Josh Hutcherson Reveals Best Part About Being Done With 'The Hunger Games'
— -- "The Hunger Games" has been a big part of Josh Hutcherson's life for the last three years.
The 22-year-old now ranks among Hollywood's elite and told ABC News that even with the Phenomenon that is this franchise, "It's not all day everyday" and he can get away.
"Everyday that I go out, there may be five people that recognize me and ask for a picture," he said. "It's crazy and intense because I don't want all that attention, I just want to make movies, but you cope with it. And truthfully, it's not that bad."
He joked, "If I go to a store across from a high school and school gets let out, then I'm in trouble. But If I'm walking down the street in a not-so-young kind of area, I'm okay."
Hutcherson has a unique way of staying out of the spotlight.
"I hang out with old people basically," he said, laughing. "I go to retirement homes, Denny's, bingo parlors, it's great! That's where I hang out these days."
The first of four blockbuster movies first debuted in 2012 and since then, Hutcherson has formed a bond with co-stars like Jennifer Lawrence and Liam Hemsworth, and this "family" is what the young actor will miss most when everything comes to a close in November with "Mockingjay -- Part 2."
"I'm going to miss just being with everyone that much," he said. "We are all still close and see each other on a fairly regular basis. When you are filming, it's 12 plus hours a day for months at a time. It's kind of sad, because you had such a great time making them, now it's coming to a close. But also, I think everyone is ready to move on to the next stages of their careers and lives and everything."
As for what he won't miss.
"I'm excited to shed the blonde hair!" he said. "That's the thing that I was like, 'Get out of here!' Having to do touch ups all the time and get my hair redyed and bleached, was not my thing at all."
Hutcherson spoke to ABC as part of his collaboration with Canon for Project Imagination: The Trailer. This contest lets fans and young film makers create their own trailer with Canon's editing tool. An eventual winner will get their trailer made into a short movie starring Josh and famed director Ron Howard.
"For me, the most exciting thing about it, is getting to hear and see these stories from people who never otherwise would have a chance to make a film out of their life. I get to play them in a potential short film," he said.
Hutcherson himself filmed a trailer and said "It was a really cool concept. I'm excited to see it come together."
"[The trailer is] this big, dramatic build up of me walking through the streets if New York with a very serious look and a very long coat," he said. "Then I get in the middle of the park and slowly pull from my jacket a cup and ball and play it. It's a little, funny dramatic thing. Showing what you can do in 60 seconds, 30 seconds."
Hutcherson said filming the Canon trailer "started out being easy, then there were two school buses full of children that happened to be 'Hunger Games' fans. That was kind of fun, because they also went crazy."
Down the road, the actor said he would eventually like to step behind the camera and direct like Howard.
"When I was younger, I used to make so many little short films with like my Legos and my brother. But I haven't done that in a while. Being a director - I've had that goal my whole life," he added. "I used to always say, Ron was one of the people I looked up to, because he was someone who started as a young actor and grew to become a renowned, respected director. Right now, I actually have a production company and we are doing TV shows and movies and all sorts of things. It's called Turkeyfoot Productions. I'm from Kentucky and that's the name of the street our first family house was on."
