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The Sunrise on the Reaping cast might be the best movie cast of 2026 — and it definitely proves that the Hunger Games team knows exactly what to look for when casting a role. Joseph Zada as Haymitch? Jesse Plemons as Plutarch? Ralph Fiennes as President Snow? I didn't think it could get much better than that...and then it was announced that Elle Fanning has joined Sunrise on the Reaping too. And OG Effie, Elizabeth Banks, just weighed in!
Here's what Elle Fanning said about playing Effie Trinket in Sunrise on the Reaping.
Who's playing Effie Trinket in Sunrise on the Reaping?
Elle Fanning will step into the role of a young Effie Trinket (played by Elizabeth Banks in the original Hunger Games series), who serves as the District 12 stylist in the 50th Hunger Games. And at the Academy Museum Gala on October 18, the actress revealed she's already filming!
"I'm in the middle of filming so [Effie is] on the screen right now," she told GMA. "Some good looks, good outfits!"
Murray Close/Lionsgate
And Elle's also convinced the fans had something to do with the role. “I think fans made this happen in a way. [Lionsgate] said they were getting kind of hounded online, like, ‘Elle needs to play Effie,'" she told MTV. "Effie has always been my favorite character. I think Elizabeth Banks, she brought...layers to that character. I love her."
"I'm super excited. I texted the producers as well, and I think she's perfect," Elizabeth Banks told People at her The Better Sister premiere May 21. "I think everyone's really happy. And I'm really happy about that. I'm excited for the next generation to have their Effie."
And the internet has gone crazy. "The most locked in casting director of recent memory," one X user tweeted, while another said, "she's so perfect for the role."
"If this is true then their casting is on point!" a third person adds. (It is true, and it is on point).
But could we see Elizabeth Banks return, too? The actress told Brit + Co exclusively that she'd be open to returning — maybe in a Sunrise on the Reaping epilogue? "Yeah, of course, I love her," she says. "I would, if the fans want to."
"I love Effie, it's one of my favorite characters," she continues. "She was not really in Mockingjay, so a lot of that came from the empathy that I got to bring to that character and the community I built with all of the collaborators on that film, including Suzanne Collins, and I think that Effie and Haymitch together became such a phenomenon that it's no surprise to me that Haymitch is getting a story now too."
Who else do you want to see in the Sunrise on the Reaping cast? Check out our Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes interview with Hunger Games producer Nina Jacobson for more!
This post has been updated.
