11 'Hunger Games' stars, ranked from least to most successful
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"The Hunger Games" was released nine years ago in March 2012.
Since then, the original "tributes" from the first games have gone on to varied levels of success.
We ranked the teenage cast of the first film based on their careers post-"Hunger Games," social media followings, number of prestige projects, and more.
Jacqueline Emerson played Foxface, one of the tributes from District 5.
Emerson's character, Foxface, had a larger role in the novel than in the film, but she still made an impression with the character's death by accidental poisoning at the end.
After "Hunger Games," Emerson appeared in a dystopian film of her own, "The Last Survivors," in 2014. The film garnered positive reviews, but it didn't make much of a financial or cultural impact.
Since then, she's been in a few short films that she also produced and directed, a few episodes of "Wayward Guide for the Untrained Eye" on YouTube in 2020, and an episode of "FBI" in 2021. She also has a music career, with a few singles under her belt.
Emerson, 26, currently has 47,000 followers on Instagram and 77,500 followers on Twitter.
Willow Shields played Katniss' sister, Prim, in all four films.
Prim, short for Primrose, is actually the catalyst for the whole series — it's her who gets chosen for the games, prompting older sister Katniss to volunteer in her place. Prim appears in all four films, growing from a shy, sweet pre-teen to a confident teenager training to be a war medic. Unfortunately, she meets a tragic end in "Mockingjay Part 2."
The same year the franchise ended, she appeared on "Dancing With the Stars." She was partnered with Mark Ballas and made it to week seven. At 14, she was the youngest person to compete.
After that, Shields hasn't been in much. She starred on the only (to date) season of "The Unsettling" and the Netflix series "Spinning Out," which was canceled after one season. According to IMDb, she has two movies coming up: "A Fall From Grace" and "When Time Got Louder."
Shields, 21, has 925,000 followers on Instagram and 229,900 followers on Twitter.
Leven Rambin played District 1 tribute Glimmer, who meets a gruesome end.
Glimmer was known as a "Career" — a tribute from a district that essentially trains their kids from birth to be in the games. She's eventually indirectly killed by Katniss, who sets a hive of genetically altered wasps (known as tracker jackers) on her.
Before "Hunger Games," Rambin was known in some circles for her role on "All My Children" from 2004 to 2010, her recurring role on "Grey's Anatomy" as Mark Sloan's adult daughter, and for a small role on three episodes of "One Tree Hill."
After the film, she was cast in "Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters," which ended up being the last in the would-be saga (there were only two films made). She then went on to appear in "Two Night Stand" and the Oscar-winning film "Mank." In 2021, she'll appear in the fifth and final "Purge" movie, "The Forever Purge."
On the TV front, she appeared in "The Tomorrow People," "True Detective," "The Path," and "Gone." It remains to be seen what's next for Rambin, but a role in "Forever Purge" seems like a good start.
Rambin, 31, has 108,000 followers on Instagram and 21,300 followers on Twitter.
Dayo Okeniyi played District 11 tribute Thresh, who goes out a hero.
Thresh was the co-tribute of District 11 with Rue, who saves Katniss, because of her friendship with Rue. He's eventually taken out by genetically modified dogs called mutts.
After the first film, Okeniyi appeared in a few romance films like "The Spectacular Now" and "Endless Love." He also popped up in another giant dystopian franchise in the 2015 film "Terminator Genisys."
He's also made the rounds on TV, starring in NBC police procedural "Shades of Blue" from 2016 to 2018, an episode of Apple TV+'s "See" in 2019, and in a voice role in the Demi Moore podcast "Dirty Diana" in 2020, though it's unclear if he will reprise the role in upcoming Prime Video adaptation. He also has a voice role in "The Left Right Game."
Okeniyi was also cast in the upcoming Kristen Bell film "Queenpins" alongside Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Vince Vaughn, Paul Walter Hauser, Joel McHale, Bebe Rexha, and more. He was also cast in the upcoming Disney+ film "Greek Freak," based on the childhood of NBA superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo. Okeniyi is playing his father, Charles.
Okeniyi, 32, has 44,800 followers on Instagram and 57,200 followers on Twitter. And while Okeniyi isn't a household name yet, we expect big things from him soon.
Isabelle Fuhrman played Clove, the tribute from District 2.
