Because I am the only one at RUSSH who has seen The Hungers Games prequel, and because I can't keep typing "Tom Blyth Hunger Games river scene" into Google, I thought it best to share the information from my post-screening deep dive into the actor with you all. You're welcome.
Below, all you need to know about Tom Blyth, the man who transformed the generation who witnessed Katniss Everdeen risk everything to overthrow the Capitol, into Coriolanus Snow apologists (we can fix him).
Aquarius men... there's something about them
Blyth is part of a club that includes Harry Styles and Jeremy Allen White, and we're asking again, for an honorary membership. Born in Birmingham on February 2, 1995, the actor was raised in Nottingham and later moved to New York to attend Juilliard with classmates like Maya Hawke, where he graduated in 2020. He studied there to emulate the paths of his idols like Oscar Isaac and Adam Driver. In an interview with W the actor recalls seeing their respective performances on Inside Llewyn Davis and Girls and wanting to get in on the action.
His dad shared his passion for cinema
Blyth's father was the late journalist and director Gavin Blyth, known for his work on British soaps like Emmerdale and Coronation Street. He passed away in 2010, and in a conversation with Maya Hawke for Wonderland, Blyth shares that it's his father's passion for cinema that propels him forward during the tougher moments of his career. "It’s carrying that torch for him because he never got to do it in the way that he wanted to. He’d just started getting there and then he passed away, unfortunately."
Where have you seen him before?
From minors parts in TV series The Gilded Age to his titular lead role in Billy the Kid, which is currently in its second season, Blyth has a handful of acting parts of his sleeve. However, neither compare to his breakout role as a young Coriolanus Snow in The Hungers Games: the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. In the newly released film, Blyth was tasked with crafting an early portrait of the young Snow, before he had fully embraced the depths of evil depicted by Donald Sutherland in the original trilogy adaptation.
Young Coriolanus Snow is redeemable and, for the most part, good, which is clear to those in his orbit, including his cousin Tigris (played by Hunter Schafer) and love interest Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler). However, as the film develops and Snow's loyalty to the Capitol and lust for power is at odds with his desire for Lucy and freedom. The old proverb about the road to hell being paved with good intentions is fitting here.
He's a budding fashion girlie
Blyth clearly has a future, if not as a friend of some fashion house, then brightening up the red carpets. Don't believe us? Here's the actor walking for Hermes, and at the Los Angeles premiere of the film kitted out in Tom Ford.
@lionsgate Coriolanus Snow: 😡 Tom Blyth: 😊 #thehungergames #theballadofsongbirdsandsnakes ♬ THE HUNGER GAMES In Theaters Nov 17 - Lionsgate
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Image: @tomblyth
