Hunger Games' Elizabeth Banks Reveals Which Couple Would "Have Fun in the Sack!"

Effie Trinket herself explains her onscreen sexual tension with Woody Harrelson

By Ted Casablanca, John Boone Mar 21, 2012 1:30 PMTags
Elizabeth Banks, Jennifer LawrenceFRANZISKA KRUG/startraksphoto.com

Forget Katniss and whether she ends up with Peeta or Gale. Yeah, you heard us right.

Because as much as we heart the couple now dubbed "Peetnis" by the cast (to which Jennifer Lawrence pointed out, "that's pretty close to penis") once you see The Hunger Games tomorrow night at midnight—you are seeing it at midnight, right?!—you'll discover that another couple rocks some serious chemistry.

And Elizabeth Banks was more than happy to break it down for us:

It's Effie and Haymitch, y'all! Ms. Trinket and Mr. Abernathy have some serious sexual tension in the flick. Bet you didn't pick up on that in the book, did ya?

"Yes! I thought the same thing!" Wes Bentley (who plays Seneca Crane) enthusiastically chimed in when we asked Elizabeth about the pairing at a press day for the film held here in L.A.

"Haymitch and Effie have spent a lot of time together," Elizabeth coyly quipped. "We played a lot with that actually."

"I think that there is actual respect between the two of them….We wanted to play them like they're old—well, they're not old friends, but there is a respect between them," Ms. Banks very professionally filled us in, before dishing the real juicy dirt:

"I think Effie has a huge crush on Haymitch. I have a huge crush on Woody [Harrelson]. And I think Haymich is like "Eh, I think Effie would be fun in the sack. I would do that.'"

And apparently Effie would be totally game—at least according to Elizabeth, who told Celebuzz "I always read the Capitol as like f--ked up pansexuality. Like everybody is doing everybody. It's back to Greek and Roman times—it's happening."

Now that's a city we can get behind.

So how did Elizabeth—who describes herself as a "huge super nerd fan of the books," saying "I was on the waitlist for Mockingjay on Amazon"—go about channeling the potentially over-the-top, pink-wigged chaperone?

"I wanted Effie to be ageless. For all you know, she's 105 and she's been doing this a long time," Banks told us. "I had no interest in just being comic relief, I really wanted a three dimensional character…She needed to be brainwashed, which I think is really interesting, and she's ultimately kind of a villain, which is fun too."

Especially when you've got a hunky dude (albeit with a questionable movie wig) to heat things up with, right?