Liam Hemsworth finally gets to make his mark with ‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2’. 

by Gill Pringle | August 28, 2015 14:59 | Edited August 28, 2015 15:00

Actor Liam Hemsworth finally gets to make his mark with ‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2’.

“He’s a really compelling, great actor,” original

director, Gary Ross, said of Australian talent, Liam Hemsworth. The younger brother of

star, Chris Hemsworth, this 25-year-old actor burst onto the international scene in the 2010 romantic drama,

, and is now enjoying major stardom, thanks to his eye catching presence in the aforementioned smash hit franchise, which closes out with

“Yeah, a lot more. There’s a lot of action in these films. The most fun is when we have scenes where we’re all in the same room with Woody and Jennifer, Josh and Jeffrey Wright. There were a couple of different scenes throughout these last two films which were hard to get through because we’re all like little kids. It’s tough to get through takes sometimes.”

times, especially if he doesn’t have lines in a scene and the rest of you

have lines. He’ll just go all day long. He’s quite hard to work with sometimes.”

Do you get on each other’s nerves working together for so long?

“No, we’re pretty lucky. You’d hate to do something for this long with people that you didn’t get along with. We’ve been together for years now, and we’re all really good friends. It makes those long days a lot easier when you enjoy being around them.”

How did you feel about the sad death of Philip Seymour Hoffman?

“Yeah, it’s very sad obviously…it was extremely sad. He was a good friend of everyone, a great actor, and a great person. It was really upsetting and very shocking.”

Gale has a much bigger role in this movie. Did you have to go, physically and emotionally, to places that you hadn’t been before?

“Yeah, physically a lot, and emotionally as well. Gale has been held back from doing anything in all these stories, and now all of a sudden he’s in a position where he’s able to fight back. He’s ready to go to war; he’s willing to do anything to take down The Capitol. I got injured so many times on these films just from doing stunts all day long. I like to do my own stunts, as much as they’ll allow me to do it. But it gets repetitive, and you get beaten up through the process. I do a lot of physical activity outside of work when I’m doing something like this. I train with all the stunt guys, and do various different sports: boxing, kick-boxing, running, sprinting and lifting things…”

Were there any new skills that you picked up from that training?

“Yeah, we did a lot of kick-boxing training beforehand with guys who have been doing kick-boxing for most of their lives. You learn a lot doing stuff like this with guys who really know what they’re doing.”

Do you ever train with your brother, Chris?

“We see each other here and there, but he’s constantly working and I’m working but, yeah, we train a little bit.”

“Am I a good loser? Yeah, I’m okay…”

“No, not when it comes to work, no, not at all. We’re both so thankful to be where we are, and we’re really happy for each other when we do anything so it’s complete support there. But sports? Very competitive!”

Aussie director, Philip Noyce, has said that the Australian male is more masculine than other men. Would you agree?

“Aaah, I don’t know. It’s a tough one.”

He said that it was because Australian men were so open. Do you agree with that?

“It’s a nice thing for him to say, although I don’t want to generalise too much because everyone is different. A lot of Australian men grow up in a similar environment; you grow up in trades, doing trade work and that kind of thing, and a lot of Australians possess a bluntness and a more straightforward way of looking at things…”

“Maybe it could be the Vegemite. I grew up on Vegemite. It’s the salt!”

“I really miss Australia. I’ve been in the states for almost six years now. I miss where I grew up. I miss the simplicity of where I grew up; there are no traffic lights and things like that. I miss living in a small community and being somewhat disconnected from reality or the rest of the world; I miss that kind of life. I love visiting, and going back for periods of time, but right now, I travel so much anyway that I’m not really anywhere for an extended period of time.”

Is there anything that you miss from home?

“Fish and chips! Vegemite toast…I have Vegemite over here now, but it doesn’t taste the same; it tastes

Do you seek out the shops here where you can buy Aussie food?

“You can buy Vegemite at World Market, but I haven’t found it. Someone else told me that, but I haven’t actually bought it. I usually get friends to bring it over. Or you can order it on-line. I’ve actually seen Tim-Tams in supermarkets over here. I don’t think they taste as good over here either!”

What will you miss the most about filming

“I’ll miss the relationships that we’ve all built, from the cast to the crew. The crew’s been the same since the beginning, and there are so many people that I’m really close friends with now. Towards the end of shooting, me and Jennifer would sit there and get quite emotional about the fact that it was coming to an end, and the fact that we wouldn’t be spending as much time with all these people. That’s what we’ll all miss the most.” 

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