The Hunger Games' Alexander Ludwig is in it to win it--for real.
In The Hunger Games, he plays one of the film's most menacing villains: As Cato, a so-called "career Tribute"—a boy raised practically from birth to excel in the murderous contest at the center of this dystopian story—Alexander Ludwig wields his sword with ominous efficiency.
But in real life, it appears, the Vancouver-raised 19-year-old is about as intimidating as a teddy bear. For proof, consider his anecdote about life on the set of this spring's most anticipated movie. "One day," he says, "I was totally sweaty and exhausted after a day of fighting, and I walked into my trailer. I'd already taken off my costume, so I was just in my briefs, and I couldn't find my clothes anywhere! Amandla [Stenberg], who plays Rue, and Jackie [Emerson], who plays Foxface, had hidden them in the fridge."
So it's no surprise that Alexander—a drama major at the University of Southern California who starred in 2009's Race to Witch Mountain—originally auditioned for the part of softhearted Peeta (a role that eventually went to Josh Hutcherson). But when the film's director, Gary Ross, asked him to consider playing the heavy, he agreed without hesitation. "I've never been a bad guy before," he explains, "so I loved the idea." Then he says one thing that his brutish character might agree with: "It's been an honor just to be a part of this."
In The Hunger Games, he plays one of the film's most menacing villains: As Cato, a so-called "career Tribute"—a boy raised practically from birth to excel in the murderous contest at the center of this dystopian story—Alexander Ludwig wields his sword with ominous efficiency.
But in real life, it appears, the Vancouver-raised 19-year-old is about as intimidating as a teddy bear. For proof, consider his anecdote about life on the set of this spring's most anticipated movie. "One day," he says, "I was totally sweaty and exhausted after a day of fighting, and I walked into my trailer. I'd already taken off my costume, so I was just in my briefs, and I couldn't find my clothes anywhere! Amandla [Stenberg], who plays Rue, and Jackie [Emerson], who plays Foxface, had hidden them in the fridge."
So it's no surprise that Alexander—a drama major at the University of Southern California who starred in 2009's Race to Witch Mountain—originally auditioned for the part of softhearted Peeta (a role that eventually went to Josh Hutcherson). But when the film's director, Gary Ross, asked him to consider playing the heavy, he agreed without hesitation. "I've never been a bad guy before," he explains, "so I loved the idea." Then he says one thing that his brutish character might agree with: "It's been an honor just to be a part of this."
