Whitney Peak on Naps, Snickers and Joining 'The Hunger Games'

Whitney Peak joins "The Hunger Games" franchise in "Sunrise on the Reaping," which opens in theaters on Friday. She plays Lenore Dove Baird, a member of District 12's Covey community and the girlfriend of Haymitch Abernathy, the competitor at the center of the 50th Hunger Games.

Peak, 23, was thrilled but anxious before filming began. "It becomes sort of a habit to think you can't do things," she said. "Then something forces you to push yourself, and then there's that high of just facing fear." She read Suzanne Collins's popular novels and was drawn to her character's confidence. By the end of shooting, she felt more emboldened herself.

"I'm just a little bit less afraid of not being perfect or making mistakes," Peak said in a phone interview ahead of the film's release. "Just show up to work and give it your all, and if you make a fool of yourself, then who cares?"

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The film takes place 24 years before the first "Hunger Games" movie. Peak's Lenore Dove anchors the personal stakes for Haymitch, whose story fans of the books already know. For Peak, the role demanded a kind of recklessness she had to practice.

The actress has a practical philosophy about on-set life. "You have to get really good at napping," she said, "because you can have breaks anywhere from five minutes to three hours."

Naps, soup and a Steinbeck phase

In a wide-ranging conversation, Peak shared her off-screen habits. The list is refreshingly specific.

• Sleeping anywhere. "I can pretty much sleep in any condition, except I'm really bad at sleeping while sitting down," she said. "I don't play with my sleep."
• Movie nights. She just watched "Wildwood" with her filmmaker boyfriend. "I left the theater with so much lust for life."
• Soup. She swears by the Ruthang Momo Soup at Cafe Himalaya, a Tibetan restaurant in Lower Manhattan, introduced to her by her friend Reign Judge three or four years ago. She's getting over a cold, and the soup, she says, "has all the good things." Her mother's wisdom: garlic or ginger and honey heals everything.
• Sweets. She's a "Snickers girl" for chocolate bars and loves an éclair, "but there can't be too much filling." She keeps Werther's candy in her bag. "I'm in grandma mode," she said.
• Journaling. She's kept one since she was 15 or 16, filled with ideas, pictures, ticket stubs and cards from friends. "It's just my brain in a book," she said.
• Photography. Friends in fashion and styling turned it into a hobby. She's been gifted "some pretty great cameras" and likes taking photos of her friends.

Skin, hair and Steinbeck

Peak has very dry skin and mixes cream with body oil every morning, reapplying moisturizer throughout the day. She never travels without a hairbrush — her curly hair demands it. "When my hair is not looking right, I don't feel too good about myself," she said. Her hair was damaged when she was younger; she nursed it back to health.

Chanel has given her "incredible pairs" of sunglasses, which protect her sensitive eyes. And she's an avid reader, coming off a heavy John Steinbeck phase earlier this year: "East of Eden," "Of Mice and Men" and "Tortilla Flat." Her reading, she says, is usually not related to what she's filming, "but it ends up informing my work in some way."

Friday's release will show whether Peak's new fearlessness translates on screen. Her reading list, at least, suggests the appetite is there.