When we made that joke that we needed Annie Cresta to be cast on Sunday night, we had no idea that they’d be announcing the casting the next day… But still, we can’t help but think “Damn, we’re good!”
LOOK AT IT, DAMMIT!
Our Annie is Stef Dawson, an Australian actress who only needed one audition to land the role. Stef is STRIKING. All of her features just scream LOOK AT MY FACE! LOOK AT IT!
It may seem like a minor detail in the grand scheme of things, but let’s face it: As much as we want Annie to be this big, really involved character like she is in our fanfic dreams, it will likely be a fairly minor role. So if nothing else, Annie will be powerful because audiences will remember. that. face. Of course, Stef is already talking about how she connects to Annie as a survivor and the character’s vulnerability, so we know she’s going to make whatever lines she has count.
The response from fans was immediate. Most were quite pleased, though others were disappointed because Stef Dawson isn’t the Hollywood starlet they had in mind, to which we say “SERIOUSLY?!” We haven’t seen anything that Stef Dawson has been in (besides tiny clips from her showreel), so we can’t possibly compare her performances to others. But we don’t think she was given the job because the Mockingjay casting director got tired and just picked someone at random. “PICK AN ACTRESS, ANY ACTRESS!” No! There were probably hundreds of women who auditioned and Stef Dawson got it because she clearly earned it.
This. Because the picture Lionsgate posted is SEVERAL years old.
And all of you whining because Book!Annie has brown hair… We’ve talked about your type before. YOU NEVER LEARN. You make the collective fandom IQ drop 10 points. Just.. ugh!
Of course, Stef wasn’t the only announcement this week. The Hunger Games fandom now has its Messalla, Cressida’s lovely assistant, in the form of Evan Ross! Yup, THE Diana Ross’ son! Besides an unfortunate stint on the new 90210, Evan’s career is filled with lots of interesting indie films, including a boatload of projects in the works quite recently. It’s nice to see that he’s got quite the range, because Messalla is full Capitol and thus a little too eccentric for Katniss (and probably audiences) to fully appreciate. It’s another minor role, but it’s one that can make a memorable impression with a few well-delivered looks and lines. There will also be a major physical transformation involved, so it’ll be interesting to see how this 25-year-old who still has a bit of a baby face will bloom into a frantic Capitol citizen.
Messalla also has what’s arguably the most horrific / fascinating death of any character in the entire series, so as long as that makes it into the script, Evan has won already!
Boggs Next, PLZKTHX!
The Girl With The Pearl
Victor's Village 
I agree Stef Dawson has this face that is fragile and vulnerable and “not Hollywood”. I think she will be perfect for the moment the unsuspecting movie audiences find out that Finnick is in love with this poor crazy girl.
this is kind of irrelevant, but what does “not Hollywood” mean in terms of people’s faces? 0_o
“we want Annie to be this big, really involved character like she is in our fanfic dreams”
lol, really? that’s not in MY dreams. but i guess i do know where it comes from. Finn and Annie are the real star-crossed lovers of THG. but they were also like the greatest love story never told. we only caught the tail end of it. and from a third-person perspective.
I think that Annie is important in the narrative more for her importance to Finnick, than as a character in her own right. (You can say the same for Prim, as well, that while she is certainly important to Katniss, that doesn’t make her a major character, either.) Other than the fact that she “went crazy” during the Games, and that she “snuck up” on Finnick in terms of him slowly falling in love with her, we don’t know that much about her.
Of course, there is a LOT of room for speculation, of course. Many fans think she and Finnick were childhood sweethearts and knew each other for years, while others think their relationship began when Finnick mentored her for the Games, but we don’t know for certain. There’s also the question of whether Annie was trained as a Career tribute, despite her sweet personality. But perhaps D4 Careers are not quite as savage as D1/D2; notably, D4 is one of the first Districts to rebel, D1/D2 among the last. Or, she was actually Reaped and it happened to be a year when there was no Career of suitable age to volunteer in her place. There’s even speculation that Snow rigged it all, making sure Annie would be reaped into the Games, then making sure she survived, because he knew Finnick loved her, and by ensuring she’d survive as Victor, he’d get even more leverage over him.
That being said, I wouldn’t be surprised if, considering there are TWO MJ films, Annie’s role gets expanded a bit. (Much as we saw a Prim scene in the CF trailer that’s original, not in the book.) It seems the general consensus is that the first MJ film will likely not go any further in the narrative than the District 2 mission, so going by the book, Annie would only get her big reunion scene with Finnick, but I tend to think that without SOME inkling of who she is beforehand (other than Finnick talking about her), movie audiences will be confused. So, I do think we’ll get at least one scene with her in the Capitol beforehand, and perhaps we will get her backstory from her own mouth, as opposed to just hearing it from others.