Elizabeth Banks Says Goodbye to Effie and The Hunger Games: "I Cried My Eyes Out"

Josh Horowitz got to spend a little time with Elizabeth Banks at Tiff while she was promoting her film Love and Mercy and, excellent fanboy that he is, Josh asked about Mockingjay wrapping up for good. 

"It's done. I never get to play that role again, it's so sad. I cried my eyes out. I love, love, love Effie so much. I really love her and, yeah, it's over."

Horowitz said he was relieved that we get to see a little bit more of Effie in the last two films than the book would dictate. Banks replied, "They did [write a little bit more of Effie into the films]. I got lucky. It was VERY flattering and fun story for her actually. REALLY fun. To go from The Capitol to District 13 is a shock for anybody. I like how I talk about it like it's real life. (laughs) Anyway, she's there. She's the fish out of water. It's fun."

Sam Claflin, Jena Malone and Elizabeth Banks at TIFF

Sam Claflin, Jena Malone and Elizabeth Banks were at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) this year to support various, separate projects outside The Hunger Games world. 

Sam was on hand for the world premiere of his upcoming film, The Riot Club. 

Sam photos thanks to our friends at SamClaflinFans. Be sure to check out their fabulous gallery for many more photos from TIFF, including all the press events. 

Photo thanks to MockingjaySource.com

Jena Malone was at TIFF promoting her upcoming Time Out Of Mind, which she calls, "the most important film I've ever made." Jena was absolutely stunning at the premiere of the film. Time Out of Mind is due in theaters October 5th. 

Photo thanks to MockingjaySource.comElizabeth Banks was at TIFF for the premiere of her film Love and Mercy. The biopic of The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson is already getting great reviews. Curiously enough, the film was rewritten by screenwriter Oren Moverman, who also co-wrote and directed Jena Malone's TIFF film, Time Out of Mind. 

Elizabeth Banks on Effie and Mockingjay: "It's a True Action Movie"

Elizabeth Banks has been making the rounds to promote her involvement with Doritos Crash The Super Bowl Contest. E Online got a little bit of Mockingjay Part 1 and Effie information out of her during their recent interview.  

How Effie maintains her style in District 13 

“Effie really is a fish out of water in District 13 and they do not have anywhere near the resources that the Capitol does. So Effie really finds herself having to what I like to call ‘Project Runway her way’ through the wardrobe that’s given to everyone. Everyone gets sort of standard wardrobe in District 13 and she of course has to put her own twist on everything…she can make anything fabulous."

Book vs. Movie Effie

“Well she [Effie] doesn’t make an appearance in District 13 in the actual book, but Suzanne Collins and Francis [Lawrence] and I…everyone sort of came to me and said ‘We really feel like Effie…it would be really fun to keep her involved in the story’ and of course I’m thrilled to be a part of it and get to go to 13 and take care of Katniss a little bit longer.”

What she thinks of the film (aka press kit sound bites) 

“I’m really thrilled with the way it’s turned out. I think Francis [the director] has a really interesting take on the material and it’s a continuation of the story of Katniss and she’s one of my favorite heroines of all time. The scope and scale is huge. It’s really a true action film now, we’re not just in the Games anymore, we’ve really upped the stakes of the movie. It’s really about a full scale rebellion and a war between the Capitol and the Districts. So all the action sequences are just amazing and upgraded…action-movie level stuff going on, not just the story of a small-town girl.”

Elizabeth on the Mockingjay cast

“I mean we really have a lot of comradery. We’ve been through a lot making the movies. It’s very rare in this business that you get to spend this much time with the same people, over and over again on something that we all care about a lot. And we really want to make a great product every time and we want to have fun while we do it and we just have really great shared perspective on the whole thing."

'The Hunger Games' Cast and Crew Take The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

Nina Jacobson, producer of The Hunger Games films, graciously accepted our ALS Ice Bucket Challenge Nomination and took the plunge in honor of The Hunger Games fans. Thank you, Nina!! You are amazing. Check it out:

She nominated Jennifer Lawrence, Jena Malone and Natalie Dormer to take the challenge.

Director Francis Lawrence ALSO accepted our challenge and took his icy bath in honor of the fans:

What a champ! Thanks, Francis! It means so much to the fans that you both did this. Francis has nominated Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth and Sam Claflin. Josh and Sam accepted and completed the challenge:

Natalie Dormer completed the challenge. You can see her video exclusively at Buzzfeed. I LOVE that she's wearing a Mockingjay t-shirt!! 

Jennifer Lawrence and Jena Malone both opted to donate in lieu of completing the ice bucket challenge. Ice or no ice, we love you, Jennifer and Jena! Thanks for donating! Jena posted a pic of her interpretation of the Ice Bucket Challenge to her social media and is donating $1 for every like/rt the photo gets on twitter, facebook and instagram by 5:30am on Thursday, 8/28/14. Go, go, go! 

 

Willow Shields took the challenge in honor of The Hunger Games fans too! This may be the cutest one I've seen. 

Liam has already done the challenge through another nomination. Love the outfit, Liam.

