Sometimes studios just can’t fight the power of fan casting. In-demand star Elle Fanning recently confirmed that she joined prequel film “The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping” in part due to fans online.
“I think fans made this happen in a way,” Fanning told MTV in the below video. “The studio [Lionsgate] said they were getting kind of hounded online, like, ‘Elle needs to play Effie.’”
Fanning was announced to be playing Effie Trinket on May 20; the character was originally brought to the screen by Elizabeth Banks, whom Fanning said that she “loves.”
Fanning added to ET that Effie is her “favorite character” because of “how great” Banks’ performance is. According to Fanning, Banks also congratulated her on being cast in the role. “She sent me flowers that were beautiful, saying, ‘The odds are ever in your favor,’” Fanning said, continuing that she really does want to “get it just right [onscreen] especially for the fans.”
“Predator: Badlands” and “Sentimental Value” actress Fanning isn’t even the only “The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping” star to be fan casted: Jesse Plemons is set to play Plutarch Heavensbee, the role originated by the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, after audiences voiced how similar both actors looked.
Attempts at franchise fan casting has been rampant in recent years, to various degrees of success. Jessica Chastain has constantly shrugged off the “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” casting rumors, while there was a push for Aubrey Plaza to play “Tomb Raider” (a charge led by Edgar Wright) prior to Sophie Turner taking on the role. Wright’s “Running Man” collaborator Glen Powell was said to be in talks as Cyclops, which he has denied (we at least do know that “X-Men” will be rebooted with a new cast).
The only real mic drop moment led by fans thus far took place in another MCU installment, “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.” John Krasinski had a cameo as a multiverse version of Reed Richards AKA Mr. Fantastic. Of course, Pedro Pascal is now playing the character in the latest “Fantastic Four: First Steps,” now in theaters.
Elle Fanning about how fans may have influenced her being cast as Effie Trinket in “The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping” pic.twitter.com/A3X5s4dzxK
— best of elle fanning (@bestofmaryelle) July 27, 2025