It's so cool that you're playing Effie.
I can’t wait for people to see her. The makeup is incredible. We were actually shooting in North Carolina. It’s 100 degrees, like 98 percent humidity. There’s, like, 400 extras, or some crazy number. They’re all little kids. They’re standing in the hot sun. We felt so badly. We’re, like, handing out Popsicles to keep their strength up and they’re just dropping like flies.

Are people going to have brightly colored skin?
All I can tell you is that Effie does have pink hair. When the hair and makeup was finished, we had all these people in the trailer and it was like everybody just got giddy all at once, like, “We did it!” and “This is Effie! It’s going to be awesome!” We were so happy.

Did you tone down her look from what's described in the book?
Yeah, you know, it was like, “What’s the shape of the hair? Is it long? Is it curly? Is it short? Is it straight?” And I know Suzanne Collins had ideas, so it was all about like, “What can we do tonally right in the movie?” You can get away with a lot of things in a book that you can’t get away with when you’re visually watching kids kill each other. So we just wanted to make sure that she didn’t look too clownish. And that we honored the solemnity of what’s going on in the book. I wouldn’t say we toned it down at all, but it’s very specific. ...

You have a production company?
Yeah, Brownstone Productions. So we looked at that book and someone said, “If you liked Maze Runner, you’ll really like The Hunger Games.” And I think Lionsgate or Nina [Jacobson], the producer, already had the rights. She got it really early. So anyway, I read the first one and I was like, “Oh my God!” I devoured it in, like, five hours. And partly I think I liked it because it has a female protagonist. And then I immediately got on the list to get Catching Fireand then preordered Mockingjay, like, a month in advance. So then I started talking to the head of production over there [at Lionsgate], about the book. Like, “I would pay to be Effie.” So I planted the seed way back then. 

She was the part you saw yourself as?
Oh yeah, totally. It’s the only part that I’m right for. The movie is about 20-year-olds. 

Sixteen-year-olds, actually.
Yeah, the cast is all 20. 

There’s brouhaha about that.
Yeah, but if people had to deal with the labor laws that we have to deal with, they’d understand why we can’t cast 15-year-olds. Anyway, Jen [Lawrence] is perfectly cast. She’s amazing. The real deal. Honestly, when we shot the Reaping, I wept.

How did you get the part?
Oh, so Gary Ross [the director] and I did Seabiscuit together, and I sent him an e-mail and said, “I want to be Effie!” Again, planting the seed. I was working on something else at the time — I’m always working — but I knew he was up for the directing gig. And then he got the gig, and I was like, “Hey, if you want to make life easy, I’m here.” I think I probably sent him one e-mail and then we had a phone conversation. I called him and said, “Let’s just talk about it, just so you know where I’m coming from and see if we’re on the same page.” Because Gary has his process and it’s his movie and if he didn’t think I’m right, there’s no pushing anything on Gary. And so, you know, we had a great conversation. I know he looked at other people. He did his process. I was not privy to it. And he just called me one day and he was like, “Okay, if you want to do it, let’s do it.” And I was like, “YEAH! Finally! Let’s do it!” 

What are you doing with the production now?
Not much since they’ve been shooting all the battle sequences. So it involves all the kids that go into battle. I’m going back for the first time on Friday [post-dated to last week]. I'm excited because all of the adults will be there, so it will be me and Woody Harrelson and Stanley Tucci, and Donald Sutherland, and we're going to be in Charlotte doing all the scenes that take place at the Capitol, which will be really fun. I’ve never been to Charlotte because when I went for Hunger Games [the first time], I immediately flew into the airport and drove to the country.