Willow Shields

Willow Shields Discusses the Evolution of Prim, Finnick, and the ‘Hunger Games’ Movie DVD

The Huffington Post recently sat down with Willow Shields to talk about life since the movie and what the future may hold in store for this young actress.

HuffPost Teen: Prim starts the movie as an 11-year-old and will end with her in her middle teens. How do you feel about getting to grow up with a character (like the kids from “Harry Potter” did before you)?

Willow Shields: I’m excited. Being able to grow up with a character is really cool. And Prim is such a cool character. It’s going to be interesting to portray her as, you know, an 11 or 12-year-old and to build up to a 14 or 15-year-old. It’s going to be fun.

People say the series gets darker and darker, and the later books are for an older target audience. Was it hard for you, as a young girl, to read those books?

No, because I really thought of it as Katniss fighting for her family. So… thinking about that made it not as violent for me. I was thinking about how Katniss is doing this for her family because she loves her family.

Jennifer Lawrence plays your big sister in the “Hunger Games” films. Do you think she’d make a good big sister in real life?

She’s incredible. I look up to her as a big sister. And we bonded so much that we’re like sisters. I love Jennifer. She’s awesome.

Do you aspire to model your career after hers?

Definitely. I think she’s one of the most incredible actresses I’ve ever seen and I’d really like to follow in her footsteps. I mean, she went from doing smaller roles to getting this huge role in the “Hunger Games.”

The people of District 12 live in extreme poverty. If you were forced to live in District 12, what is the thing you would miss most from home?

Probably all of my animals if I couldn’t bring them. Because even Prim, in the books, [doesn't] have enough food to feed Buttercup. So I’d be really sad to leave all my animals.

More…