The Hunger Games has whistled its way back into pop culture again with the release of the latest installment of life in Panem — the highly anticipated prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. The story reintroduced audiences to younger versions of certain familiar faces, while also welcoming a new (and technically, also chronologically old) cast of characters to illustrate the past environment of the beloved original trilogy.
Whether or not audiences went into the film as fans of the talented actors featured, certain presences on screen stood out as fantastic and impressive portrayals. These are the 10 best acting performances in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, ranked.
10 Dimitri Abold — Reaper
Dimitri Abold’s rock-solid portrayal of Reaper from District 11 definitely deserves more praise. True to his namesake, Reaper ends up up honoring the fallen in the Arena in a manner that really sticks with both Capitol audiences and real-world moviegoers.
In the face of death, the overall benevolent tribute makes it a point to treat his fellow forced participants with the dignity they deserve. Abold communicates the complexity of Reaper’s story through a gentle and powerful performance that combines his grief with making meaning from it.
9 Mackenzie Lansing — Coral
As Coral, a girl from District 4, Mackenzie Lansing showcases her acting ability through a character who feels like a combination of Clove and Finnick from the original Hunger Games films. Like so many tributes before and after her, Coral is indeed cutthroat, but also still a child.
Lansing balances that dichotomy through her bold and quick movements, the alliances she builds, and her authoritative voice in the Arena. These aspects quickly establish her as one of the most challenging opponents who truly fights for her life.
8 Ashley Liao — Clemensia Dovecote
Ashley Liao’s turn as Clemensia Dovecote undoubtedly commands attention from the second she steps on screen. As a Capitol Academy mentor for the 10th Games, Clemensia’s friendship with Coriolanus Snow takes her into troublesome territory, as she follows him deep into Dr. Gaul’s dangerous laboratory and faces the consequences it can create.
In this role, Liao’s aura on screen appears naturally bold and utterly confident, communicating her character’s pride in her perspective and complementing Coriolanus’s own conduct.
7 Hunter Schafer — Tigris Snow
As the younger version of Tigris Snow, Hunter Schafer reintroduces us to the character we know from Mockingjay: Part 2 before her outer appearance changes drastically. Schafer embodies Tigris’s compassion and genuine care for the tributes and their well-being, and also her natural ability to create beauty from spare materials as a budding stylist and designer. With a quiet voice, but true passion behind every word, the softness of her character often feels out of place among Capitol cruelty.
6 Josh Andrés Rivera — Sejanus Plinth
Sejanus Plinth, the Capitol Academy mentor who once hailed from District 2, states his stance on the Hunger Games and the brutality of the Capitol from the get-go. In this role, Josh Andrés Rivera navigates a devastating emotional spectrum through the development of Sejanus’s brave character.
One aspect that makes up Sejanus’s fundamental personality never changes, no matter where he goes or what happens to him — he is always outspoken about the necessity of human rights and about treating human beings like human beings. The real world could genuinely learn from him.
5 Jason Schwartzman — Lucky Flickerman
Before Caesar Flickerman took over Panem’s propaganda, the country was used to seeing the face of Lucretius or “Lucky” Flickerman, the Capitol’s weather forecaster and eventually the self-described “first-ever host of the Hunger Games.”
Through his role as Lucky, the polished Jason Schwartzman captures the same overly-cheery spirit of Stanley Tucci’s Caesar that fans know and love, adding in some gasp-worthy jokes of his own — like calling a tribute “ill Dill” to rhyme with her name.
4 Peter Dinklage — Dean Casca Highbottom
Peter Dinklage’s career has taken him into so many different acting directions, but some of his most impactful roles are morally complicated characters. In The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, he portrays Dean Casca Highbottom, the Capitol Academy’s leader whose addiction to the fictional drug morphling keeps his head swimming.
Dinklage’s emotionally detached performance here really allows audiences to conceptualize how Highbottom’s power and influence interconnect with his substance dependency, and his history that brought him to that place.
3 Viola Davis — Dr. Volumnia Gaul
Viola Davis’s talents are no secret, but her turn as the formidable Dr. Volumnia Gaul has absolutely turned heads. The 10th Hunger Games’ Head Gamemaker immediately establishes herself on screen with a creepy laugh as she addresses the Capitol Academy, setting the tone for the horrors to come as a result of her hands.
Davis’s portrayal of a villain in this instance already stands out as a gem within her seasoned career. Her calculated and authoritarian voice causes everyone to fall quiet, whether she’s addressing a room filled with students or the country of Panem.
2 Tom Blyth — Coriolanus Snow
Tom Blyth makes being the cruel Coriolanus Snow look good, somehow — but take that statement with a grain of salt. While he does embody an above-it-all air and an outer appearance as a handsome high-achiever, Blyth also communicates an inner darkness that only gets stronger with each dark action his character takes.
Snow’s development over the course of Songbirds and Snakes is exemplified through each devastating choice he makes. His character’s path leads to his unhinged screaming scene in the forest, and then the complete corruption we remember from the original THG trilogy.
1 Rachel Zegler — Lucy Gray Baird
The brilliant Rachel Zegler has always been a powerhouse of a performer, especially in the vocal department. As Lucy Gray Baird in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, she takes full advantage of the opportunity to play perhaps the story’s most utterly unforgettable character.
Known widely as the “performer in a hunt,” Lucy Gray truly does it all in this film through Zegler’s expert-level abilities. She holds her own in the Arena, puts on a “boot-stompin'” show with the Covey Band in District 12, and sings passionately with 100% live vocals recorded on set.
