I Keep Thinking About Haymitch’s New Hair In Sunrise On The Reaping, And Joseph Zada’s Take On It Is Hilarious
Don’t get me wrong, I’m here for one of my favorite Hunger Games characters getting to be front and center in the next installment of the franchise, but there is one thing that keeps standing out (and it has nothing to do with the butterflies). This is one of the upcoming book-to-screen adaptations I’m most excited about, but I’ll be honest, I keep thinking about Haymitch’s new hair in Sunrise on the Reaping. Joseph Zada’s take on it is hilarious.
Zada is stepping into the role popularized by Woody Harrelson in the original Hunger Games trilogy, and he stopped by GQ to dish on how he gets into the mind of his characters thanks to “his halo of curls.” At this point, his hair is almost a character in itself. This is no different than the obvious curls we see in the trailer, which was a surprise given Harrelson’s hair was pin-straight. Though I’m still laughing at what Zada had to say about the situation:
I’ve fucked him. It’s so funny. We went curly and now everyone’s going to think that his character straightens his hair every morning.
There’s a part of me that giggles at the thought of Harrelson’s Haymitch straightening his hair every morning before pouring himself a drink. That’s definitely one Hunger Games connection that won’t make it into the movie: Haymitch’s hair regime. However, this hasn’t stopped me from loving everything about the trailer. Though it is a hairy predicament they’ve found themselves in, given how Mckenna Grace fought to get certain details in the movie, such as her character’s braid. Zada has another possible solution:
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I don’t know. Maybe he wears a wig?
The image this brought to mind won’t be leaving any time soon. Though for Zada, his hair has a deeper meaning. It helps him understand what his character’s thinking. We’ve seen this when he died it blue for Invisible Boys (2025) and then platinum blond for We Were Liars, which you can catch with a Prime subscription. To become Haymitch, he initially dyed his hair blonder before freaking out that he couldn’t see the character in the mirror. Thanks to a suggestion from director Francis Lawrence, he went back to the salon and ended up with the ‘Lurpak butter blond’ we see in the trailer.
However, I have a possible theory for the hair change. Perhaps there’s something more metaphorical at work. Now, we do get a glimpse of Zada with straight hair in the trailer during scenes of performance for the Capitol. So maybe the choice to straighten his hair is an act of defiance like the clothes Cinna (Lenny Kravitz) designed for Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) in the original trilogy. In that original trilogy, Haymitch is serving the Capitol as a mentor to the tributes from District 12, so maybe the luscious hair we see is the one thing he CAN control.
Meanwhile, I have yet to see anyone ask Harrelson what his hair is going to be in the movie. The actor is reportedly taking a break from Matthew McConaughey long enough to reprise his role alongside Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson. (If you’ve read the book, you’ll understand how that works).
I’m excited to get an answer on November 20, when the movie finally comes to the 2026 movie schedule. Then maybe they can drop what Haymitch’s hair care routine is.
