Hunger Games' Donald Sutherland Sent A Letter To Snag His Role As President Snow
President Coriolanus Snow may not be everyone's ideal choice for an elected official, but it's hard to imagine anyone other than Donald Sutherland bringing the Suzanne Collins-created character to life. Having portrayed Panem's cold-hearted ruler for all four "Hunger Games" movies, Sutherland slipped so seamlessly between the kindly old gentleman and psychotic tyrant that you'd swear he'd been a "Hunger Games" fan all his life. As it turns out, he had never even heard of the books beforehand.
A 2014 GQ interview with the "Pride & Prejudice" star reveals his attraction to the franchise came after coming across the first film's screenplay. "I wrote them a letter," Sutherland says, adding that President Snow's lack of lines in the script did little to deter him. "I thought it was an incredibly important film, and I wanted to be a part of it ... I hadn't read the books. To be truthful, I was unaware of them. But they showed my letter to the director, Gary Ross, and he thought it'd be a good idea if I did it."
Sutherland's gateway into the eventual $2.9 billion grossing film franchise may have been a bit unorthodox, but it's hard to see anyone else in the dastardly role. However, the actor's entrance into the series is equally as odd as how he ultimately views Snow's devious actions.
Sutherland doesn't think Snow is all that evil
Even in a world full of savage killers and exploitative entertainers, Donald Sutherland's President Coriolanus Snow remains a chilling force throughout the "Hunger Games" saga. However, Sutherland's personal viewpoint of his presidential role is not so black and white.
Leading up to the release of the film franchise's latest installment, "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 2," Sutherland talked with Kino TV about his villainous character, who he believes isn't so villainous. "He's a bad guy in terms of how people perceive him, but for me, no," he explains. Sutherland compares Snow's beliefs and mindset to real-life political figures.
"What does Lyndon Johnson feel about himself when he goes to bed at night? I mean, he's killed a million Vietnamese," Sutherland continues. "He runs an organization called the United States ... where there's no health care, where you have capital punishment, where the poor have devastatingly small minimum wage ... he doesn't feel like he's a bad person, nor does Coriolanus Snow." Sutherland's performance more than lines up with the character's motivation. Such a chillingly accurate description of Snow is more than enough reason why Sutherland was such a perfect fit for the part.