Check out some of our other THG cast members doing the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. And find out more about this great cause HERE.  

Julianne Moore:

Elizabeth Banks:

Evan Ross:

Alexander Ludwig did it on behalf of his show Vikings:

Alan Ritchson completed the challenge with Rob Ramsey and they took it up a notch and used Slushys.

Dayo Okeniyi completed the challenge and called out Amandla Stenberg, Jack Quaid and Leven Rambin. 

Photos From The First Press Day For 'Mockingjay Part 1'

And so it begins... The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 had its first press day yesterday! Both Lionsgate and Elizabeth Banks posted this cute shot of Liam Hemsworth, Elizabeth and Jennifer Lawrence to social media last night. 

 

Elizabeth shared another angle of the shot (above) today to tumblr. 

Willow Shields posted this snap to her instagram with the caption, "Feeling fancy. Press day for Mockingjay Part 1!"

A couple additional shots of Elizabeth and Willow were also shared around social media:

Photos thanks to @HGNewsChannel

 

Tara Bennett tweeted that she interviewed Francis Lawrence (@Hibbits on twitter) for a Sci Fi Magazine article. We'll be looking forward to that one, Tara!! FYI, last year Tara wrote the cover story on Catching Fire for Sci Fi's December 2013 issue. It hit newsstands October 13th - ish if you're trying to figure out when we'll see all of this press. 

 Thanks to our friends at @HGNewsChannel and @Larrs9325 for the tips. 

New 'Mockingjay Part 1' District 13 Citizen Posters

We're getting an earlier than expected look at six new Mockingjay Part 1 District 13 character posters. President Coin, Haymitch Abernathy, Beetee Latier, Effie Trinket, Plutarch Heavensbee and Finnick Odair are featured in their District 13 finest. And by finest we mean their drab grey uniforms. Looks like Effie is making the most of what she's been dealt in 13. You go, Effie. 

The posters debuted on various websites tonight after they were leaked a bit early online right after the District 13 mobile site launch. 

We assume this is the first wave of District 13 citizen posters and we're very excited to see Katniss in one of them, hopefully in the near future. Because District 13 is alive and well and so is the Mockingjay.

Elizabeth Banks Wraps Up Playing Effie and Says, "That Was Heartbreaking For Me"

Elizabeth Banks as Effie. Photo courtesy Vanity Fair Oct '13Elizabeth Banks said in a recent article,

“I just wrapped playing Effie Trinket and that was heartbreaking for me. She was one of my all-time-favourite characters that I’ve played.”

Elizabeth is out promoting her new movie, Walk of Shame (in theaters May 2nd) and, of course, EVERYONE asks her about The Hunger Games. 

Fans (including this fan) are speculating (hopefully) whether Effie's part in the Mockingjay films is expanded from the tiny part her character played in the final book.

'Catching Fire' Wins at the MTV Movie Awards

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire took home 3 Golden Popcorn statuettes at the MTV Movie Awards tonight in Los Angeles! Sadly, even with ALL of your hard work to vote Katniss in as Favorite Character, Tris ended up taking the category. We know who OUR favorite character is though, right tributes? #KatnissForever

Movie of the Year: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Best Male Performance: Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark

Best Female Performance: Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen

Cameron Diaz wins tonight's Josh Travolta Award for Epic Cluelessness. Gif by Yahoo

Get More: 2014 MTV Movie Awards, Latest Movie News

Josh Hutcherson wins Best Male Performance at the MTV Movie Awards

Sam Claflin and Josh Hutcherson accept the Movie of the Year Award at the MTV Movie Awards

gif by Cosmopolitan

Josh gave a little tribute to Philip Seymour Hoffman in his acceptance speech for Catching Fire saying, "I know that if Philip were here, he would think this is really cool. To have him in our movies was one of the coolest things in the world. He’s one of the actors I’ve looked up to my entire life. We think about him every day on set. Wherever he is, this definitely goes out to him as well."

Another fantastic interview: Josh and Sam talk to MTV's Josh Horowitz backstage. Whoops, nice spoiler Josh. "You're dead."

Get More: 2014 MTV Movie Awards, Latest Movie News

Raw footage of the press room at the MTV Movie Awards. Sam and Josh come in around 10:47 and then Josh is photgraphed alone immediately after until about 13:40. Watch with the sound off to avoid the screaming paps:

Your next question is probably, "When is the Mockingjay teaser trailer coming?" Ours, too! I wish we knew for sure. Nothing about a trailer has been officially confirmed as of press time. The only information we have at this point is from the article we posted back in Jan in which the Mockingjay team discusses the marketing plan and confirms the Cannes Film Festival as a place where at least SOMETHING from Mockingjay marketing will be revealed. We'll keep you updated!

BTS Set Photos From 'The Hunger Games' Continuity Books

Theme Park Connection is hosting an ebay auction of over 800 costume pieces from The Hunger Games set, and part of the auction is supposed to be 23 Script Supervisor "continuity books" from the film featuring thousands of behind the scenes photos from the set.

