John C. Reilly Choosing Between Helping a Wizard and Going Hungry

By  · Published on April 25th, 2011

There’s a decision coming up for John C. Reilly – an actor who’s being courted by two productions right now according to Vulture. One is the Raimi-directed Oz, The Great and Powerful which stars James Franco and wants Reilly as the wizard’s sidekick. The other is The Hunger Games, which is currently casting all living beings and wants Reilly to play a former champion named Haymitch Abernathy who has since lost his glory to the bottle and the aging process.

Either would be great, because Reilly is, but joining The Hunger Games would be a sweet move back into the world of drama. Oz might be that as well, although playing the sidekick instead of the mentor seems a bit beyond him. What would be truly fantastic would be to see the man who nailed down parts in Magnolia and The Good Girl get a chance to showcase that talent again. He got stuck in the Ferrell-based comedy world for a number of years, and he’s shown signs of escaping that with indie dramedies like Cyrus and (oddly enough) a salty role as a foul-mouthed vampire in The Vampire’s Assistant.

It would be pleasing to see him return to the dramatic world, and even if it’s aimed at the Young Adult crowd, playing a burnt out husk of a man who takes the young competitors (who face a true fight to the death) under his wing is a great start.

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