The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Replaces Lily Rabe With Game Of Thrones' Gwendoline Christie

News
By Eric Eisenberg
published

There are a number of Game of Thrones characters who would probably do pretty well in the Hunger Games arena, but it's hard to imagine that many would do better than Brienne of Tarth, the hardcore warrior woman played by Gwendoline Christie. We may never get to see exactly how that situation would play itself out, but at the very least we will now what it's like to see Christie inside the sci-fi universe. Deadline is reporting that the actress has signed a deal with the folks at Lionsgate that will see her replace Lily Rabe in the upcoming The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 and Part 2.

In the film, Christie will be playing Commander Lyme, a military leader out of District 2 and former Hunger Games victor who joins Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence), Peeta (Josh Hutchinson) and the rest of the rebellion against President Snow (Donald Sutherland) and the leaders of Panem. In case you're wondering if Christie can play tough, I might recommend watching the Game of Thrones clips below (spoiler warning for those who aren't caught up!)

For those of you wondering what happened to American Horror Story actress Lily Rabe, the good news is that her departure from The Hunger Games was amicable. Deadline's report says that the actress ran into a scheduling conflict, as she was already committed to starring in a staged version of Much Ado About Nothing at Shakespeare in the Park. The productions overlapped, leaving Rabe no choice but to choose one project over the other.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1, directed by Francis Lawrence, will follow the events featured in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire andwill be in theaters on November 21st. In addition to Christie, other new actors joining the franchise include Game of Thrones’ Natalie Dormer, Julianne Moore, Evan Ross, and Stef Dawson, while the rest of the cast including Liam Hemsworth (Gale Hawthorne), Woody Harrelson (Haymitch Abernathy), Elizabeth Banks (Effie Trinket), Jeffrey Wright (Beetee), Sam Claflin (Finnick Odair), Jena Malone (Johanna Mason), and Stanley Tucci (Caesar Flickerman).

Eric Eisenberg
Eric Eisenberg
Assistant Managing Editor

Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he's continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site's resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.