Tom Blyth’s mum was “livid” about Hunger Games scene

Warning: Spoilers ahead

The star of the new Hunger Games prequel film has revealed that his mother is “truly livid” that he is responsible for the on-screen death of one of her favourite actors.

Tom Blyth plays a teenage Coriolanus Snow in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which was released on Friday (November 17). In the film, Snow poisons Casca Highbottom, played by Peter Dinklage, of whom Blyth’s mother Charlotte is a big fan.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Blyth explained that the plot twist caused some awkwardness.

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“I watched the movie with my mom at the London premiere and she has a bit of a crush on Peter,” Blyth said. “And she turns to me and sits forward in her chair and mouths to me, ‘How dare you?’ She was truly livid. She loves Peter Dinklage. Sorry, mom.”

The film is set six decades before the events of the original series and follows an 18-year-old Snow on his path to becoming the leader of Panem, the post-apocalyptic nation at the heart of the franchise. The role of Snow was portrayed by Donald Sutherland in the original films.

Blyth went on to clarify that despite their on-screen battle, he and Dinklage got on very well off-screen.

“He’s so about the work,” Blyth said. “He makes such strong choices. Every take is different. He and I became quite close over the course of the shoot.”

Dinklage also had some words of wisdom to help his young co-star handle the pressure of leading such a major Hollywood release: “The advice he gave was, ‘This is going to be a big film. It’s going to have its own machinery that carries it forward,” Blyth added. “There’s going to be a lot of noise. But just focus on the work [and] enjoy it. I’m very grateful to him for taking me under his wing.”

The original Hunger Games series was comprised of four feature films, released between 2012 and 2015, and starring Jennifer Lawrence as protagonist Katniss Everdeen.

Earlier this month, it was confirmed that there are currently no plans for Lawrence or her character to return to the series. Producer Nina Jacobson explained that it would require the books’ author Suzanne Collins to write a new novel for it to happen.

In a four-star review of the new film, NME wrote: “It looks like no Katniss is no problem for Songbirds And Snakes. A fine blockbuster adventure for autumn.”