Lawrence, who worked with the younger Hoffman on his 2025 film, The Long Walk, explained the decision in an interview from Wednesday. 23-year-old Cooper Hoffman ultimately "felt" too young for the role, the "Hunger Games" director said. Lawrence directed three out of the four Hunger Games sequels, as well as 2023’s prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. The Oscar-winning actor starred as Plutarch Heavensbee in three Hunger Games films before he died from accidental acute mixed drug intoxication in 2014. Hoffman had filmed the majority of his role in "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Parts 1 & 2" just before his death.