Skip to main content

the hunger games - Was Caesar Flickerman based on any real TV presenter?



In the Hunger Games books and films, Caesar Flickerman, the host of the pre-Games tribute interviews and in some ways the 'face of the Games', seems like a realistic depiction of a modern talk show host. But that's about as much as I can tell; I don't watch enough TV to be able to tell one such host from another in real life. So I was wondering:


was Caesar inspired by any television presenter in real life?


Either in Suzanne Collins's imagination of him, or in Stanley Tucci's excellent on-screen depiction.



Answer



According to this source (emphasis and links mine), Tucci's portrayal was inspired by at least three other presenters:



Tucci plays flamboyant presenter Caesar Flickerman in the hit film franchise and his portrayal was inspired by American entertainer Wayne Newton, fictional presenter Jiminy Glick, and camp Irish chat show host [Graham] Norton.


In an appearance on Norton's programme this week (ends12Apr15), Tucci admitted the host had been a big influence on the development of Flickerman, telling him, "When you create a character, you steal and cull from all sources. He's a cross between Wayne Newton and Jiminy Glick and there's a little piece of you Graham - the intelligence!"



And according to another interview, Tucci's inspiration for the look of Caesar (as opposed to the performance, presumably?) was based on George Hamilton and Karl Lagerfeld.




The only reference I can find to any inspiration by Suzanne Collins in writing her character was in the notoriously unreliable Hunger Games Wikia, which claims "one might think his last name to be a reference to David Letterman. However, his portrayal is perhaps closer to Leno, which if intentional would mean that Ms. Collins is subtly mocking Jay." However, this may well be completely made up as an excuse to get a nice bit of wordplay in ("mocking Jay"). I definitely wouldn't put any faith in this totally unsourced claim.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

harry potter - Did Dolores Umbridge Have Any Association with Voldemort (or Death Eaters) before His Return?

I noticed that Dolores Umbridge was born during the first Wizarding War, so it's very likely she wasn't a Death Eater then (but she is pretty evil -- who knows?). After that Voldemort was not around in a way that could affect many people, and most wouldn't know he was planning to rise again. During that time, and up through Voldemort's return (in Goblet of Fire ), did Umbridge have any connection with the Death Eaters or with Voldemort? Was she doing what she did on her own, or was it because of an association with Voldemort or his allies? Answer Dolores Umbridge was definitely not a good person. However, as Sirius points out, "the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters". Remember that he also says that he doesn't believe Umbridge to be a Death Eater, but that she's evil enough (or something like that). I think there are two strong reasons to believe that: Umbridge was proud to do everything according to the law, except when she trie...
Post a Comment
Read more

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

aliens - Interstellar Zoo story

I vaguely remember this story from my childhood: it was about an interstellar zoo that came to Earth with lots of bizarre and unusual species, and humans would file through and gape at all the crazy looking creatures from other planets. The twist came at the end when the perspective shifted to the other side of the bars and we discovered that the "creatures" were traveling through space on a kind of safari. They thought they were the visitors and we were the animals. Neither side knew that the other side thought they were the zoo creatures. Answer Got it. Zoo, by Edward D. Hoch. Published in 1958. Link to Publication History Link to PDF
Post a Comment
Read more

tolkiens legendarium - Did Gandalf wear his Ring of Power throughout the trilogy?

After Gandalf discovered that Sauron was back and sent Frodo on his quest to Rivendell, did he continue to wear Narya (one of the Three Rings)? It seems like a huge risk to continue to wear it after the Nazgûl (Ringwraiths) started to try and reclaim the One Ring; if they managed to get the ring to Sauron, couldn't he be corrupted by his power? Whatever powers Narya bestows upon him couldn't possibly be worth the huge risk, could it? Answer When Sauron forged the one ring and put it on his finger, the other ring bearers were immediately aware of him and his intentions and removed their own rings. There is no reason why they couldn't merely do so again. As soon as Sauron set the One Ring upon his finger they were aware of him; and they knew him, and preceived that he would be master of them, and of all they wrought. Then in anger and fear they took off their rings. "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age," Silmarillion
Post a Comment
Read more