Pretty much every actor in Young Hollywood would gladly participate as a tribute in The Hunger Games if their prize was to play Finnick Odair in the sequel, Catching Fire. Many names have been tossed around over the last couple months, including Jesse Williams, Zac Efron and Armie Hammer.

The latest rumor is that actor Sam Claflin has landed the role. Variety’s Jeff Sneider confirmed that Claflin made the studio’s shortlist to play Finnick. Now according to Zap2It, Lionsgate has signed off on his offer.

Claflin starred in this year’s Snow White and the Huntsman and last summer’s Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.  Unlike some of the other names that have been tossed around (Robert Pattinson, Ryan Gosling) I can actually imagine Claflin as Odair… he just needs to be a little more blond and bronzed but those are easy fixes.

Finnick Odair is the trident-wielding victor from District Four who participates in the Quarter Quell. He’s a Capitol playboy and we’re not sure whether or not we can trust his charming smile.

Do you think Claflin is a good fit?

Sam Claflin interview: 

Looks like another storm of racist comments are coming over the possible casting of Jesse Williams for Finnick Odair in the next Hunger Games films Catching Fire and Mockingjay.

The trilogy has met a lot of criticism in the past for first casting Jennifer Lawrence to transform into the dark-complexioned Katniss Everdeen. Then, there was the controversy over casting Amandla Stenberg as 11-year-old Rue because of her race.

But according to message boards like this one, people seem to think that Finnick Odair should be Caucasian:

Here are some of the comments:

“I think that Jesse Wiliams just won’t work. Finnick Odair in my eyes is Tall, young, disheveled medium long luscious Golden blonde hair, ocean blue colored eyes, he has a glowing tan, washboard abs, and wears almost no clothes, at the same times carries a trident. That is the guy i wan’t to see as Finnick. For example PERFECT GUY is Ian Somerhalder. Color him blonde and throw in some contacts and wala you have Finnick Odair!”

“I’m sorry but unless I read the wrong book, isn’t Finnick Caucasian? By tanned skin Collins meant his skin was darkened from the sun (swimming/fishing) not that he is of a darker skin ethnicity… Don’t get me wrong, this guy is great just completely wrong for this role.”

Meanwhile, here’s what Williams had to say:

“I didn’t know what the heck a Finnick was when I was getting a lot of the questions about it. People are creative about that kind of stuff, and now I’ll try to figure out if that’s something that’s interesting to me.”

According to the books, the character  is described as an extremely handsome man with “tan skin” (also referred to as “golden”), “bronze-colored hair” and “incredible” sea-green eyes.

Personally, I think Jesse would be an excellent choice for Finnick.  He’s tanned, has a sexy body and has beautiful eyes. This man is hot!!

And so what if he isn’t Caucasian? Maybe he’ll even shock you with his performance!  And besides, Hollywood definitely  needs more diversity in their films and range of actors.

If some fans had it their way, Grey’s Anatomy hunk Jesse Williams would play District Four’s Finnick Odair in Catching Fire. A lot of names have been tossed around so far, including Armie Hammer and Francis Lawrence, but a couple fans started a campaign for Williams to pay the trident slayer.

“I have heard that! I’ve seen a lot of that on Twitter,” Jesse told E Online when they asked him if he’d heard of the campaign. “I didn’t know what the heck a Finnick was when I was getting a lot of the questions about it.”

After Gary Ross stepped out of the director’s chair there was a lot of hoopla over who would take over his role. Well, they finally found a Catching Fire director in Francis Lawrence but now Odair is a big fat question mark. And the character is probably the most coveted role since Peeta himself. It seems that every young male star has been linked to the role, though I personally envisioned someone a little younger.

In the book, Odair is described as being tall, muscular and athletic with tan skin and bronze-coloured hair. Do you think Williams fits the profile?