Director Francis Lawrence and producer Nina Jacobson told PEOPLE Glenn Close’s team contacted them during casting for the upcoming Hunger Games prequel Sunrise on the Reaping, saying Close wanted to join; she plays Drusilla Sickle, Effie Trinket’s predecessor.
Drusilla travels to District 12 to select that year’s Hunger Games tributes and escort them to the Capitol. Lawrence said he and Close developed the character through video calls, texts and shared references; Close sent voice recordings and drawings, and Jacobson described her hair-and-makeup experiments.
The District 12 scenes were filmed in Duisburg, Germany, while the cast and crew were staying in Düsseldorf. Lawrence said Close asked to sleep in her trailer rather than at the hotel to avoid traveling; Jacobson said this let her be on set much earlier.
