Excitement is currently gearing up for The Hunger Games prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes – where the health and safety of star Rachel Zegler was surely a big priority. But the original franchise didn’t go easy on the actors, with Jennifer Lawrence sustaining several injuries, including going deaf while filming the second movie – 2013’s Catching Fire.
While filming the first The Hunger Games movie, Lawrence managed to stay fairly injury-free, but her ear was the target on the sequel. “In the first one I ran into a wall, but that was during training. Once we got into filming, there were no more bizarre injuries. In this one, I went deaf for a week, and yep, I’m still having ear problems, so that’s cool,” she said in 2013.
Maybe it was an ear imbalance that caused Lawrence to fall over on her way up to the stage to accept her Lead Actress Oscar in 2013? We think we may have blown this mystery wide open!
Lawrence explained to Empire how the deafness was caused; “First, I had to jump into stagnant water for a stunt, which caused a double ear infection. Then I had to jump into water jets, and one jet went into my ear, making a ‘PSHYOOOOOV!’ noise, which made me deaf for a week. But I didn’t go to the doctor…because I’m a genius.”
“So I eventually got my hearing back, and now I get this tearing noise every time I yawn. I really should go back to the doctor and ask them what that means. ‘Tell me, is this normal? I’m in pain 24/7. Help me.'” It would appear that Lawrence has been asking “what do you mean???” since long before the clip of her saying it on Hot Ones went viral and became a meme earlier this year.
Since 2016, Lawrence slowed her career right down and only appeared in one or even zero movies each year, and often not in starring roles. She made something of a comeback with the 2022 drama movie Causeway and in 2023 with raunchy comedy movie No Hard Feelings. Our No Hard Feelings review said that it “serves as a reminder of Lawrence’s range and star power as a whole.”
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will be released in November 2023 and will focus on a young President Snow (played by Donald Sutherland in the original Hunger Games cast, and by Tom Blyth here). It will focus on his romance with a District 12 tribute – Lucy Gray Bird (Zegler) – during the 10th Hunger Games.
Franchise director Francis Lawrence returns for The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, and it has an all-star cast that rivals the original movies – including Viola Davis, Peter Dinklage, Hunter Schafer, and Jason Schwartzman as Lucky Flickerman (Stanley Tucci’s character).
You can prepare for the prequel’s release by watching The Hunger Games movies in order. We’re also looking forward to Wednesday season 2 and House of the Dragon season 2.