Hollyweird was trying to push these two as a listers back in the day. They look ridiculous together. Zero chemistry. Even at the end of the franchise when they're with their kid. Just didn't seem believable imo.

Alexander Ludwig would have made an interesting Peeta. But then he would have outshone Liam Hemsworth and there would have been no question who Katniss would end up with at the end.
Also Isabelle Fuhrman is good at those creepy child roles. But that is exactly what she looks like, a child. Ludwig looks like 19 going on 20 and Fuhrman looks about 13. Any romantic scenes between them would have been icky as all hell.

I had read somewhere that Alexander Ludwig (Cato) had tried out for the role of Peeta, and Isabelle Fuhrman (Clove) had tried out for the role of Katniss. They would have both matched the physical character descriptions in the book, but Josh Hutcherson and Jennifer Lawrence were both good.

It absolutely could be argued that Jennifer and Josh did not physically match up with Katniss and Peeta, but it was how they could convey the essence of the character. The charm, wit, and inner courage seemed to be a higher importance than the physicality.

Jen tells the story that when they were filming that scene Jen told Isabelle
it was OK to put her full weight on her. And Isabelle said "this is my full
weight."

Yes, Clove is supposed to be much bigger than Katniss in the book. I still like casting Isabel Fuhrman, because she's so darn good as Clove, but Book-Clove is quite big and has a significant size and weight advantage over Katniss.

How about his size? Josh is smaller than Jennifer so its weird to see them together, let alone believe she starts a romantic relationship with him
It's worth remembering though that Jennifer is physically a lot bigger than the descriptions of Katniss in the books. This is part of the reason why some viewers weren't convinced by the tree scene (if Jennifer's Katniss could climb the tree, why not Cato?), and to a lesser extent the fight with Clove. In the THG book, Katniss is a thin 16-year-old, and it can be speculated that her growth was stunted by malnutrition during puberty. There is an argument that Jennifer and Isabelle Fuhrman (Clove) were better suited - at least in purely physical terms - to each other's roles.

And I don't think SZ is too good with geometry. In CF, Katniss refers to the tributes having to swim 20 metres from the pedestals to reach the strips of land between them - but the pedestals are only 40 meters out from the Cornucopia. A circle of 40 metres radius has a circumference of 251 metres; with 24 pedestals and 12 strips of land, that's only 7 metres to swim. Which is about what it looks in the aerial shot.
I don't have my copy of CF to hand, but it would be 40m (40 yards?) from the pedastals to the
island
that the Cornucopia is on. If you want to calculate the circumference of the imaginary circle that the pedestal are on, you have to add the radius of the Coruncopia island. This diagram (
http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/thehungergames/images/b/b2/Catching-Fire-Arena2.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20120330194527
) suggests a diameter for the island of about 50m, which would give a circumference for the pedestals of 408m. That's still not big enough for what Collins describes, but perhaps she imagined a bigger island?

I think Josh is great as Peeta, but I saw the first two movies before I read the books. No doubt I would have had a different image if I had read the books first.
I would definitely have had a problem with Katniss being taller than Peeta! In the book, she has to stand on tip-toes to kiss him on the cheek - wearing heels.
Now that I think of it - is that even possible?
There are a few things in the books that the editors should have caught. Like on page 2 of THG, when Katniss pulls on her hunting boots - followed by her trousers. I don't anything about heels, but I know that's unlikely to work!
And I don't think SZ is too good with geometry. In CF, Katniss refers to the tributes having to swim 20 metres from the pedestals to reach the strips of land between them - but the pedestals are only 40 meters out from the Cornucopia. A circle of 40 metres radius has a circumference of 251 metres; with 24 pedestals and 12 strips of land, that's only 7 metres to swim. Which is about what it looks in the aerial shot.
Which reminds me - in the book, Peeta can't swim. I guess JH is also wrong on that score, as he seems to be swimming fine.

One of the first things I thought when I saw the movie is JH was not a good fit for Peeta at all. It's been a while since I read the books, but I remember picturing him as a very large guy, kind of a linebacker look. He's supposed to be very strong. I wasn't buying it at all with JH.
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