I Was Shook Seeing Glenn Close’s Hunger Games Movie Transformation, And I Love Elle Fanning’s Reaction
The trailer for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping made me emotional, as I was in my feels seeing a young Haymitch selected as tribute for the Quarter Quell ahead of his heartbreaking journey. Aside from that, though, I was also struck by the first look at Glenn Close as the Capitol chaperone who picked Haymitch. The Academy Award nominee looked so unrecognizable that I was shocked, and even her co-star, Elle Fanning, was apparently in disbelief over her transformation.
Back when I saw the first Hunger Games movie, I had no idea Elizabeth Banks played Effie Trinkett, given she was under those big wigs and wearing theatrical makeup. With Glenn Close’s character, Drusilla Sickle, serving as the Effie of Haymitch’s generation, it makes sense that she’d look so extreme. Still, I wasn’t expecting it to be THAT jarring! Elle Fanning, who was fans’ top choice to play young Effie, spoke to Variety about Close’s transformation for their upcoming book adaptation, and I totally relate:
Well, now, you guys have seen what we had seen. It doesn’t even look like her. They did show me a photo of what she was gonna look like before being on set. I wouldn’t have recognized her if I had just seen her, but I did see a costume photo. She’s all taped back, stretched back. It’s unreal. She worked with her team, and they came up with this nuts [look]. [She’s] unrecognizable, so cool.
Honestly, when I first watched the trailer, I couldn’t pinpoint Glenn Close. So you can imagine my shock when I later found out it was the Fatal Attraction star. The character of Drusilla Sickle was described in the book as having visible signs of plastic surgery, so I’d say the makeup team did a great job of capturing that for Close’s portrayal. With the ginger bob wig, fake teeth and prosthetics she has going on, the American actress absolutely disappears into her role.
Elle Fanning and I weren’t the only ones shocked by her co-star’s transformation. After the Sunrise on the Reaping trailer landed, fans reacted to Close’s look with similar disbelief. I particularly love how someone even compared Close’s Drusilla Sickle look to Weapons’ Aunt Gladys! That comparison is spot-on, given both characters rock ginger bangs and have malicious personalities.
Leave it to the Golden Globe winner to continue to provide shock and awe with the physical transformations as has been the case in some of Glenn Close’s best movies. For instance, the actress was very unrecognizable in Hook, for which she played a pirate on the antagonist’s ship. The same rang true for her turn as the titular character in Albert Nobbs, who was a transgender male butler in 19th-century Dublin.
Close’s Oscar-nominated role as “Mamaw” in Hillbilly Elegy saw her sport a wig and aging spots while playing JD Vance’s grandmother. And, of course, fans can’t forget that when Close played a live-action Disney villain, Cruella de Vil, she wore a black-and-white wig and donned claw-like nails.
With her new role as Drusilla Sickle, Glenn Close continues to prove just why she’s one of the queens of role transformations. Of course, now, I’m just ready to see more of her in the role, and the same goes for Elle Fanning’s turn as Effie.
Be sure to see both Close and Fanning in their respective roles when The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping in theaters on November 20th amid the 2026 movie schedule.
