'Hunger Games': Woody Harrelson Plays a 'Put-Together' Haymitch

Actors who step into roles in movie adaptations of beloved book series have a tough job. They have to make the character their own, make it work on screen, and still live up to the expectations of all the fans out there who have their own ideas about the character.

The actors in "The Hunger Games" are no exception. While there have been few complaints, if any, about Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss, Josh Hutcherson as Peeta, Elizabeth Banks as Effie and Liam Hemsworth as Gale, some fans have voiced concern that Woody Harrelson might not be the best choice for Haymitch. And when the character posters were revealed and fans saw Harrelson's grunge-rock haircut, that didn't help matters.

In an interview with the LA Times, Harrelson noted other ways that he wanted to adjust the character of Haymitch slightly from the book. Fans of the Suzanne Collins novel will know that Haymitch is an alcoholic and spends most of his time drunk. Harrelson saw the dangers in playing up that part of the role too much, though: "He’s got a drinking problem... but I didn’t want to do it totally like your typical version of an alcoholic in a movie," said Harrelson. "So I tried to keep him a little put-together.

"I dressed him up from what you would expect, too," he added. Sure enough, Harrelson's Haymitch looks to be fairly well-dressed from the little we've seen of him.

News on "The Hunger Games" has been trickling through, as we learned recently that advance tickets would go on sale 74 days in advance. A new image from the movie has been released as well, featuring Katniss and Peeta in their training uniforms. You can see that image below: