Irish acting legend Fionnula Flanagan is back on the big screen this month in The Hunger Games prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, describing her character, Grandma'am, as someone who "has no time at all for the have-nots".
Hunger Games fans are set to see Grandma'am as the lynchpin of the franchise's Snow family, the strict force in the lives of grandchildren Coriolanus (Tom Blyth) and Tigris (Hunter Schafer).
In an on-set video recorded before the current actors' strike in the US, Flanagan said of her character in the sci-fi action movie: "You don't quite know whether you should take her seriously - but when she stands up and sings the anthem with her hand on her heart, you know where her loyalties lie."
The fifth film in the franchise, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes "follows a young Coriolanus who is the last hope for his failing lineage, the once-proud Snow family that has fallen from grace in a post-war Capitol".
"With his livelihood threatened, Snow is reluctantly assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), a tribute from the impoverished District 12," the synopsis continues.
"But after Lucy Gray's charm captivates the audience of Panem, Snow sees an opportunity to shift their fates.
"With everything he has worked for hanging in the balance, Snow unites with Lucy Gray to turn the odds in their favour.
"Battling his instincts for both good and evil, Snow sets out on a race against time to survive and reveal if he will ultimately become a songbird or a snake."
The cast also includes Peter Dinklage, Josh Andrés Rivera, Jason Schwartzman, and Viola Davis.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes opens in cinemas on Friday 17 November.
