VampireNewsBeat.com

In a new interview with And We Present, Latarsha Rose who was cast as Portia – Peeta’s stylist – discusses her career, landing the role in The Hunger Games and preparing for it.

Joyce Sparks: When did you discover that you loved acting and entertainment?

Latarsha Rose: I think I harbored it secretly as a child. I was a dancer. I admired, watched and read everything about Lena Horne as an actress and activist, but I had never tapped into theater [myself]. And I loved watching TV and movies. It was in college when I took an English class that was drama based that I think I got the bug. It was the opportunity to create characters, costumes and the [whole] performance aspect.. After that class, I took a theater class and it lit a fire in me. I didn’t take it seriously though; I didn’t think I could pursue it. I was getting ready to go to law school, but my heart was pulling me towards acting.

JS: How did you prepare yourself for this character?

LR: I started out by reading the book. I read the series about three times because that was all I had, so I wanted to immerse myself in that world as much as I could. Then I started to keep a journal of things and ideas that popped up to me as I was reading it. I began to think about Portia and how she may live, walk and exist in her world. I started to even explore what, and this may sound silly, but what she may wear, how she may dress and even what her favorite colors may be. So it was the little background things. I thought about what their world was like and different things of that nature.

Thanks for the tip, HG Girl on Fire!