Josh Hutcherson admits he tried to stop 'unrealistic' Hunger Games scene but 'they let it happen to me'

Josh Hutcherson has opened up about a bit of a disagreement he had with directors while shooting The Hunger Games.

Looking back more than a decade later, the 33-year-old recently admitted he didn’t always see eye-to-eye with the film’s creative direction.

At one point during the movie, Hutcherson, who plays the doe-eyed baker Peeta Mellark, manages to paint himself with incredible detail in order to camouflage himself into a rock.

It's a scene that has become one of the movie's most memorable, largely because it quickly became a meme.

Although his character had showcased his expert painting skills earlier in the film, fans were still a little uncertain about how he pulled off such seamless artistry in the arena.

Hutcherson has now admitted he found the whole scene 'silly', and said he did try to raise concerns about it at the time.

The actor said he did try to raise concerns about the scene at the time (Photo by Leon Bennett/Getty Images for HBO)

"I was like, 'Look, I know this dude’s a baker, but how is he doing this? Baking sourdough is not painting. How the f**k did he do that?'" he told GQ. "Why didn’t someone stop it? There are so many people who could have stopped it. They let it happen to me. I just lay there."

Despite him begrudgingly doing the rock scene, the actor said he is still proud to have been part of the franchise in general, adding that he still sings its praises all these years later.

"I could talk all day about Hunger Games," Hutcherson shared. "I think [they] are amazing books. They're fantastic movies.

"They stand for something important and real. The themes of authoritarianism and overpowering, violent governments are very present. They didn’t listen to The Hunger Games.”

Peeta transforms himself into a rock (Lionsgate)

It comes ahead of the release of the latest in the movie franchise, The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, which is due to hit cinemas in November.

Similar to the previous addition, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, which came out in 2023, Sunrise on the Reaping is based on Suzanne Collins' 2025 book of the same name.

The movie is set to explore more of the history of Panem, leading up to the main trilogy, another prequel looking at the years before the infamous 50th Hunger Games, in which Katniss and Peeta's mentor, Haymitch Abernathy, competed in — and won.

Fans have been elated to learn that Jennifer Lawrence will be reprising her role of Katniss in the upcoming film after she failed to appear in The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.

Hutcherson is also rumored to feature in Sunrise on the Reaping, BBC reported last year.