Joseph Zada is Haymitch: the Australian at the centre of Sunrise

When Lionsgate announced Joseph Zada as the young Haymitch Abernathy, the reaction here was immediate: an Australian actor at the centre of the biggest franchise film of 2026. Woody Harrelson’s Haymitch is one of the series’ most closely held characters, and Sunrise on the Reaping rests almost entirely on his younger self.

The stills released so far — including the District 12 forest frame above — suggest a Haymitch we haven’t met: sixteen, unguarded, before the arena does what the arena does. How Zada plays the gap between that boy and the man we know from 2012 is the performance question of the film.

THGAustralia has requested an interview through the film’s Australian publicity. Until then, this page is where our Zada coverage lives — casting, stills and, closer to release, the press tour’s Australian leg.