Elizabeth Banks Has Seen Sunrise on the Reaping and Thinks Joseph Zada Is the Perfect Young Haymitch
Elizabeth Banks knows Panem better than most people watching from the outside. After playing Effie Trinket in the first four Hunger Games movies, she has now seen the franchise's newest prequel as an audience member. Speaking at the Airbnb.org Gala in Los Angeles, Banks enthusiastically praised Sunrise on the Reaping and singled out Joseph Zada, who portrays the younger version of Woody Harrelson's Haymitch Abernathy. Her comments, reported on October 29, 2026, follow a wave of favorable early reactions from the film's London premiere. The excitement is considerable, although full critical reviews remain under embargo.