Jeffrey Wright On ‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1,’ Jennifer Lawrence, Philip Seymour Hoffman [VIDEO EXCLUSIVE]

Jeffrey Wright plays wizened former champion Beetee in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, reprising his scene-stealing role from Catching Fire.

Jeffrey Wright On ‘Mockingjay Part 1’

Wright’s Beetee, though he’s lived in the lap of luxury in the Capitol for years, would like nothing more than for the oppressive regime led by President Snow (Donald Sutherland) to fall to its knees. While he works in tandem with Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence), their motivations are different, according to Wright. Katniss’ quest is fueled more by loyalty and love than a genuine desire to fight against a system.

“I think [Beetee] is fairly conscious of the injustice of the society he inhabits. So, on a political level he engages too, which I think is different than Katniss, for example,” Wright explained to uInterview. “Katniss is not so much a political animal. I think she’s more driven by her sense of loyalty to friends, her sense of loyalty to home and a desire to recreate that sense of security that was lost and has been lost during the first two movies, which resonates I think for audiences in a very personal way.”

While Katniss is a relatively apolitical character at her core, the same can not be said of Suzanne Collin’s trilogy of books. But, as Wright points out, though The Hunger Games is laced with numerous political notions, it doesn’t take a firm political side. It’s not left versus right or blue versus red. It’s far more complicated than that – allowing for audiences to take away what they will from the narrative.

“I don’t think [Suzanne] really points the finger of judgment from a political angle,” Wright said. “I think if you’re on the left of the political spectrum, you can find an angle in this; maybe it’s a class angle. If you’re on the right, maybe you grab on to a Second Amendment – from a U.S perspective – right to bear arms against the tyranny of government or something like that. But there’s no single political message that’s being sent.”

Before landing a part in The Hunger Games franchise, Wright had already been acquainted with Philip Seymour Hoffman, who, like him, came on board for Catching Fire. Working alongside the Oscar-winning actor in Ides of March and in the final three Hunger Games movies, Wright recognized in Hoffman a singular talent.

“The thing that struck me about Phil, working with him on those two movies was that I can’t recall him doing two takes alike, ever. Each time he did a scene, he did a take, he was trying to invent it within the moment and create it spontaneously and dig down and try to find something original and new and meaningful, and not a lot of actors are like that. Most are not,” noted Wright. “He won’t be replaced.”

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 is currently in wide release.