There’s an infamous elevator scene with Jennifer Lawrence in the sequel to The Hunger Games: The Tributes of Panem. However, it was shot differently than you think
The Tributes of Panem: The Hunger Games series has many memorable scenes. The first sequel, The Hunger Games – Catching Fire, will be remembered by many fans not least for an infamous elevator scene in which Johanna Mason (Jena Malone) strips naked in front of Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and co. However, the two actresses were not in front of the camera together during filming
Jennifer Lawrence and her Hunger Games co-star filmed a kinky scene separately
As Malone recently revealed in an interview with Variety, Lawrence was ill on the scheduled shoot date for the scene, which is why her co-star had to film the sequence without her.
Jena Malone recalls the day she filmed Johanna Mason’s elevator scene in HungerGames sequel “Catching Fire.” https://t.co/Qfcf6hSWHV pic.twitter.com/VgUZH21Apl
– Variety (@Variety) November 14, 2023
Scenes that are fun in the movies are rarely fun on set. Jennifer was sick that day, so I did it without her and there weren’t many people in the elevator. We wanted to record as much as possible because we were shooting in a real hotel.
In the scene, Katniss and heroes meet their Hunger Games counterpart Johanna Mason in the elevator, who complains about her outfit. Without further ado, she exposes herself in front of the astonished protagonists and leaves the elevator naked
Watch the elevator scene from Catching Fire here:
You can hardly tell from the finished scene that Malone and Lawrence were not in front of the camera at the same time. The mere fact that the faces of both actresses are rarely seen in the same shot speaks for the use of doubles and digital post-production.
Nevertheless, the scene still resonates in the fan community today, and Malone says: “That’s the magic of filmmaking, that you only need a few seconds to create something truly lasting.”
The new Hunger Games film is worth seeing even without Jennifer Lawrence
For epic home cinema: this is one of the best ultra-short throw projectors
