Philip Seymour Hoffman Says ‘The Hunger Games’ Is Good For Kids

Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman is more than a fan of The Hunger Games novels. He thinks that the stories, though sometimes controversial for their depictions of child violence, are good for kids in many ways.

Hoffman (The Master) will be playing head gamemaker Plutarch Heavensbee in the next three Hunger Games films. He told the Wall Street Journal that he’s a huge fan of Suzanne Collins’ novels, and explained that the story is something that kids should experience.

“It’s unbelievable what this woman has done,” said 45-year-old Hoffman. “She literally tells our modern history of war and the awful things that have happened through these science-fiction novels. In the modern day, we send children off to die to protect our way of life, basically. It’s very powerful the way she does it.”

Amazed by the Collins trilogy of books, Hoffman immediately wanted to be a part of the films, reports MSN. Though the story involves a heavy dose of violence among children, Hoffman says that the message of The Hunger Games isn’t “kids who kill each other.”He says that if the films are done right, they are something that kids should see.

Hoffman says that while his role as Heavensbee isn’t very big in Catching Fire, the writers added more for his character (just as they did with his predecessor, Wes Bentley’s Seneca Crane). Then, by the time they reach Mockingjay, everything changes for his gamemaker.

“I’m looking forward to the next two [films], because his job becomes very different,” Hoffman said of the role. “The story becomes very different and everyone will see what happens.”

Are you excited for Catching Fire? Do you think that the story of The Hunger Games is something kids should see?