4 Actors Considered for Peeta Before Josh Hutcherson was Cast in 'Hunger Games,' Including 1 of His Costars

Evan Peters

Little is known about his audition, but Evan Peters was strongly rumored to be in the running to play Peeta in the first movie. At 24, he was the oldest frontrunner at the time. Despite things not working out for him, Evan went on co-star in the X-Men series with Jennifer where he played the speedy mutant Quicksilver.

Hunter Parrish

Hunter Parrish was 23 and had already made a name for himself as a Broadway star with a role in Spring Awakening when he was rumored to be in the running to play Peeta. He wound up being passed over for two roles in the franchise after fans expressed interest in seeing him as Finnick Odair in the second movie. The role ultimately went to Sam Claflin.

“You know, this whole Hunger Games thing, man… I’m not quite sure,” he told MTV when asked about playing Finnick in 2012. “Because I’ve been through this once before, it was very exciting for me, for the first movie, to be a part of that. And I read all the books at that time, and I loved the script and the director and Jennifer Lawrence…”

He continued, saying that “Josh is also a friend of mine, and he’s great, he’s perfect.”

“But I dove in for that one, so for this one, I don’t know. I think you just kind of step back, and if it happens, it happens,” Hunter added. “I wouldn’t cast myself. I’m a fan of the books, I think there are fantastic actors that would probably be better.