As a 9-year-old kid in Kentucky, Josh Hutcherson took it upon himself to find a local acting agency in the phone book and call them up. “The conversation went, ‘Hello, I would like to make movies,’ and they responded with: ‘That’s great. Can we talk to your parents?’” he recalled. “I was like, ‘I’ll have to call you back.’”
His parents allowed him to attend an acting class, and when the instructor suggested he go to Los Angeles to audition, Hutcherson’s mother, a Delta Air Lines employee who had just been laid off in the weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, used her time off to drive across the country with her budding thespian son.
“She thought pilot season was aviation-related,” Hutcherson said, referring to the period in which TV producers cast their new shows. “That shows you how little we knew.”
Despite the naïveté, Hutcherson quickly booked a string of prominent roles, and by the time he turned 18, he had acted in films like “Little Manhattan,” “Bridge to Terabithia,” “Zathura: A Space Adventure,” “Journey to the Center of the Earth” and the Oscar-nominated “The Kids Are All Right.”
Then, in 2012, came “The Hunger Games.” Hutcherson landed the coveted role of Peeta, the tenderhearted tribute and Katniss’s love interest, in the first four blockbuster films. But rather than propel his career to new heights, the franchise seemed to stunt him.
“There was this big promise after ‘Hunger Games’ of what your career is going to be, and it never happened,” he said. “I’ve experienced how fleeting it is.”
Now, 10 years after his last “Hunger Games” film was released, Hutcherson is in the midst of a career renaissance. He led the 2023 horror film “Five Nights at Freddy’s” — the video game adaptation about a security worker battling deranged animatronics that earned more than $290 million worldwide — and reprised his role for a sequel, in theaters now.
He also currently stars on “I Love L.A.,” the HBO comedy about Gen-Z influencers and influencer-adjacents in Los Angeles, which has been renewed for a second season. Hutcherson plays Dylan, the levelheaded boyfriend of the series creator Rachel Sennott’s character, Maia. But what could be a stock, nice-guy role is elevated to something much more interesting. Dylan is a kindly Spanish teacher who cooks elaborate meals, reads books about European history and spontaneously does cocaine.
Hutcherson is likewise almost fluent in Spanish, thanks to his girlfriend, the Spanish actress Claudia Traisac. He also likes to cook, is a World War II buff and was a bit of a partyer in his 20s. “It just turns out, actually, I’m not all that original,” he joked, and noted that the cast is “very much playing heightened versions of ourselves.”
When we spoke via video the week of Thanksgiving, the 33-year-old actor was relaxing at his dad’s house in Kentucky before heading to Atlanta to spend the holiday with his younger brother.
Here are edited excerpts from our conversation.
When you were starting out, were there certain actors’ careers you’d hoped to emulate?
Weirdly enough, I’ve never really been a goal-oriented person. I’ve never been like “I want to win an Oscar,” or “I want to make millions of dollars.” I just wanted to make interesting projects and find ways to challenge myself. I’ve seen people that get it all, and it’s like, “OK, then what?” For me, I thought I made it the day I got cast in my first job when I was 9 years old.
On “I Love L.A.,” one character makes a joke about having a theory that all child actors have been molested. But when you talk about your own experiences, I don’t get a sense of that darkness.
Not at all. I look back at it so, so fondly. As a kid, I never wanted to leave set. When they told me that my nine and a half hours were up for the day, I would cry. When they would wrap me, I’d go hang out on the camera truck and learn about lenses and film stock. I just loved that whole world, and I still do to this day.
I never felt any of that weight or heaviness, or even a sense of rejection — that was something I didn’t really experience until I was much older, post-“Hunger Games.” From age 23 or 24 to almost 30, I wasn’t getting the kinds of roles that I wanted or cast in the things I was auditioning for. It was a brutal few years. I’d only known movie to movie to “yes” to “yes” to then, all of a sudden, not getting things. It was a hard lesson to learn that late in the game.
That’s kind of a surprising turn of events because “The Hunger Games” was such a huge role for you.
I think it was a mix of things. I definitely wanted to branch out and not just play Peeta in various forms again and again, but beyond that, those auteur filmmakers or indie creatives that I was dying to work with, I wasn’t really on their radar because I was in this other category as Peeta. It brings you a lot of fame and notoriety, but it can play against you.
You live in L.A.’s Silver Lake neighborhood, like the characters on “I Love L.A.” Does your social life resemble theirs?
Kind of, yeah. I’m always on the reservoir, and I go to [the upscale grocery store] Erewhon a lot. It’s overpriced, but I’m a member, so I get 10 percent back on all my purchases.
The “Five Nights at Freddy’s” video games have a devoted fandom, but I don’t think anyone anticipated the level of box-office success that the first film had. What was your sense of the kind of movie you were making and who would see it?
I did not know anything about the “F.N.A.F.” fandom. I’d never played the game. I’d never heard of the game. I was told that the fans are die hard, but I thought it was more niche and there were, like, a few people. Turns out, there are tens of millions. That put a certain level of pressure on making the sequel to step it up. I’m hopeful that there’s a third movie, as well, and I’m in it. I love playing in the “F.N.A.F.” world.
The “Freddy” films, “I Love L.A.” and your upcoming A24 horror film all involve female directors and writers. Is that something you’ve been intentional about seeking out?
No, it’s just so happened that the good [expletive] that is getting made is from these great female creators. I didn’t realize that until you said it right now. It’s just been the best stuff.
A lot of the fans who grew up with you see you as the nice guy next door because of the roles you’ve played. Did you ever rebel against that image?
I mean, all the time, professionally and personally. When I was in my early 20s, I had a bit of a rebellious spirit, so maybe there was some partying. Career-wise, I said no to a lot of things that were the nice guy, the golden boy. I rebelled against the industry and was like: “Oh, you’re not going to give me cool projects? Well, then I don’t [expletive] care about you.” That was just me gaslighting myself because you feel safer when you can say you don’t care. But I’m over that now.
On the flip side, “The Hunger Games” is seemingly more popular than ever. Have you noticed an uptick in fans connecting with the films in recent years?
The truth is, since “The Hunger Games” came out, there haven’t been many days that have gone by where fans don’t approach me about it, and it’s so cool. What those movies represent is such a powerful, amazing message and such a cautionary tale of what can happen with an overpowerful government and an overpowerful king, so to speak.
We’re not living in “The Hunger Games” by any means, but there’s an overreaching, oligarchic type of government being set up with authoritarian colors here and there. So, I think that those movies keep resonating, unfortunately. I wish they would be irrelevant. I wish they’d be: “Oh, look at that relic. Remember back when we were afraid of that happening?” But, unfortunately, that’s not the case.
There are rumors that you will reprise your role for a cameo in the “Hunger Games” prequel “Sunrise on the Reaping.” Have you filmed anything for that?
No. I don’t know what’s happening in that world, but I would love to be a part of it. I haven’t read the newest book yet. I would happily reprise my role as Peeta at the drop of a hat.
You once said that you’d never connected more with a character in your entire life than Peeta. What do you have in common with a baker’s son in a dystopian hellscape?
The biggest thing, and it might come across even talking with you now, is that I don’t want to be a piece in someone else’s game. Over the years, it’s been about not letting myself get caught up in the rat race of Hollywood, like you need to get this brand deal, and you have to go to seven events this week because you have to be seen. I’ll do things when I need to promote something, but I’m not going to play that game.
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