I never really read a character before that I connected with more than Peeta. So, for me, if I couldn't get that job I was like, 'Well, if I can't play practically myself in a movie, what can I play?'

Hutcherson also appeared in a film adaptation of the book Cirque Du Freak. Being from Northern Kentucky Hutcherson has been a lifelong fan of both the University of Kentucky's Wildcats and nearby Cincinnati Ohio's Major League Baseball team the Reds. Hutcherson's next role was in Firehouse Dog (released on April 4 2007) in which he played Shane Fahey a firefighter's son who befriends a dog.

Joshua Ryan "Josh" Hutcherson (born October 12 1992) is an American film and television actor. Hutcherson was also featured on a Celebrity Teens edition of the hit show MTV Cribs and portrayed Peeta Mellark in the 2012 film The Hunger Games. He began working in the early 2000s appearing in several minor film and television roles.