64 years before Katniss Everdeen volunteered as tribute, and decades before Coriolanus Snow became the tyrannical President of Panem, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes follows a young Coriolanus as he unites with Lucy Gray Baird in the 10th Hunger Games, and battles his instincts for both good and evil.
The movie, which is now available to purchase on digital before hitting Blu-ray later this month, features over two-and-a-half-hours of special features.
We recently caught up with star Nick Benson to learn more about his role in the movie as Jessup Diggs. However, the District 12 tribute enters the Hunger Games with a serious disadvantage: rabies. As the movie progresses, his condition worsens until, finally, [SPOILER WARNING] he dies in battle.
"Honestly, I had never died in a project before," the actor said of shooting the hard-hitting sequence. "At least not on camera [Laughs] so it was kind of fun to explore and figure out what works and make it look real. I had fun dying. I know it's a weird thing to say, but I did."
"Again, since I did have to film [my death] first...just trying to figure out what it looked like and how exactly led up to that moment...I had to figure out all the moments before to craft that one moment," Benson explains. "It was just figuring out, 'Okay, what exactly happened and how did we get here?' It was making it make sense and look real and believable."
You'll find plenty more about his role in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes below, but while we had him on the line, we made sure to ask Nick if he's interested in tackling a superhero project now he's had a taste of blockbuster fare.
"I don't know, I could definitely get into a superhero thing!" he enthusiastically responds. "I know they're pulling a lot of stuff from the Marvel vault and DC as well. I wouldn't mind dipping my toe into it with the superhero projects that are left and seeing what I could do."
You can check out the full interview in the player below.
0:21 - What it meant to be cast as Jessup as a fan
1:27 - Working with Rachel on the dynamic between Lucy and Jessup
2:38 - Playing the out-of-control side of Jessup once he contracts rabies
3:38 - How he thinks a healthy Jessup would have done in the Games
4:30 - Shooting the character’s memorable death scene
5:40 - Entering the blockbuster world of The Hunger Games
6:41 - Working with filmmaker Francis Lawrence
7:22 - The importance of a movie like this which reflects our diverse world
8:07 - His interest in playing a superhero
8:43 - The training required for this role
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is available to purchase on digital on January 30 and on 4K, Blu-ray and DVD on February 13.