This week, /Film posted a hand-written note from Kristen Bell to readers. The note read: “Kristen Bell 4 Johanna Mason”. At least she’s not being shy about what she wants. This is not the first time Bell has shown an interest in The Hunger Games. She tweeted her enthusiasm last year.

“I’m not just ‘a’ hunger games fan. THE hunger games fan. read both books twice … 2nd time i read it aloud 2 friends & did different voices for each character. i am the king of the nerds!”

Perhaps it was during her impromptu readers theater performance that she identified the District 7 tribute as being the role for her.

Bell has also discussed The Hunger Games with an interviewer from Shape magazine.

“It’s a wonderfully engaging story about a young female gladiator. I read the first one in a day — it’s that good.”

Max Adler, who is best known for his work as school bully Dave Karofsky on Glee, also sees himself as a tribute. He talked about The Hunger Games and District 2 tribute Cato with AllMediaNY.

“I was a big fan of the book…I literally read it in one day. I picked it up at noon, and I didn’t put it down until, like, 9 p.m., and I literally just read the whole book and I just was fascinated…And so when I read that and I saw that role of Cato, I just thought, “How amazing would it be to be a part of something like this?” and really just contribute to what I kind of thought his methodology would be and all his reasons for doing things, and the fact that he trained his whole life to fight for his life. Who does that? I was really just blown away by the whole concept, so I did want to be a part of it.”

Adler went on to say that he’s already going to be shooting a film this summer in Michigan, and probably wouldn’t be available for The Hunger Games. Even though Adler said he was unavailable, the fact that he continued to discuss Cato makes it seem like he’s still interested.

“Comparing Cato to Karofsky, they’re very, very different, and they’re coming from different places, so I wouldn’t really see that necessarily as the same role, because Cato’s violence and animalistic tendencies (are) much, much different from Karofsky giving a shove into a locker. It’s also Karofsky’s motivations for doing things and the secrets that he has, and everything that he’s keeping under the surface. Cato’s just out there just to fight and survive for his life – there’s none of the homosexuality in there at all.”

Read more about Kristen Bell and Max Adler Want a Piece of The Hunger Games Action by www.reelzchannel.com

It’s got to be hard work casting a character when fans are nearly unanimous in their choice of actor. I imagine that when the folks behind Game of Thrones approached Peter Dinklage, they were feeling the pressure of the thousands of fans positive that he was the only possible person to play the sarcastic, silver-tongued dwarf, Tyrion Lannister. In that case, Dinklage was offered and accepted the role, but the producers of Hunger Games seem poised to neglect the public’s clamoring for Kristin Chenoweth in the role of the bubbly, bushy-tailed Effie Trinket. Instead, they are in talks with Elizabeth Banks.

Now, I’ve long been rooting for Banks to get the role, so naturally I think this news is great. I know there’s plenty of disagreement from Chenoweth fans, as well as certain people at EW who shall remain nameless — let’s just refer to them as Varen Kalby – but here’s my reasoning: Yes, Effie is about as bright and chipper as a squirrel in an acorn factory, but if you scratch her smiles-and-rainbows surface, you end up with something much darker. She is essentially the equivalent of chatty, spunky make-up girl giving you a quick once-over before she hands you to her good friends at the Spanish Inquisition. The fact that she’s occasionally likable is exactly what makes her so frightening, because it’s almost enough to let you forget that she’s just so super-duper excited to be involved in the ritualized murder of innocent children. Go, team, go!

Banks has both made crazy/evil ideology sound lovable (as Avery Jessup on 30 Rock: “I love this restaurant. This is one of the few places in New York with a veal tank.”) and kind words sound malicious (as the evil stepmother in The Uninvited). I was lucky enough to have been able to see Chenoweth in Wicked, and there are indeed parallels between her Glinda and Effie — two sweet-voiced, ambitious apologists for severely flawed systems — so I totally understand those who are in her corner. It’s just that, to me, she’s almost too likable at this point in her career. And I know Chenoweth has indicated her enjoyment of the series, but Banks is definitely a devout fan: She tweeted as early as August of last year, “MOCKINGJAY!!! Clearing three days of my life to devour this book. 3rd in Hunger Games trilogy. Read these!” It’s always nice to know that an actor has as much respect and love for the material as its fans.

What do you think? Do you hope Banks’ casting gets finalized? Are you a Chenoweth fan holding out hope for a ninth-inning turnaround? Do you think you’ll ever find out the true identity of the mysterious Varen Kalby?

In the latest casting news regarding the big screen adaption of The Hunger Games, Irish actress Paula Malcomson has landed the role of Katniss’ mother. The character is constantly worried about the future of her daughters.

The actress joins a young cast that includes Liam Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson, Willow Shield, Jack Quaid, Leven Rembin, Dayo Okeniyi, Amandla Stenberg and, of course, Jennifer Lawrence in the main role.

Elizabeth Banks has also been rumored for the part of Effie. 

Here’s the best news you’ve heard all day: Ian Holm will be back for “The Hobbit.”

We literally have no other information other than that, but Peter Jackson took to his Facebook to clarify that the voice we heard at the end of his recent video blog was Martin Freeman’s, not Holm’s from the previous “Lord of the Rings” narration. That being said, Jackson dropped a bomb on us by stating that “Ian will be returning as the older Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit.” Ahh, the wonders of Facebook.

The rest of today’s news is after the jump, including the newest boss in town on “The Office,” an extended trailer of “Green Lantern” and the newest “Hunger Games” casting announcement.