Josh Hutcherson's Least Favorite Part Of Hunger Games Might Surprise You
Josh Hutcherson is my favorite kind of movie star. While most of the world knows him for his starring role as Peeta Mellark in "The Hunger Games" franchise, he also lends his talents to weird and adventurous genre films like Joseph Kahn's criminally underrated "Detention," and the ridiculously fun "Tragedy Girls." The short king was put through the wringer on the "Hunger Games" set, having to perform in a role that was as emotional as it was physical. In case you somehow managed to escape one of the biggest film franchises of the 2010s, "The Hunger Games" was a four-part film series based on Suzanne Collins' #1 New York Times bestselling series of novels of the same name. In the not-so-distant future, the United States is now a land known as Panem, and the rich elite in the Capitol maintain their totalitarian rule by separating the country into 12 districts and forcing them to send a boy and girl, known as Tributes, to compete in a nationally televised fight to the death.
Hutcherson's Peeta Mellark was randomly chosen to be the male tribute for District 12 during the 74th annual Hunger Games, joining Jennifer Lawrence's Katniss Everdeen, who volunteers for the games after her young sister Primrose is initially selected. Together, Katniss and Peeta defy the odds and win the games, slowly starting a revolution to take down the Capitol's regime. For five years, Hutcherson's life was all "Hunger Games" all the time, and despite the film's rigorous physical requirements, there was something else that Hutcherson was even more ready to leave behind.
Bye, bye blonde Peeta
Thanks to a profile with DuJour Magazine, Josh Hutcherson shared some delightful behind-the-scenes insights into the making of "The Hunger Games." In a surprise to no one, Woody Harrelson is apparently really good at basketball, which I'd hope is the case considering the entire plot of "White Men Can't Jump" is that Woody's got skills. Hutcherson said that the thing he'll miss most about filming the franchise is what he called "summer camp adventures," where he, Lawrence, and Liam Hemsworth (who plays Gale in the series) would visit local bars and restaurants wherever they were shooting. As for what he won't miss? Dyeing his hair blonde.
Hutcherson is a natural brunette, which meant he needed to bleach and dye his hair consistently for years to keep Peeta's memorable look. As DuJour described him, he's the type of guy who "proudly washes his hair once a week," and when the film finished shooting, Hutcherson's first stop was the hair and make-up trailer. Rather than wait to have someone dye him back to his natural shade, he instead had them cut most of the blonde out. Chances are, he made the right choice, because consistently bleaching your hair does some serious damage after a while, and putting more dye on top of already damaged hair is even worse. "My hair was [an] orange-brown color for a while," he said. "It was almost like frosted tips back in the '90s."
Fortunately, Hutcherson hasn't returned to the blonde since the franchise wrapped, giving his scalp a much-deserved break.