Elizabeth Banks wishes that white women would channel their inner Effie Trinket when it came time to vote in the 2024 election.
During a Tuesday appearance on Bustle‘s One Nightstand podcast, The Miniature Wife star looked back on her time in The Hunger Games film franchise based on Suzanne Collins’ novel series. She noted that Effie Trinket had one of the “greatest arc[s]” she’s ever had in a role, thanks to Effie’s road to becoming a revolutionary.
“I think Effie, for me, is one of the characters that has the greatest arc that I’ve ever played because obviously she props up this fascist regime that she benefits from, and it’s not until she really comes to care for and see how unfair it is when they want to pull Katniss and Peta into the games again,” Banks said. “Like, that’s not the deal here. It’s not supposed to be like this. And now, she’s like, ‘Wait a minute, hold on.’”
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Banks’ comment referred to the second Hunger Games film, Catching Fire, where after winning the Hunger Games, Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) are forced back into the deadly games for the third Quarter Quell, which reaped all former winners. Katniss was the only living woman victor from District 12, meaning she had to be selected to participate in the Games, while Peeta was one of two men victors alive. (Haymitch Abernathy, played by Woody Harrelson, was initially reaped, though Peeta volunteered to take his place.)
“I think in Catching Fire when she’s like, ‘I want to be part of this team,’ and you really see her struggling and then by the end she’s like a revolutionary. She gets turned by the events,” Banks added. “I wish more of us were becoming revolutionaries! Effie is the model, guys! I don’t understand the 53 percent of white ladies that didn’t vote for Kamala.”
Banks cited a stat reported by both CNN and NBC News that found 53 percent of white women voted for President Donald Trump in the 2024 election, as opposed to Vice President Kamala Harris.
At the 2016 Democratic National Convention, ahead of the election that saw Trump elected for his first term, the Emmy nominee compared Effie Trinket to the president.
“Some of you know me from The Hunger Games, in which I play a cruel, out of touch reality TV star who wears insane wigs while delivering long-winded speeches to a violent dystopia,” she said. “So when I tuned in to Cleveland last week I was like hey, that’s my act.”
The Hunger Games franchise is gearing up to debut its latest extension, the second prequel, Sunrise on the Reaping, which will trace Haymitch’s time in the Games. Joseph Zada will take over the role from Harrelson, while Elle Fanning will step into Effie Trinket’s shoes.
Sunrise on the Reaping hits theaters on Nov. 20.
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