Who Should Play Haymitch?

Let the games begin: After it was announced that Jennifer Lawrence – who received an Oscar nod for her rugged role in Winter's Bone this year – would once again rough it onscreen in the film adaptation of The Hunger Games, fans of the trilogy are abuzz about who will join her on the big screen.


As Lawrence, 20, prepares to flex her leading lady chops in the role of Katniss Everdeen, the feisty, dark-haired heroine in author Suzanne Collins's dystopian society, there are two other major roles up for grabs: Peeta Mellark, her love interest, who (mostly) stays by her side during the annual life-or-death Hunger Games, and Haymitch Abernathy, a Hunger Games champion with thick skin and an alcohol addiction – tokens of his survival.

With Hunter Parrish as the frontrunners to fill Peeta's shoes, who should step up for the role of Haymitch?

• Robert Downey Jr. has played the wise guy before, most recently in Sherlock Holmes, where he portrayed the iconic detective

• Hugh Laurie, whose no-nonsense portrayal of Dr. Gregory House seems like a perfect match

• Alan Rickman, better known as Harry Potter's Severus Snape, is no stranger to book-turned-movie franchises

• Jeff Bridges proved he can play the tough guy in the boots of True Grit's Rooster Cogburn, a role that earned him an Oscar nod