Peter Dinklage has been pretty busy since Game of Thrones wrapped up and he just landed another major movie role. The four-time Emmy-winning actor is set to join the growing cast of the highly-anticipated prequel film Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.
Dinklage will play Casca Highbottom, dean of the Academy. Director Francis Lawrence described his character as the austere and vindictive face of the Games, who sets the rules that will determine every aspect of Coriolanus Snow’s fate.
Lawrence added he’s thrilled that Dinklage will be bringing this character to life, and Lionsgate president Nathan Kahane echoed his words. He described him as one of the best actors alive and said he’ll bring formidable, charismatic authority to the important role of the dean of the Academy.
Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes takes place many years before the events of the original franchise, and it centers on the 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow, as he tries to restore his family’s pride while mentoring Lucy Gray Baird, the girl tribute from impoverished District 12.
Tom Blyth and Rachel Zegler will play lead roles, while the rest of the cast includes Jason Schwartzman, Hunter Schafer, Josh Andrés Rivera, Ashley Liao, Sofia Sanchez, and more. The film’s premiere date is set for November 17, 2023.
