Whitney Peak and the Sunrise on the Reaping Cast Surprise Fans at New York Comic Con
The Ugandan-Canadian actress joined Joseph Zada, Mckenna Grace, Ben Wang and Iris Apatow for two surprise appearances ahead of the film’s November 20 theatrical release.
By Y. Marie Kiven,, Black Film Wire
Fans who showed up at New York Comic Con on Friday expecting panels and merch lines got a bonus round. Ugandan-Canadian actress Whitney Peak (Gossip Girl, Hocus Pocus 2) and her castmates from The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping made two unannounced appearances. Lionsgate is clearly using them to build momentum for the most anticipated Panem story since the original trilogy.
Peak was joined by Joseph Zada (We Were Liars), Mckenna Grace (Gifted, Ghostbusters: Afterlife), Ben Wang (American Born Chinese, Karate Kid: Legends) and Iris Apatow (Love, This Is 40).
Two surprise stops turned a regular Comic Con Friday into a Panem event
The cast’s first stop was The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping Experience, a fan activation set up across the street from the Javits Center. The experience walks guests from District 12 into the beauty of the Games and the danger underneath it, then drops them into the spectacle of Panem’s broadcasts. Visitors leave with personalized digital photos built into artwork inspired by the film. The first 100 fans in line each day also got an exclusive commemorative NYCC 2026 poster.
From there, the cast moved to Scholastic’s booth on the convention floor for an exclusive costume reveal and a signing of the new commemorative poster.
Whitney Peak plays the heart of Haymitch’s story
Peak was born in Kampala, Uganda, where she attended boarding school before her family moved to Canada.
In the film she plays Lenore Dove Baird, Haymitch Abernathy’s girlfriend and a member of the Covey, the traveling musicians fans first met through Lucy Gray Baird in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Lenore Dove is the emotional anchor of Haymitch’s story, and Peak was one of the first two leads Lionsgate announced, alongside Zada.
The role adds to a run of high-visibility firsts. In 2023, Peak became the face of Chanel’s Coco Mademoiselle fragrance, the first Black face of a Chanel scent. She is also set to lead Sony Pictures’ shark thriller Shiver.
The cast puts Black talent at the center of a global tentpole
Peak isn’t the only Black actor carrying weight in this film. Kelvin Harrison Jr. (Waves, Elvis), the New Orleans-born actor, plays Beetee Latier, the District 3 tribute fans know as the inventor who later helps bring down the arena in Catching Fire. One Ugandan-born, one Black American, both in roles the Hunger Games story can’t run without: Lenore Dove holds Haymitch’s heart, and Beetee becomes one of the rebellion’s sharpest minds.
The story goes back to the Games that made Haymitch
From acclaimed director Francis Lawrence (Catching Fire, I Am Legend), The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping follows sixteen-year-old Haymitch Abernathy (Joseph Zada) from District 12, beginning on the morning of the reaping for the 50th Annual Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell, the biggest Games yet with twice as many tributes.
Set in the world of Panem 24 years before the events of The Hunger Games, the story follows Haymitch into the arena, where he forms an unlikely alliance with fellow tribute Maysilee Donner (Mckenna Grace) and joins a coalition determined to challenge the Capitol’s control under President Snow (Ralph Fiennes, Conclave, Schindler’s List). As the competition unfolds, Haymitch risks everything to take down the Games from within the arena, setting in motion the rebellion that will change Panem forever.
Based on Suzanne Collins’ best-selling novel, The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping also stars Jesse Plemons (Killers of the Flower Moon, Civil War), Glenn Close (Fatal Attraction, The Wife), Kieran Culkin (Succession, A Real Pain), Elle Fanning (The Great, Maleficent), Maya Hawke (Stranger Things, Inside Out 2), Whitney Peak, and Kelvin Harrison Jr. Produced by Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson and Francis Lawrence. Screenplay by Billy Ray and Michael Lesslie.
Official trailer, The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping
About the Film
Directed by: Francis Lawrence
Screenplay by: Billy Ray and Michael Lesslie
Adaptation by: Suzanne CollinsBased on the Novel by: Suzanne Collins
Produced by: Nina Jacobson p.g.a., Brad Simpson p.g.a., Francis Lawrence p.g.a.
Cast: Joseph Zada, Jesse Plemons, Ralph Fiennes, Glenn Close, Kieran Culkin, Elle Fanning, Mckenna Grace, Maya Hawke, Whitney Peak, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Ben Wang
Rating: PG-13 for strong violence, bloody images, disturbing material, some smoking and teen drinking
U.S. Release Date: November 20, 2026
Production: Lionsgate presents, a Color Force production
Our take
At Black Film Wire, we track where African and diaspora talent shows up in the biggest rooms in the business, and this is one of them. A Ugandan-born actress plays the character holding Haymitch’s heart in a franchise this size, and that’s more than a casting note. Comic Con crowds are the fans who carry a film into its opening weekend. Seeing Peak front and center with them is a good sign for how Lionsgate plans to sell this one.
FILM DETAILS: The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is rated PG-13 for strong violence, bloody images, disturbing material, some smoking and teen drinking. It opens only in theaters November 20, 2026. Follow along with #TheHungerGames.
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