Actress Rachel Zegler is slowly becoming one of the most recognized stars in the industry. The actress has starred in high-profile projects such as Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, the DC superhero film Shazam! Fury of the Gods, and the most recent Hunger Games prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
Zegler fills the large shoes left by actress Jennifer Lawrence in the Hunger Games franchise’s prequel film. She plays Lucy Gray Baird in the film, which is set before and influences the events of The Hunger Games. Zegler reportedly improvised a scene during filming that directly references Lawrence’s action in the first film.
Jennifer Lawrence’s Iconic Curtsy From The Hunger Games
Actress Jennifer Lawrence entered the realm of the blockbuster when she headlined the young adult franchise The Hunger Games. Based on the fantasy novel series by Suzanne Collins, Lawrence played the role of Katniss Everdeen, the protagonist who volunteers in place of her sister to participate in the yearly Hunger Games.
During a display of her archery skills, Lawrence’s Katniss finds that none of the judges are concentrating on the exhibition and are just socializing with each other. This prompts her to shoot an arrow into the crowd of judges to catch their attention. At the end of the scene, Lawrence does a sarcastic curtsy and says thanks for their consideration, before exiting.
The scene is one of the most iconic parts of the franchise which shows the state of affairs at the Capitol as well as Katniss’ personality as a person who does not like to be ignored. Lawrence’s performance propelled her to international stardom as she became a superstar. The film earned $694 million at the box office, making it one of the biggest hits of the year.
The film kickstarted the Hunger Games franchise and Lawrence returned to play the role of Katniss Everdeen in all of the three sequels. The franchise is one of the highest-grossing franchises in the world, earning over $3 billion at the global box office. A prequel starring Rachel Zegler and Tom Blythe was released earlier this year, with director Francis Lawrence returning.
Rachel Zegler Stole Jennifer Lawrence’s Curtsy In The Ballad Of Songbird and Snakes
Actress Rachel Zegler plays the role of Lucy Gray Baird, a legendary resident of District 12, the district from which Jennifer Lawrence’s Katniss belongs. Lucy is a tribute who is assigned to a young Coriolanus Snow, who goes on to become the President of Panem in the Hunger Games films.
Director Francis Lawrence revealed in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that Zegler and he improvised the iconic curtsy from the first film and recreated it in the prequel. He said,
“Rachel and I improvised [the curtsy bow] on the day, and it’s one of those things that now informs us when Katniss does it. She probably heard a story about how 65 years earlier, some young woman got reaped and sang defiantly and did this curtsy. So Katniss is actually calling back to something from the past, as opposed to just making it up on her own.”
The iconic curtsy that was done as an act of protest against the lethargic judges has now canonically been taken away from Katniss Everdeen. Due to Zegler and Francis Lawrence’s ‘improvisation’, the act has now been attributed to Lucy Baird. The prequel has received mixed reviews and has received the lowest opening among the Hunger Games films.
