Jeffrey Wright Joins ‘Catching Fire’ as Beetee

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire has added Jeffrey Wright to its cast. He’ll play the role of electronics expert Beetee. Lionsgate initially hoped that Tony Shalhoub would play this part in Francis Lawrence’s Hunger Games sequel, but apparently negotiations didn’t work out.

Wright is a Tony and Emmy Award winner – both for incarnations of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America – though his big-screen résumé has yet to earn him accolades. He has received supporting roles in a number of strong films such as The Ides of March and Syriana and played CIA agent Felix Leiter in Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace.

Wright next appears in next year’s Broken City alongside Academy Award winners Russell Crowe and Catherine Zeta-Jones as well as Oscar nominee Mark Wahlberg. 

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire begins filming shortly with a release date of November 22, 2013.