Who is Euphoria star Hunter Schafer playing in the Hunger Games prequel?

Eight years after audiences last saw Jennifer Lawrence close out her iconic role as Katniss Everdeen in the final piece of The Hunger Games puzzle (Mockingjay -Part 2), we are returning to the dystopian country of Panem.

In 2023, Lionsgate will be releasing the highly anticipated prequel movie, Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, telling the story of a young President Snow, much before he stepped into the power-hungry, villainous role we saw of him throughout The Hunger Games movie saga. And recently, it was announced that Hunter Schafer, star of HBO’s Euphoria, has been cast in the movie, alongside Rachel Zegler (West Side Story (2021)) as Lucy Gray Baird and Tom Blyth (Benediction (2021)) as Coriolanus Snow — but who is Hunter Schafer playing in the Hunger Games prequel?

Who is Hunter Schafer’s character in The Hunger Games?

The 23-year-old actress, model, and LGBTQ+ activist, best known for her powerful role in Euphoria as Jules Vaughn alongside co-star Zendaya, has been cast in the 2023 movie as Tigris Snow.

For well-versed fans of the Mockingjay – Part 2 movie or the original Hunger Games book trilogy, they will remember Tigris as the cosmetically modified, stylist cousin of President Snow, surgically transformed to resemble a tiger. On the silver screen — portrayed by Eugenie Bonduranthe —  Tigris assisted Katniss, Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), and Gale (Liam Hemsworth) in their escape from the sewers of the Capitol after suffering from booby-traps and attacks by both Peacekeepers and genetically engineered “muttations”.

However, in Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, we will be seeing Hunter Schafer as Tigris long before her cosmetic transformation. The story, if faithful to that of Suzanne Collins’s novel source material, will follow Coriolanus Snow 64 years prior to The Hunger Games. After losing his parents and family fortune, he hides his life of poverty with his grandmother and fashion-passionate cousin Tigris, whilst attending the city’s prestigious Academy. Here, he becomes a mentor in the country’s 10th Hunger Games and meets his assigned tribute, Lucy Gray.

Tigris provides a refreshing level of empathy and compassion throughout the novel in comparison to her ambitious, oftentimes deplorable younger cousin, and this should translate perfectly through Hunter Schafer thanks to her emotional work seen in Euphoria. She looks to be a great casting thus far for the willowy-figured, sharp-featured Tigris, and it will be fascinating to see how she brings the kindness and creativity of the character to life next year!

Check out the rest of the Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes cast here.