After tons of speculation and what seemed like a forever-long wait, MTV News exclusively revealed Thursday that Jennifer Lawrence will play Katniss Everdeen in the upcoming film adaptation of "The Hunger Games." Following the announcement, we checked in with the experts to see what they had to say about Jennifer becoming District 12's tribute.
"I was just the most relieved," said Megan Scott of The Hob. "Like, okay finally we're getting this news. It's official."
It's clear that Jennifer impressed Hollywood with her talent, but now, she has to face the scrutiny of the fans. And that might just be her toughest role to date. Not everyone is so pleased that Jennifer nabbed the part. For one, many fans have complained that at 20, she's just too old to portray 16-year-old Katniss.
"I've always been a fans of hers," said Megan. "But some people don't like it that she's a little older. Personally, I think it's great. I think she needs to bring maturity to the role."
And then, there are the complaints that she doesn't look the part.
"Everybody has a different view of what Katniss looks like in their mind's eye," said Theresa Morgan of Down with the Capitol. "But there's no way anyone Lionsgate could pick would make everyone happy."
In the end, though, acting chops will likely outweigh wrong-colored locks.
"People are like, 'Oh she shouldn't be Katniss because she looks wrong. I'm not going to go see the movie now because she looks wrong,'" said Kimmy West of Mockingjay.net. "Other people are telling them, 'Hey, acting is more important. She's an amazing actress, so we should just keep our minds open for the movie.'"
"She's extremely talented," added Theresa. "In 'Winter's Bone' you can see that she can handle anything that's thrown at her."
And as you may recall, when Robert Pattinson was cast as Edward Cullen in "Twilight," people weren't too happy. But in the end, it seemed to work out pretty well for RPattz. We'll say.
What do you think of Jennifer as Katniss? Let us know in the comments and on Twitter.
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