Glenn Close's incredible Hunger Games transformation had a surprising inspiration

The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping director Francis Lawrence has opened up about the inspiration behind Glenn Close's transformation. The actor takes on the role of Drusilla Sickle in the upcoming prequel, who was notably seen at the start of the movie's teaser.

In it, she is wheeled on to a stage, before being helped up and announcing the Reaping of District 12.

Speaking at a Q&A during a filmmaker presentation in which Digital Spy was in attendance, Lawrence revealed that the idea of Drusilla's limited mobility was his.

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"That was not in the book and part of it came from the fact that she was going to be wearing this kind of corseted dress and it was going to be hard to walk in," he said. "There's also sort of a mystery around the age of the character of Drusilla Sickle so you're unsure of how well she's going to be able to move."

Sharing the influence, Lawrence continued: "Having seen all these shots of actresses from the '30s, '40s, '50s that when they take breaks, they couldn't sit down so they're just leaning against these these boards and smoking cigarettes, I just thought that was just a perfect way for Drusilla to move around.

"Originally she was actually gonna be brought down the steps on that thing as well to meet Haymitch for the first time."

Lawrence further admitted It was "a fun thing to come up with" with all the props, including the little ring with the cigarette on the ring.

"There was a lot of back and forth that she and I had about her look and the nails," he added.

It comes as a new trailer for the movie dropped this afternoon, with Lawrence explaining how the prequel is a "return to form of the first two movies".

"This really is a return to form to, let's say, something like Catching Fire in terms of structure, in terms of feeling, in terms of backing and empathising with a character who's going through something quite spectacular, but also quite horrible," he said. "I was just really thrilled about that."

The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is released in cinemas on 20 November.

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Sam is a freelance reporter and sub-editor who has a particular interest in movies, TV and music. After completing a journalism Masters at City University, London, Sam joined Digital Spy as a reporter, and has also freelanced for publications such as NME and Screen International.  Sam, who also has a degree in Film, can wax lyrical about everything from Lord of the Rings to Love Is Blind, and is equally in his element crossing every 't' and dotting every 'i' as a sub-editor.

Movies Editor, Digital Spy  Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor.  Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world.   After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.