Invisible Boys star Joseph Zada cast as Haymitch in Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping
Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping has its Haymitch – Invisible Boys star Joseph Zada (Stan)
Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping has its Haymitch – Invisible Boys star Joseph Zada (Stan)
Joseph Zada has been cast in Hunger Games prequel Sunrise on the Reaping as a young Haymitch Abernathy – and he’s best known for his role in queer Australian TV series Invisible Boys.
Sunrise on the Reaping is the film adaptation of the fifth book in the Hunger Games novels by Suzanne Collins, which was released last month. It follows Haymitch Abernathy’s Hunger Games – 24 years before the original trilogy, and 40 years after the prequel, A Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.
Franchise fans will recognise Haymitch as Katniss Everedeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson)’s gruff mentor, with Sunrise on the Reaping following his own time in the deadly arena.
The book was announced in 2024 alongside plans for an on-screen adaptation, and despite the internet immediately pitching everyone from Chad Michaels to JoJo Siwa for the role of Haymitch in the Hunger Games prequel, it has gone to relative newcomer Joseph Zada, as announced today.
Zada, who will portray the younger version of the character first brought to life by Woody Harrelson, has been cast alongside Whitney Peak as his girlfriend, Lenore Dove Baird.
Sunrise on the Reaping will be released 20 November 2026.
Who is Joseph Zada and what is he known for?
Before becoming a young Haymitch in the Hunger Games arena (literally and figuratively), Zada currently stars in the lead role of Charlie Roth in Stan Australia’s original series Invisible Boys, based on the bestselling novel by Holden Sheppard.
The show follows the lives of four young gay men struggling to come to terms with their sexuality in a small town down under.
Invisible Boys‘s sex scenes have been praised by critics, particularly for offering a balance “between entertaining provocation and a safe space for alienated young viewers”.
The series co-stars Zada as Charlie, Joe Klocek as Matt Jones, Pia Miranda as Anna Cologero, Aydan Calafiore as Zeke Calogero, Zach Blampied as Kate Hammersmith, and Myles Pollard as Jack Hammersmith.
Invisible Boys is streaming now in Australia on Stan. A global release date is yet to be announced.
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