“The Hunger Games” pays tribute to the late Donald Sutherland: 'The kindest man in the world'

Sutherland's son, Kiefer Sutherland, announced Thursday that he had died at 88.

Following Thursday's announcement that prolific actor Donald Sutherland has died at 88, The Hunger Games franchise is remembering him.

"We asked the kindest man in the world to portray the most corrupt, ruthless dictator we've ever seen," the franchise's official Instagram account posted within hours. "Such was the power and skill of Donald Sutherland's acting that he created one more indelible character among many others that defined his legendary career. We are privileged to have known and worked with him, and our thoughts are with his family."

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One of Sutherland's many parts was that of the tyrannical President Coriolanus Snow, who oversees the violent and devastating fights to the death in the series. He played him in the first four movies: The Hunger Games (2012); The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013); The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 (2014); and 2015's The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2.

Even before that tribute, Tom Blyth, who played the younger version of Sutherland's character in the 2023 prequel The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, shared his own kind remembrance.

"Donald Sutherland came about as close to mastering the craft of acting as anyone gets," Blyth wrote. "So many genius performances. I never had the honor of knowing him personally, but it was the honor of a lifetime to follow in his footsteps. Thank you sir for birthing one of the great movie characters of all time."

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The death of the versatile actor, whose other projects included the film version of M*A*S*H; The Dirty Dozen; JFK; Klute; Animal House; Ordinary People; Lawmen: Bass Reeves; and many more over more than six decades, was announced by his son, Kiefer Sutherland.

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