Peter Dinklage Joins Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Peter Dinklage hasn’t really gotten a juicier role since Tyrion Lannister in Game of Thrones ended, but he’s set to become a major power player in the upcoming Hunger Games prequel.

Deadline reports that Dinklage has been cast as Casca Highbottom in Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Director Francis Lawrence had this to say about Dinklage’s casting:

“Dean Highbottom is one of the most powerful people in Snow’s life… As the austere and vindictive face of the games, he sets the rules that will determine every aspect of Coriolanus’ fate. I’m thrilled that Peter will be bringing him to life.”

Dinklage joins a cast that includes Tom Blyth, who will be playing the young Coriolanus Snow and Rachel Zegler, who plays tribute Lucy Gray Baird. The movie also includes Hunter Schafer, who will be playing Snow’s cousin Tigris.

We know that Dinklage is a solid actor, and it’s interesting to think of what kind of role he’ll play in Songbirds and Snakes. We know he can be clever and witty, but it would be interesting to see him play the villain for a change (No, X-Men: Days of Future Past doesn’t count).

Return to The Hunger Games, the landmark film franchise that has earned over $3 billion globally, with Lionsgate’s adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ #1 New York Times Bestseller The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Years before he would become the tyrannical President of Panem, 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) is the last hope for his fading lineage, a once-proud family that has fallen from grace in a post-war Capitol. With the 10th annual Hunger Games fast approaching, the young Snow is alarmed when he is assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), the girl tribute from impoverished District 12. But, after Lucy Gray commands all of Panem’s attention by defiantly singing during the reaping ceremony, Snow thinks he might be able to turn the odds in their favor. Uniting their instincts for showmanship and newfound political savvy, Snow and Lucy Gray’s race against time to survive will ultimately reveal who is a songbird, and who is a snake.

Catch Dinklage in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes when the film comes to theaters on Nov. 17, 2023.