Gary Ross defends 'Hunger Games' casting

Gary Ross has defended the decision to cast Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games.

The 20-year-old Winter's Bone star is four years older than the character described in Suzanne Collins's best-selling science fiction novel, however director Ross said that he has the author's full backing in altering the character for the big screen.

Ross told Entertainment Weekly: "First of all I talked to Suzanne extensively about this. Suzanne saw every single audition. And not only did Suzanne not have an issue with Jen's age, she felt you need someone of a certain maturity and power to be Katniss."

The filmmaker noted that he was searching for an actress who could make audiences believe Katniss could "incite a revolution", and feared that a younger star would have been "an insubstantial person" for the role.

"In Suzanne's mind, and in mine, Katniss is not a young girl," he said. "It's important for her to be a young woman. She's a maternal figure in her family."

Asked about Lawrence playing the dark-haired, biracial Katniss, Ross replied: "Suzanne had no issues with Jen playing the role. And she thought there was a tremendous amount of flexibility. It wasn't doctrine to her.

"Jen will have dark hair in the role, but that's something movies can easily achieve. I promise all the avid fans of The Hunger Games that we can easily deal with Jennifer's hair colour."

Collins described Oscar nominee Lawrence as a "powerful, vulnerable, beautiful, unforgiving and brave" actress in yesterday's casting announcement for the Hunger Games adaptation.

> Follow @dsatthemovies on Twitter for our latest movie news, reviews and interviews