Movies

Elizabeth Banks: 'Hunger Games Effie inspired by Auntie Mame'

Published Tuesday, Nov 29 2011, 02:21 GMT | By Tara Fowler | Add comment

Elizabeth Banks at the ‘Malaria No More: Hollywood Bites Back!’ event in Los Angeles, California

Elizabeth Banks has opened up about the inspiration for her portrayal Effie Trinket in The Hunger Games.

The Our Idiot Brother star revealed that she modelled the character after Rosalind Russell in Auntie Mame, adding that she did not want Effie to sound too British.

"It's a combination of The Philadelphia Story and Rosalind Russell in Auntie Mame," Banks told Entertainment Weekly.

"Rosalind Russell is just amazing. It's one of my favourite performances ever. I wanted Effie to be really theatrical. I just wanted to make sure she didn't sound too British. She needed to be a little highfalutin'."

Lionsgate is currently courting Slumdog Millionaire scribe Simon Beaufoy to pen the follow-up to The Hunger Games.

Banks has previously claimed that she was one of the first people to read The Hunger Games, saying that she was interested in the project from the beginning.

Watch the trailer for The Hunger Games below:

Move through a series of character posters for The Hunger Games below: