Jennifer Lawrence Returns as Katniss After 11 Years: 'It Was Unbelievable'

Jennifer Lawrence plays Katniss Everdeen again for the first time in 11 years, and she has described the experience in three words: crazy, unbelievable and beautiful. The Oscar winner confirmed her return on the latest episode of the "Call Her Daddy" podcast, her first public comments on reprising the role.

Lawrence appears in "The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping," the upcoming prequel from Lionsgate that reaches theaters Nov. 20.

What did Lawrence say about going back?

"It was unbelievable," Lawrence said about reprising Katniss. "It was so crazy. It was the same crew. It was the same AD (assistant director), who I've worked with a million times because I love him. And with Josh [Hutcherson] and Woody [Harrelson] … it was so emotional. Josh and I didn't walk to the bathroom without our arms around each other. It was so beautiful."

Then came the Woody Harrelson detail. "And Woody, obviously, came through the window of my hotel room uninvited," Lawrence said. "It wouldn't be the same if he listened to boundaries or used a door."

Some reunions don't change. Apparently neither do some co-stars.

Who else is coming back?

Variety reported last December that Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson would return as Katniss and Peeta Mellark for a scene in "Sunrise on the Reaping." Lawrence's podcast remarks now reveal that Woody Harrelson is also back as Haymitch Abernathy, the series' perpetually disheveled mentor.

The prequel centers on a young Haymitch, played by Joseph Zada, as he competes in the 50th Hunger Games. Readers of Suzanne Collins' "Sunrise on the Reaping" novel know that the book ends with a flash-forward epilogue featuring Katniss, Peeta and Haymitch. The film adaptation, it appears, is following suit.

Has Lawrence always been open to this?

Yes, on the record at least. During her "No Hard Feelings" press tour in 2023, Lawrence told Variety she was "totally" open to reprising Katniss should the right opportunity arise.

"If Katniss ever could ever come back into my life, 100 percent," she said at the time.

The opportunity arrived. As Katniss, Lawrence headlined four "Hunger Games" movies between 2012 and 2015. The franchise, which expanded with the Rachel Zegler-led 2023 prequel "The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes," has grossed $3.3 billion worldwide to date. Lionsgate had ample arithmetic reasons to revive it.

What nearly stopped her the first time?

On the podcast, Lawrence revisited her biggest concern about joining the franchise at 20 years old. It wasn't the part. It was everything around it.

"What made me nervous was how it could negatively affect my acting career and my personal life," Lawrence said. "The one thing I was always sure of when I was younger was that I wanted to be a mom, and this looked so different then doing some indies. 'Twilight' had just come out and everybody saw what that was. It was more like… how is this going to change my life and my acting career?"

The comparison was apt for its moment. "Twilight" had just demonstrated what franchise fame could do to a young actor's privacy. Lawrence weighed the same equation, signed anyway and won an Oscar three years later.

Fans can watch Lawrence's full "Call Her Daddy" interview online. The verdict on the reunion itself arrives Nov. 20, when "Sunrise on the Reaping" opens and audiences see whether the flash-forward epilogue lands as beautifully as she claims it felt to film.