Joseph Zada plays Caleb Trask in Netflix’s East of Eden, and if you saw him there and wondered where you knew him from, the answer is the Hunger Games. He stars as a younger version of Haymitch Abernathy in the upcoming prequel The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, where Woody Harrelson plays the mentor role.
The Australian actor is also returning as Johnny Sinclair Dennis in We Were Liars Season 2. He caught the acting bug early, dropping out of school to audition for a role in his 2019 debut film Bilched, which co-stars his brother and was directed by his father.
Zada Joins the Hunger Games
Zada told Polyester he was “very excited” but also “very nervous” about joining the franchise. “It feels like I am a tribute and the Capitol is all the viewers watching to see whether I’m ever going to act again. But I’m so excited, the cast is incredible.”
The role puts him in the same story as Woody Harrelson’s Haymitch Abernathy, who was played by Harrelson in the Jennifer Lawrence-led films.
Kazan Told Him Not to Watch Dean
Zada said he had not seen the 1955 film version of East of Eden, which starred James Dean as Caleb Trask. Writer and showrunner Zoe Kazan asked him about it and then told him to avoid it entirely.
Kazan really liked the interpretation of the character he gave during his audition, and that’s what she wanted to capture.
Early Career and His First Audition
Zada’s acting career began with Bilched, a 2019 film that co-stars his brother and was directed by his father. He then established himself with roles in the Australian TV shows Total Control and Invisible Boys.
He told GQ Australia that his school attendance was too low. “They said, ‘If you do that audition, you’re not coming back,'” he said. “So I dropped out to do an audition.”
What Comes Next
On top of the Hunger Games role, Zada is set to return as Johnny Sinclair Dennis in We Were Liars Season 2. The role was previously seen in the Prime Video series based on E. Lockhart’s book.
Zada’s next projects give fans plenty of reasons to keep watching.
The Order of His Upcoming Roles
- The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping as a younger Haymitch Abernathy
- We Were Liars Season 2 as Johnny Sinclair Dennis
- Netflix’s East of Eden as Caleb Trask
What to Expect From Zada
Zada’s performances in East of Eden have drawn attention, and fans of the up-and-coming Aussie will see a lot more of him soon.
“It feels like I am a tribute and the Capitol is all the viewers watching to see whether I’m ever going to act again.”
The Takeaway
Zada’s story is a strange one. An actor who plays a young version of Haymitch Abernathy in the Hunger Games franchise was told not to watch the 1955 East of Eden film starring James Dean until after he finished his own work, lest it influence his performance.
It is a funny situation, and it speaks to the pressure of playing a character made famous by someone else. Kazan wanted Zada’s own take, not Dean’s shadow.
See the video the story is built around at TVLine.
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