‘The Hunger Games’: Amandla Stenberg Played a Hilarious, Rue Inspired Prank on Her Castmate

From The Hate You Give to Everything, Everything, Amandla Stenberg has been in her fair share of movies. But, what initially put her on the map was joining the cast of The Hunger Games in 2012. In the film, Stenberg played the role of Rue, a fan-favorite character from District 11. Rue was the youngest person in the games and though she was small, she proved to be a valuable ally to the main character, Katniss.

Despite her age, Rue was also a fierce competitor in The Hunger Games. She was adept at climbing trees, finding food, and staying hidden. She also had a cunning and strategic mind for someone so young. It was her idea for Katniss to drop the Tracker Jacker nest on the group of career tributes who were hunting her. But Rue was actually stirring up trouble before the games even began.

Rue was a strong competitor in ‘The Hunger Games’

Fans of The Hunger Games will recall that before the 24 tributes go into the arena, they spend some time in The Capitol undergoing brief training. The tributes receive instruction in combat, weapons, camouflage, survival skills, etc. Throughout this time period, the tributes aren’t allowed to fight with one another, and employees of The Capitol stand on guard to break up any fighting that may arise.

Rue managed to spark controversy prior to the arena when she decided to swipe Cato’s knife. Hailing from District 2, Cato was considered a career tribute. As he, and his female counterpart, trained in a facility from a young age, he was the clear favorite to win The Hunger Games and one of the most lethal tributes. When Rue swiped his knife, he accused another tribute of stealing it and roughed him up promising to get revenge in the arena. Meanwhile, Rue watched from above holding the knife and smirking, with only Katniss and Thresh privy to the truth.

Amandla Stenberg played a hilarious prank on her castmate while filming ‘The Hunger Games’

It’s clear that Rue was a bit of a prankster and it seems that Stenberg shared that attribute with her character. In an interview with Collider, Alexander Ludwig, who was cast as Cato in The Hunger Games, recalled her playing a particularly hilarious prank on him.

“Amandla is a prankster,” Ludwig shared about his fellow Hunger Games castmates. “I remember, one day, I was doing a fight scene on set and was just practicing with some of the stunt guys. In North Carolina, during the time we were filming, it was so hot that it was disgusting. It was like you had just walked out of a shower of sweat. It was gross. I’ve never been so disgusted. So, I had my shirt off when we were doing the fight training, and I had no clothes, so I had to run back to my trailer to go get my clothes.”

‘The Hunger Games’ cast had a great time on set

“When I did, all my clothes were gone,” Ludwig continued. “I couldn’t find them anywhere. I just found this little note from Amandla and Jackie Emerson, who plays Fox Face. I was like, ‘Oh, my god! What have they done?’ I had no clothes. I was in my boxers, trying to find all my clothes, and I found some of them in the fridge and some of them in the microwave. It was ridiculous! That was one of the many, many things Amandla did to ruin my life on set,” The Hunger Games alum joked.

It seems that while things may have been serious while the cameras were rolling, it was all fun and games on the set of The Hunger Games during other times. It’s great that the cast of the movie had such a fun time shooting the films. A bit of levity can go a long way especially when you’re filming such a dark movie.