The listing had been taken down at press time but we have a bunch of the photos from the books thanks to our friends at Real or Not Real News. They're fascinating!

Want more info on the auction? Go to ThemeParkConnection or check out their ebay store HERE. When we checked out the auction they had lots of little items like tees, Capitol citizens' hats and ties, etc, but nothing too impressive had been listed yet. The coolest items we saw were a Peacekeeper helmet and boots and an Avox outfit.

New Clips From the 'Catching Fire' Blu-Ray Exclusive Making-Of Doc

Entertainment Weekly has released two new short clips from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Blu-Ray exclusive making-of documentary "Surviving The Game." Those little stinkers didn't make the video embeddable so you'll have to watch it over at EW.com or click the image above.

Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth and Elizabeth Banks at the Vanity Fair 2014 Oscar Party

Jennifer Lawrence traded her Dior Couture gown for a dazzling Tom Ford mini before heading to the Vanity Fair 2014 Oscar party in Hollywood last night. Elizabeth Banks and Liam Hemsworth also made appearances at the most sought-after ticket of awards season.

Oh, hey there Taylor Swift!

Click to enlarge:

Luke, Liam and Chris Hemsworth outside the Vanity Fair party

Chris Hemsworth, Channing Tatum, Jenna Dewan Tatum and Liam Hemsworth

Elizabeth and Reese Witherspoon inside the party

New 'Catching Fire' Behind The Scenes Clip - Effie's Look

AOL has an exclusive look at a brand new The Hunger Games: Catching Fire behind the scenes clip from the Blu-Ray extras. This clip focuses on Effie's look in the movie and includes interviews with Elizabeth Banks, costume designer Trish Summerville and Make-up supervisor Ve Neill.

Three NEW 'Catching Fire' Behind The Scenes Set Photos

Fan Voice debuted some never-before-seen Catching Fire set photos today. Check out some behind the scenes action from the set of the film featuring Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson and Francis Lawrence. Click the images below to view full size.

Trish Summerville Shares a 'Catching Fire' Set Photo of Elizabeth Banks as Effie

Catching Fire costume designer Trish Summerville shared a great behind the scenes set photo of Elizabeth Banks as Effie on her instagram yesterday.

Banks is wearing what they called Effie's "Snow Queen" outfit and looks like she's ready to head to the set.

Summerville is up for a Costume Designer's Guild Award for Catching Fire tonight. Good luck, Trish!

VIDEO: Elizabeth Banks on Her Effie Transformation: "Everybody Gets Excited When Effie Shows Up On Set"

Elizabeth Banks spoke with Extra while promoting The LEGO Movie and, of course, they asked about Mockingjay. Though she didn't really say much about the production, she did talk about how much she enjoys her transformation into Effie. The Effie stuff is about 3 minutes in:

VIDEO: Elizabeth Banks on The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson

Elizabeth Banks was funny and adorable on The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson last night. Check it out:

Elizabeth Banks Talks Jennifer Lawrence & Playing Effie "She's One of My All Time Favorites"

Elizabeth Banks is currently supporting The Listerine 21 Day Challenge, which supports Oral Health America’s Smiles Across America program in their goal of connecting at-risk children with needed access to oral care. She snapped her own “Swish Selfie” on the red carpet at the launch of the challenge on Thursday to trigger an immediate donation of $21,000 to Oral Health America.

Talk at the Los Angeles event inevitably turned to Jennifer Lawrence, Mockingjay and Philip Seymour Hoffman:

So, speaking of things that ladies love, give us some inside scoop about hanging with JLaw?
Well, recently everyone surprised me on the set of Mockingjay with a birthday cake! That was really fun. And, of course, the first person to delve into my cake was Jennifer. I will say she’s a girl who likes to eat and I love that about her.

As far as the Hunger Games go, are there any surprises hardcore fans of the book won’t see coming?
Honestly, I can’t say anything about Mockingjay! Ahhh!! We’ll both end up hurt somewhere! I think the hardcore fans can expect exactly what both The Hunger Games and Catching Fire delivered, Mockingjay is going to be as faithful a rendition of Suzanne’s Collins’s world and books and characters as we can put out!

“I am almost done,” she said. “I’m going to miss playing Effie, she’s one of my all-time favorite characters. I have such a ball with her & this cast & I will miss it. It’s absorbing because we still put the movies out so we’ll still have our little reunions, which I’m looking forward to. I have two more years of getting reunited with all these wonderful people!”

And what was it like to work with Philip Seymour Hoffman?
I’d really rather not discuss it. He was an incredible actor that I respected greatly and I will miss tremendously.

Via HuffPost and Cosmo

Happy Birthday Elizabeth Banks!

Happy Birthday to our perfect Effie, Elizabeth Banks!

Elizabeth Banks at 'The LEGO Movie' Screening in New York

Elizabeth Banks attended The LEGO Movie screening hosted by Warner Bros. Pictures & Village Roadshow Pictures on February 5, 2014 in New York City. Liz's alter ego Wyldstyle is totally adorable, no?