Rachel Zegler has been in and out of the news lately, partly due to her ‘controversial’ statements regarding her Snow White movie and partly because she followed in Jennifer Lawrence’s footsteps to star in the prequel of Lawrence’s billion-dollar franchise. And so far things have been looking good for the Zegler concerning the latter.
If you have seen The Hunger Games franchise and read the book The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, you must know that bringing it to life is a highly challenging and excruciatingly painful process. And so it was for Zegler, who according to the Director was hurting herself every day on the set.
Rachel Zegler Went Through Excruciating Pain On Hunger Games Prequel Set
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes prequels the celebrated Hunger Games franchise. Set years before the events of the trilogy, it delves into the history of Panem and how Coriolanus Snow became the ruthless leader he had become in the franchise.
It features Rachel Zegler as a tribute from District 12, Lucy Gray Baird, and her relationship with Snow, who is chosen to be her mentor. As expected there are a lot of fights and bloody sequences in the prequel, but the most challenging of them was to shoot the entire ‘bloodbath’ sequence.
Director Francis Lawrence stated in an interview,
“The opening of the games we call ‘the bloodbath’ and that’s exactly what she had to jump into right away. She was leaving [the set] bruised pretty much every day, but those fighter qualities came in.”
The bloodbath is what occurs at the start of each Hunger Games, and tributes have to scramble to find weapons, supplies, and even alliances while trying to eliminate one another. It is in short a brutal combat with ruthless killings, a still of which can be seen in the trailer.
Rachel Zegler’s Lucy Gray Baird Is Also A Singer
While there are many shocking and surprising events to be witnessed in the prequel, the Director revealed that Rachel Zegler would also have a musical score that would ring throughout the Hunger Games in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
“It was so emotional to hear the song, which is an acapella piece that she sings near the end of the arena sequence. I think it stunned everybody.”
Lucy Gray Baird’s musical ability has also made fans speculate that she might be in some way related to Jennifer Lawrence‘s Katniss Everdeen even though nothing has been confirmed by the writer or the director.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes will be in theatres on November 17, 2023.
Source: Empire