Clove was also a Career — but she was taken out by Thresh in retaliation for the death of Rue, among other things. She was cruel and taunted Katniss about her friend's death.
Fuhrman was one of the more well-known members of the cast — she had played the iconic role of Esther in the 2009 horror film "Orphan."
Post-"Hunger Games," she's made a name for herself as a solid scream queen. She's been in "Don't Let Me Go," "Cell," and "Down a Dark Hall." She also had a recurring role in "Masters of Sex." She was also supposed to star in a YouTube spin-off of the film "Edge of Seventeen," but it was canceled.
In the future, Fuhrman is set to appear in three more horror films: "Escape Room: Tournament of Champions," a sequel to the surprise 2019 hit "Escape Room," "The Last Thing Mary Saw," and — most importantly — she is reprising her role as Esther in "Orphan: First Kill."
Fuhrman, 24, has 409,000 followers on Instagram and 170,300 followers on Twitter.
Josh Hutcherson played Peeta Mellark, one of Katniss' love interests and co-District 12 tribute, in all four films.
Peeta is chosen as District 12's male tribute and, despite not knowing Katniss very well, reveals he has feelings for her, which spirals into a storyline for the pair. Their "love" story, which is played up for the games, results in them surviving the games in the first film. The two grow closer and, even through torture, memory loss, and a second games, end up together in "Mockingjay Part 2."
Hutcherson was a well-known child star before getting cast in "The Hunger Games." To name a few, he was in "Kicking and Screaming," "Little Manhattan," "Zathura," "Bridge to Terabithia," and "The Kids are Alright." He also had a mini-franchise under his belt, with "Journey to the Center of the Earth" and "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island."
While he was a co-lead of the franchise, its success did not translate for Hutcherson's box-office career post-"Hunger Games." He's been in more than a few flops, like "The Forger," "Red Dawn," "Escobar: Paradise Lost," "Elliot the Littlest Reindeer," and "Burn." However, he's also been in a few solid films, like "Epic," "The Disaster Artist," and "Tragedy Girls." He's currently filming "Across the River and Into the Trees."
He's found more success in streaming. He starred in and executive produced all three seasons of Hulu's "Future Man," and he voices Ultraman in the English dub of the anime series "Ultraman."
Hutcherson, 28, has 844,000 followers on Instagram and 2.3 million followers on Twitter.
Liam Hemsworth was third prong in the love triangle as Katniss' best friend and would-be revolutionary Gale.
Gale was Katniss' best friend in District 12 and later revealed his love for her. While she was in the games, he became involved in the resistance movement — and while that connected him to Katniss, it led to some disastrous consequences in the final film, leading her to choose Peeta.
Before the film, Hemsworth had already been a romantic lead due to his role in 2010's Nicholas Sparks drama "The Last Song," and he was a tabloid mainstay due to his relationship with co-star Miley Cyrus.
The same year "Hunger Games" was released, Hemsworth appeared in another action franchise: "The Expendables 2." While he wasn't brought back for the sequel, he got another chance at a franchise with "Independence Day: Resurgence," which didn't make much of a splash.
Like Hutcherson, he's also appeared in some flops, like "Love and Honor," "Killerman," and "Arkansas," — and he found more success on streaming. He starred on Quibi series "Most Dangerous Game" and was nominated for an Emmy.
Hemsworth's fame, though, can probably be mostly attributed to his famous family (he's the brother of Thor himself, Chris Hemsworth, and "Westworld" star Luke) and his now-over relationship with ex-wife Cyrus.
Hemsworth, 31, has 13.3 million followers on Instagram and 1.7 million followers on Twitter.
Jack Quaid had a small part as Marvel, a tribute from District 1.
Marvel was a Career tribute, and he made it far into the games before making a mistake: killing Rue. Katniss killed Marvel in revenge.
"The Hunger Games" was Quaid's — the son of Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan — film debut. Afterwards, it took a few years for Quaid to find his footing, including a part on the short-lived HBO series "Vinyl."
But since then, he's appeared in critically successful films like "Logan Lucky," "Tragedy Girls," and "Plus One," and some box-office successes like "Rampage" and "Smallfoot."
But the reason for his high placement has to do with his TV career. Quaid currently stars on the Prime Video superhero series "The Boys" as the show's heart, Hughie. The first two seasons were highly acclaimed — so much so, that a college spin-off in the universe is in production, and the third season is filming. Quaid also voices the lead character in Paramount+ series "Star Trek: Lower Decks," for which he was nominated for a Critics' Choice Award.
2021 and 2022 are going to be even busier — in addition to the third season of "The Boys," Quaid will also appear in the highly anticipated "Scream" sequel next year, will voice a character in both parts of "Batman: The Long Halloween," and will voice the big guy himself, Superman, in an upcoming animated series.
Quaid, 29, has 668,000 followers on Instagram and 146,8000 followers on Twitter.
Alexander Ludwig played Cato, the film's biggest villain and tribute from District 3.
Cato was from District 3, and the only other tribute to volunteer. He made it all the way to the final three, attempting to take Katniss and Peeta out before getting devoured by the mutts — Katniss shot him with an arrow to spare him.
Ludwig was semi-known for his role in "Race to Witch Mountain" in 2009, but "Hunger Games" was one of his first big roles. Since then, he's popped up in many films — comedies like "Grown Ups 2," "The Final Girls" and 2020's "Bad Boys for Life," action films like "Lone Survivor," "Final Girl," and "Midway," and even in the Netflix holiday rom-com "Operation Christmas Drop" last year.
Ludwig was also very busy with "Vikings," which he starred in from 2014 to 2020. He's currently set to co-star in the wrestling comedy series "Heels" on Starz alongside Stephen Amell, and he is going to be in a Netflix movie called "Night Teeth." He's also going to star in the sports drama film "National Champions" alongside Stephan James, JK Simmons, and Uzo Aduba.
He's doing all that, plus he released a country EP.
Ludwig, 29, has 3.5 million followers on Instagram, and 476,500 followers on Twitter.
Amandla Stenberg played Rue, the female tribute from District 11 and one of Katniss' closest friends in the games.
Rue was just a kid when she was chosen for the games, and as such, she followed Katniss and Peeta around during training — she then saved Katniss from the Careers and showed her the tracker jackers that saved her life. In the saddest moment in the film, Rue is killed by Marvel in front of Katniss. She asks Katniss to sing for her, and when she dies, Katniss raises the three-finger salute that becomes synonymous with rebellion.
Stenberg was one of the breakout stars of the film — and she used the momentum to secure starring roles, which is why she's so high on this list.
After a voice role in "Rio 2," Stenberg starred in a 2017 adaptation of the YA novel "Everything, Everything," which, despite lukewarm reviews, was a box-office hit. She then played the lead in "The Darkest Minds," another dystopian YA film. By 2018, she had secured yet another leading role in "The Hate U Give," for which she was nominated for a Critics' Choice Award and won an NAACP Image Award.
That year, she also starred in "Where Hands Touch," a controversial film about a love story between two teens in Nazi Germany, though her performance specifically was praised.
Coming up, she's going to star in the film adaptation of "Dear Evan Hansen" and a thriller called "Bodies, Bodies, Bodies" with Maria Bakalova and Pete Davidson. She's also a well-known figure among Gen Z as an activist.
Stenberg, 22, has 2.4 million followers on Instagram.
And, of course, the top spot goes to the Girl on Fire herself, Jennifer Lawrence, who played Katniss.
Katniss is the protagonist of the entire saga — in the novels, we're in her head the whole time, and the film focuses on her journey from archery enthusiast to reluctant symbol to soldier to a parent with a quiet life.
Lawrence broke out in the 2010 film "Winter's Bone," for which she received an Oscar nomination. In 2011, the year before "The Hunger Games," she made her debut in another franchise, "X-Men," as a younger version of Mystique. She played that role through 2019's "Dark Phoenix."
To go through Lawrence's filmography would be a lot, but we can go through some of her accolades. She's since been nominated for three more Oscars, winning in 2013 for "Silver Linings Playbook." She has one BAFTA win from three nominations, three Golden Globes from four nominations, four Critics' Choice Awards from 13 nominations, two SAG Awards from five nominations, and seven MTV Movie Awards from 22 nominations.
She's one of the last few A-listers who have not deigned to join social media (much like other franchise stars like Daniel Radcliffe, Robert Pattinson, and Kristen Stewart). Lawrence is also one of the most beloved actresses out there, with her extremely relatable habit of drinking too much and tripping over herself.
After taking a bit of a break, she's making a return this year by starring in a Netflix film with Leonardo DiCaprio and starring in another film with Brian Tyree Henry.
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