Exclusive Interview With Willow Shields On The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

WGTC: What happens when the cameras stop rolling with the two of you? Is it easy to jump in and out of the roles or does reality blur with the fiction at all?

Willow Shields: Yeah, Jen is really good at that. I’m learning. [Laughs] She’s so hilarious and is always joking around, so one minute she’ll be telling this joke and we’ll be laughing and then the next second, they call action and she’s crying and I’m laughing [laughs]. I’m starting to learn how to do that on set.

WGTC: Prim is also starting to step up as a healer-in-training. Did you yourself get to do any training or research for that part of the role?

Willow Shields: I did a little bit. I actually had taken this class before where you learn about things in nature that can heal you, so I did kind of learn a bit about that. 

WGTC: Can you tell me about the post-whipping scene? Are those wounds just painted on to Liam Hemsworth’s back?

Willow Shields: Yeah, we were all up so early that morning because, well, Liam had to get his makeup done on his back, so that took like two hours, so he was there at like three in the morning and everyone else got there at like five in the morning. We took almost a full day to film that one scene because there’s so many people in it. But yeah, they did a ton of makeup on Liam’s back. He had to kind of lay on his stomach in the corner all day because he couldn’t sit in a chair.

WGTC: Did anyone accidentally bump into him and get some wounds of their own?

Willow Shields: No, everyone was very cautious about that. [Laughs]

WGTC: How are you with blood and needles in real life? Does that stuff gross you out at all?

Willow Shields: Oh my gosh, I’m so scared! Me and Jen both on set, when I had to do that the first time, we literally had to stop filming because we both got so grossed out. Obviously it’s a fake needle, but it looks like it’s real, so it was kind of a little gross and scary for me to be doing that. We literally had to cut. We were like, oh my god.

WGTC: Where is that needle going? Is it retractable?

Willow Shields: Yeah, it is.

WGTC: To wrap up, let’s say Katniss never volunteered and Prim went into the Games. How do you think she’d do?

Willow Shields: I think she could survive for a little while, but she would not win. I feel like she could hide and survive for a bit, but when it comes down to it, there is no way she would win.

WGTC: But she does have all that medical knowhow and we’ve never really seen a tribute with that.

Willow Shields: It’s true! It could create a lot of allies, that’s for sure.

That concludes our interview but we’d like to thank Willow for her time. Be sure to check out The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, now in theatres everywhere.