Amandla Stenberg Talks About Playing Rue In The Hunger Games

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Amandla Stenberg was named for the Zulu word for “power,” and she’ll get a chance to translate that into her performance as Rue, the District 11 tribute in The Hunger Games in just a few short months. The petite actress recently did a lengthy interview with Publishers Weekly about her role, her history with Suzanne Collins’ books, and summer reading. 

EDIT: Per a request from Publishers Weekly, we have removed the majority of content from this post. Edited content follows.

The 13-year-old doesn’t have many credits to her name but will likely be getting tons of attention after the film is released. PW’s Karen Springen, a friend of Amandla’s mother, conducted the interview. She told Springen she first read the original book two years ago when she was in sixth grade and finished it in two nights.

The 4’9 actress said violence is not really a big part of the book/film, “It’s about survival. It’s a warning to the world to not become so desperate and barbaric.”

Incredibly intelligent words from Stenberg, who happens to be a voracious reader. She says she’s anticipating the film’s release just like we are since she hasn’t seen the finished product yet. Though, from what she’s filmed and seen, she is positive fans will be very pleased

I, for one, can’t wait to see her performance. If this interview is any indication, she’s going to be superb.

(via Publishers Weekly)

Previously in The Hunger Games


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Jill Pantozzi
Jill Pantozzi is a pop-culture journalist and host who writes about all things nerdy and beyond! She’s Editor in Chief of the geek girl culture site The Mary Sue (Abrams Media Network), and hosts her own blog “Has Boobs, Reads Comics” (TheNerdyBird.com). She co-hosts the Crazy Sexy Geeks podcast along with superhero historian Alan Kistler, contributed to a book of essays titled “Chicks Read Comics,” (Mad Norwegian Press) and had her first comic book story in the IDW anthology, “Womanthology.” In 2012, she was featured on National Geographic’s "Comic Store Heroes," a documentary on the lives of comic book fans and the following year she was one of many Batman fans profiled in the documentary, "Legends of the Knight."