Josh Hutcherson Is Eerily Silent in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay–Part 1 Propaganda Trailer—Watch Now!

His character, Peeta Mellark, stands by the evil President Snow, played by Donald Sutherland

By Corinne Heller Jun 25, 2014 5:01 PMTags

The silence of Josh Hutcherson's character speaks volumes in a new teaser trailer for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay–Part 1.

Amid a white background, his character, Peeta Mellark, stands with a pained look beside President Snow, played by Donald Sutherland, as the malevolent leader makes his official Panem Address from the Capitol. The two also sport all-white suits.

"Your districts are the body," Sutherland says in the propaganda video, which was released on Wednesday, June 25. "The capitol is the beating heart. Your hard work feeds us and in return, we feed and protect you. But if you resist the system, you starve yourself. If you fight against it, it is you who will bleed. I know you will stand with me, with us, with all of us, together, as one."

The Hunger Games series, based on books by Suzanne Collins, is set in a post-apocalyptic world where children and teenagers are chosen from 12 districts every year to fight to the death in a televised event called the Hunger Games. In the most recent film, the 2013 movie Catching Fire, Peeta was taken prisoner in the Capitol after he and fellow tournament survivor and love interest Katniss Everdeen, played by main star Jennifer Lawrence, compete in a special "all-star" tournament.

The president had long viewed Katniss as public enemy No. 1 because her act of defiance in her first Hunger Games—in which she coaxes Peeta to join her and eat poisonous berries to avoid fighting to the death—inspired citizens to rebel. Plutarch Heavensbee, played by the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, told Snow that the rebels see her as their "mockingjay." This is a genetically-created bird that can imitate humans' singing voices but falls silent while in the presence of a person whose voice they respect.

(Spoiler alert!)

In The Hunger Games: Mockingjay–Part 1, Everdeen teams up with the rebels and strives to save Peeta. The movie is set for release on Nov. 21 and also stars series newcomer Julianne Moore, who plays the militant rebellion leader President Coin, as well as returning cast members Liam Hemsworth, who plays Katniss' other love interest, Gale; Elizabeth BanksWoody Harrelson and Hoffman. The actor, who died on Feb. 2, also appears in the second Mockingjay film, which concluded filming last week.