It's no secret that lately everyone on the internet seems to be obsessed with Josh Hutcherson. I mean, for a solid period of time, the "Whistle" edits featuring Josh were everywhere, and Five Nights at Freddy's was one of the biggest new movies of 2023.
Alongside his new work, The Hunger Games movies also saw a big resurgence in the last year.
Fans were rewatching the original movies, Catching Fire celebrated its 10th anniversary, Jennifer Lawrence AND Josh starred in new movies, and The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes came out. It was a big year to be a fan of The Hunger Games and the actors who starred in them.
So, when Josh swung by BuzzFeed to do our puppy interview, there were a few burning questions about Peeta, the movies, and more that we just needed answers to.
Here are just a few incredible behind-the-scenes stories Josh shared:
First, looking back, Josh said filming the moment when Peeta camouflages himself in The Hunger Games was wild. "We shot that in the mountains outside of Asheville in North Carolina. There were A TON of snakes," he recalled.
He added, "Like, they put me into a rock crevice that just looked like it went infinitely back into a dark snake pit. So, I had to lay there for, like, 45 minutes while they did this whole makeup thing on my face."
In terms of what the finished product looked like, Josh told BuzzFeed he didn't know how hilarious he looked until after they filmed the scene.
Next, after filming wrapped on The Hunger Games movies, Josh said he did take something from set to remember Peeta and his time working on the films.
He revealed, "I took the little locket that Peeta gives to Katniss, yeah!" Of course, Peeta gives the necklace to Katniss while they sit on the beach in the arena in Catching Fire.
And, yes, Josh still has the locket.
Overall, Josh's favorite Peeta moment to film was when he got to portray Peeta while he was "messed up with the tracker jacker venom and all that" in Mockingjay — Part 1 and Mockingjay — Part 2.
He elaborated, saying that playing Peeta in that state of mind made him really want to play a villain, which he finally got to do in his latest movie. "Similar to, like, with The Beekeeper, how I just got to go to a pretty wild place with the character and be pretty free with it. Doing that kind of thing was a lot of fun, too."
Josh said it has been great to continue to stay in touch with Jennifer and Liam Hemsworth over the years. Jennifer even texted him after the success of Five Nights at Freddy's. Describing their bond, Josh told BuzzFeed, "It's kind of like trying to get these three [puppies] to stay together when they just are all doing all kinds of other crazy things, and that's like me, Jen, and Liam."
He continued, saying, "Just like we're always all over the world in different places, but when we get together, it's kind of similar to this dynamic."
"It's great, though. They are still near and dear to me," Josh added.
And finally, out of all of his previous characters, Josh would love to revisit Peeta if the opportunity presented itself — hint, HINT, Suzanne Collins. I'm just saying.
He told BuzzFeed, "Just reliving the whole Hunger Games experience again. I would go back to Peeta in a heartbeat."
You can watch Josh's full puppy interview below:
