Tom Blyth talks to THR at 'The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes' premiere about working with Rachel Zegler and calls her a "partner in crime." Plus, why stepping into the world of Panem was a "pinch me" moment for Blyth.
Category
✨
PeopleTranscript
00:00 You've been on this whirlwind press tour with the film.
00:01 How does it feel to be here tonight at the L.A. premiere?
00:04 It's magical.
00:05 I mean, I've never been to the Chinese theater before,
00:07 and I've obviously like driven past it when I've visited L.A.
00:09 in the past and thought one day I hope I get to do a premiere there.
00:12 So it's cool being here at a place that is kind of iconic in Hollywood
00:16 and bringing a film that I feel very proud of to the fans.
00:18 Your co-star Rachel's next to you right now.
00:21 It's stunning.
00:23 Hello.
00:24 It seems like you two got so close while filming
00:27 and became such great fans of each other and great friends.
00:30 What was it like working with her?
00:31 I mean, she's amazing.
00:32 She's like the most exquisite professional that I've ever seen.
00:36 Like, she turns up like more prepared than anyone else,
00:39 works harder than anyone else.
00:41 And it's like just an artist through and through and humble to boot.
00:45 But she yeah, I mean, we've become really close friends through this.
00:49 I mean, how could you not?
00:50 It's like the big undertaking, this film.
00:52 And it's you know, once you once you see it, you'll understand.
00:54 It's like kind of a modern epic and it goes through all the motions.
00:57 And you kind of need like a partner in crime to lean on when you're doing that.
01:00 And she couldn't have been a better one.
01:02 I've seen it and I loved it.
01:04 For you, what was it like stepping into Panem that first day on set
01:07 and into this world?
01:08 Stepping into Panem?
01:09 It was crazy.
01:10 I mean, we shoot the whole thing on location with a few kind of CGI enhancements.
01:14 But most of it is all like practical.
01:15 It's all in Berlin and Poland and all this beautiful European architecture.
01:18 So you step on and Uli Hanisch, who's here tonight, our production designer.
01:23 He he designs these amazing sets that are just so tangible and palpable.
01:27 And and you walk on to set and you're like, holy crap, I'm in Panem.
01:30 This this world that I grew up watching on TV and movies.
01:33 So, yeah, it was kind of a pinch me moment. Yeah.
01:35 And I know you wanted to keep your performance separate from Donald Sutherland's.
01:39 But have you heard from him at all now that the film is about to come out?
01:41 Not yet. I mean, hopefully at some point we get to touch base.
01:45 But he I'm kind of grateful that he kind of allowed me the space to do this.
01:50 Whether he knew he was doing that or not, I appreciate it.
01:53 And now that it's done and I'm not fearful of like trying to copy his amazing
01:56 performance, which is definitely something I was concerned about.
01:59 So try to kind of give some space to that a little bit
02:02 because it's a different character at the beginning.
02:05 But now that it's said and done is in the fans hands.
02:08 I would love to touch base with him at some point, but we'll see.
02:10 See how that goes.
02:11 [BLANK_AUDIO]