Unlike her character Cressida, who’s introduced to us in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay I by Philip Seymour’s Plutarch Heavensbee, as “one of the finest up-and-coming film directors in the Capitol”, Natalie Dormer is far more comfortable in front of the camera, than behind it. Reprising her role in Mockingjay II, released in cinemas this week, Natalie can be seen once again rocking an undercut as she fights alongside Jennifer Lawrence and Liam Hemsworth to save the Capitol. We caught up with the British beauty to talk districts, directing, and dilapidated sets.
Your character Cressida is a director, have you ever thought about stepping behind the camera yourself?
I haven’t ever considered being a director myself. I’m with a director; I know how hard the job is. I don’t have any ambitions to direct, just yet.
How different is the Mockingjay set to others that you’ve worked on?
The way it’s different is probably the enormous production value; creating huge spaces in the exteriors we did in Berlin and Paris, completely dilapidated scenes for the Capitol. Just visually it was a spectacle on a huge scale. And there was a lot less CGI than you’d imaging, there was a lot more done in practical real terms. There was not as much green screen as it could have been, and that was down to Francis Lawrence.
Were the stunts more difficult than in Mockingjay I? Did they require any special training?
We did some basic gun and military training for a few days, because we were carrying heavy guns and people that know the book will know that everyone in District 13 gets basic military training so we would have been given the training that the characters would have done. So yeah that was fun, got to run around with the boys for a change.
If you could live in any of the districts which would it be and why?
I think Cressida would want to go back home to the Capitol, but after President Snow is removed.
Do you have any favourite memoirs of being on set that you could share?
I think my favourite day was my first day, because we were lowered down on a hovercraft from a crane and then there was fire with huge flamethrowers throwing fire everywhere; it was literally a baptism of fire, it was extraordinary. It was very positive and inspiring day. It was like, “Wow, I’m part of The Hunger Games now.”
Including Hungergames I and II you’ve worked on a number of successful literary adaptations, are there any other bothers you’d like to get taken to the big screen?
Well there are so many fantastic novels out there, I’m very much looking forward to the adaptation of War and Peace, I’ve got quite a few friends in that and I’ve just finished the Tolstoy book.