Josh Hutcherson, a notable brunette, famously dyed his hair blonde to play the beloved Peeta Mellark in The Hunger Games movies. While he adored his time working on the iconic YA dystopian films, and recently said he’d be down to return as Peeta, he absolutely hated dying his hair blonde. However, he recently went back to having a lighter look for his film on the 2024 movie schedule, The Beekeeper, and he told me why he was willing to take on the bleach again, despite his previous experiences with it.
During an interview with CinemaBlend, Josh Hutcherson opened up about the decision to go back to blonde. He was very open about the fact that after The Hunger Games he was “traumatized.” However, when he learned about his villainous tech-mogel Beekeeper character Derek, he thought the look was perfect. So, it was back to blonde for the actor as he told me:
I, you know, after the Hunger Games, I was a bit traumatized, because it's so much work to maintain a well-done bleached hair thing. And my hair was fried. And I was just like, ‘I'm never doing it again.’ And the second that they brought up the idea of doing that for Derek, I thought it was genius, because it just kind of shows. It's not good, the way he has it done is not cool. And I think that this guy is so out of touch with reality, and out of touch with style and has so much money, and no one to tell him no, that him having a pretty bad hair situation felt like a great addition to this character.
This answer was in response to me asking him about what he told Fandango about “never” wanting to go blonde again after being part of The Hunger Games cast for four movies. However, once he learned about his character in this Jason Statham bee-inspired thriller, he couldn’t turn down the idea. He was ready to take the bleach again.
I must admit, the blonde really works for Derek. It’s more of a dirty blonde, and as Hutcherson said, it fits the arrogant know-it-all type his character is. Derek is a child of a very well-off family and had everything handed to him, as Eric Eisenberg wrote in his review of The Beekeeper, this villain is “a wretched nepotism-fed tech executive.” His definition of cool doesn’t exactly match what most would say, and as the Five Nights at Freddy's star put it, this villain’s “pretty bad hair situation” is a good reflection of who he is.
Along with this being a fitting decision for Hutcherson's character, it also likely wasn't nearly as hard as going blonde for The Hunger Games. As you can see in the photo below, Derek’s blonde is not as full coverage as Peeta’s, so it probably required significantly less upkeep in comparison to the tribute’s look.
Meanwhile, Peeta’s blonde is full coverage, as you can see in the image below. There are no roots showing, and therefore, the upkeep, as Hutcherson said, was a lot, and he did not like it.
Overall, while Peeta is a more delightful character, it sounds like Derek’s hair was a more delightful style for Hutcherson. It was also so fitting for his out-of-touch villain in The Beekeeper. The look adds to this fun part, and as a whole, this character is totally new for the actor.
It was so fun to see Josh Hutcherson take on a villainous role and come up with a new look for it. The fact that he decided to go back to blonde just exemplifies his commitment to the character, and his willingness to transform. To see this transformation and Hutcherson go up against Jason Statham, you can catch The Beekeeper in theaters now.
