Hunger Games star Rachel Zegler ‘ad-libbed’ Jennifer Lawrence nod in prequel trailer

Rachel Zegler has revealed that she improvised a nod to Jennifer Lawrence’s Hunger Games character in the prequel trailer.

The first look at the adaptation of Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was released on Thursday (27 April), showing the West Side Story star as Lucy Gray Baird.

In the trailer, Casca Highbottom (Peter Dinklage) announces Lucy as District 12’s tribute for the 10th Hunger Games, and Lucy curtseys in front of a crowd.

Fans of the original franchise immediately recalled a similar moment from the first film that saw Lawrence’s character, Katniss Everdeen, sarcastically curtsey in front of the sponsors while training.

“THIS PARALLEL IS INSANEEEEE,” Twitter user @moonstiina wrote, and Zegler herself responded: “This was an ad-lib.”

The film will, set 64 years before the original, features a younger version of the future President Snow, played by Tom Blyth.

Also starring in the sequel are Viola Davis, Jason Schwartzman, Hunter Schaffer and Josh Andrés Rivera, who is dating Zegler.

The film is an adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ book, which was released in 2020. The original Hunger Games books were released from 2008 to 2010.

The series was adapted into four films, starring Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson, released from 2012 to 2015.

Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will be released on 17 November.