'Catching Fire' Casting Rumors: Hunter Parrish Weighs In

'Weeds' actor, who was up for the role of Peeta in 'Hunger Games,' tells MTV News he'd 'love' to play Finnick in the sequel.
By Kara Warner

Hunter Parrish
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Our fellow "Hunger Games" fans will likely recall the fact that the casting process for the first film garnered more than a few headlines, particularly regarding the roles of Katniss, Peeta and Gale. Now that those roles have long been filled and the movie has gone on to break box-office records, we have been focused on the casting rumors around its sequel, "Catching Fire."

While Lionsgate hasn't made any announcements about who will join the cast for the sequel, particularly as fan-favorite character Finnick Odair, that hasn't stopped the rumor mill from churning out likely prospects. One of the fan-supported candidates is "Weeds" actor Hunter Parrish, who was also an early favorite to play Peeta until Josh Hutcherson won the role.

When MTV News caught up with Parrish recently to discuss the release of his first single, "Sitting at Home," we couldn't help but ask for his thoughts on the franchise and also being considered for Finnick.

"This whole 'Hunger Games' thing, man ... I've read all of the books, because I've been through this once before," Parrish said. "It was very exciting for me [to be considered] for the first movie, to be a part of that, and I read all of the books at that time, and I loved the script and the director and Jennifer Lawrence who was cast at that point. I saw it as something very exciting, and I was very excited about it, but it wasn't [meant to be]. Josh is also a friend of mine, and I haven't seen the film yet, but people say amazing things about it, and he's great, he's perfect. We've worked together before, and he's a great actor," Parrish said sincerely.

While Parrish is grateful for the fan support behind the Finnick campaign, his experience from the first round of casting has him feeling more cautious about things this time around.

"I kind of dove in for that one, so for this one, I don't know," he said. "I think you just kind of step back, and if it happens, it happens. I'm not going to really spend too much time thinking about it, but I'd love to. I wouldn't cast myself, but that's not helping me getting cast for that movie," he joked. "But I'm a fan of the books. I think there's fantastic actors that would probably be better. So there's that for getting me a job!"

In continuing with his gracious thoughts about other actors he'd consider for Finnick, we asked Parrish if he wanted to give a shout-out to any for fun.

"No, I wouldn't go that far!" he laughed. "I still want the job, I'm just saying ... "

Check out everything we've got on "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire."

For young Hollywood news, fashion and "Twilight" updates around the clock, visit HollywoodCrush.MTV.com.

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