Scene 2 Seen Podcast: Mackenzie Lansing Discusses SAG-AFTRA Strike & Auditioning For ‘Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes’

Valerie Complex

1 December 2023 at 4:48 pm·2-min read

Hello, and welcome to the Scene 2 Seen Podcast!

I am Valerie Complex, associate editor and film writer at Deadline. Today, I’m chatting with actress Mackenzie Lansing, who stars as Coral, the District Four tribute in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.

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The film takes place years before Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) would become the tyrannical President of Panem, when the 18-year-old is the last hope for his fading lineage, a once-proud family that has fallen from grace in a postwar Capitol. With the 10th annual Hunger Games fast approaching, the young Snow is alarmed when he is assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), the girl tribute from impoverished District 12.

Lansing is a French-American actress and writer based in New York and LA. She grew up in France and the Democratic Republic of Congo before moving to the U.S. to pursue acting. She started her career on television shows including Red Oaks, Tell Me a story and more. Lansing started working with big names in the industry with roles like Jamie on HBO’s The Deuce. She gained notoriety for her role as Brianna on award-winning Mare of Easttown. As for films, Lansing appeared in Gareth Edwards’ sci-fi pic The Creator before landing her biggest role to date in Songbirds & Snakes. Next up is Allswell in New York, alongside Elizabeth Rodriguez and Bobby Cannavale.

On today’s episode, Lansing and I discuss how to build a strong acting career, how she coped during the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes and what it was like to audition at home for Hunger Games and such a physical role.

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