Why “Hunger Games” Director Chose Not to Cast Cooper Hoffman in His Late Dad’s Role for Prequel
Why “Hunger Games” Director Chose Not to Cast Cooper Hoffman in His Late Dad’s Role for Prequel
Kimberlee SpeakmanWed, August 5, 2026 at 5:26 PM UTC
0
Cooper Hoffman and Philip Seymour Hoffman in ‘The Hunger Games.’Credit: Cindy Ord/Getty; Color Force/Lionsgate/Kobal/Shutterstock -
Director Francis Lawrence said Cooper Hoffman wasn’t cast because the role required someone older than 23
Jesse Plemons, who worked with Philip Seymour Hoffman in The Master, was cast as the younger Plutarch Heavensbee
Cooper Hoffman is building his own acting career with roles in Licorice Pizza and The Long Walk
Cooper Hoffman wasn’t tapped to play his father’s role in The Hunger Games prequel — and there’s a good reason for it, according to director Francis Lawrence.
Lawrence, who worked with Cooper, 23, on The Long Walk, said there was one key reason the actor wasn’t cast as a younger version of Plutarch Heavensbee, the character originally portrayed by Cooper’s late father, Philip Seymour Hoffman, in Sunrise on the Reaping.
“I love to work with people over and over, and Cooper is high on that list, but we needed someone who felt considerably older than Cooper is,” Lawrence, 55, told The Hollywood Reporter.
The role of a young Plutarch ended up going to Jesse Plemons, 38. Plemons previously played Val Dodd, the son of Hoffman’s character, Lancaster Dodd, in the Oscar-nominated 2012 drama The Master.
Philip Seymour Hoffman in ‘The Hunger Games.’Credit: Photo by Lionsgate/Kobal/Shutterstock
“Jesse is one of the most talented actors of his generation, with a proven record of picking his roles selectively,” Erin Westerman, co-president, Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, said in a statement after his Sunrise on the Reaping casting was announced.
“We are honored that he has chosen to bring his own take to one of the most fascinating figures in Panem, and feel that his previous collaboration with Philip Seymour Hoffman makes it all the more special,” Westerman added.
Advertisement
As for Cooper, he is following in his father’s footsteps in the film industry, but is making his Hollywood experience his own with roles in Licorice Pizza,The Long Walk and his latest film, I Want Your Sex.
He told THR that he initially “hated” his dad’s job as an actor, but has slowly come around, in part due to the guidance he got from his father’s friend and director Paul Thomas Anderson.
Cooper Hoffman at the ‘I Want Your Sex’ premiere at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival on January 23, 2026.Credit: Arturo Holmes/Getty
“I hated my dad’s job because I was always like, ‘Why are you going away for three months?,’ ” Cooper recalled to the outlet.
— sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
However, Anderson invited him onto his sets and changed his mind. Cooper said, “The one I remember most is Phantom Thread. My family stayed for three weeks, and I would watch Paul work pretty much every day.”
“I was like, ‘Wait, you just get to bring a bunch of people that you like together and make something?’ I could finally see why my dad was doing it,” he added.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
