Beginning with her first appearance in the original Hunger Games movie, Willow Shields has established herself as a talented young force within the movie industry. Stepping into the limelight at a young age, she’s invited in an emotive energy and creative style not within only her career, but her endeavors outside the film world. She began with a couple of projects filmed and/or set within Albuquerque, New Mexico, her home according to IMDB. Later on, of course, she scored a role in The Hunger Games that would shape her career from that point on.
While many of the performances that she’s most known for allow her to shine briefly in more minor roles, others emphasize her as the star. In several examples, she’s recognized for her extremely believable and earnest portrayals of younger sisters, bringing a refined air to her roles. Let’s delve into Willow Shields’s best performances, ranked.
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7 The Unsettling (2019)
Netflix
In The Unsettling, a girl named Becca goes to stay with a family as their foster child, coming into contact with some strange happenings in the process. Shields plays Maya, another girl living alongside the Werner family as a Cinemaholic article cites, plus the show’s darkly religious themes through the cult of New Purity. Not only offering a spooky setting, it also highlights Shields’ malleability as a performer and suggests that she could be a good fit for some additional scary scripts.
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6 Woodstock or Bust (2018)
Big Kid Films
Woodstock or Bust allows Shields to take on the role of Lorian, a bold musician who dreams of reaching the iconic music festival that the film is named for. As one of her happier roles, it brings along all the positive vibes that the Hunger Games films are generally devoid of, which is what makes this role stand out. In a cool classic car, Lorian and Meg DeLacy’s Meryl cross the country to make it to the unforgettable conglomeration of creative talent and share their tunes with all the attendees. Their outfits and personalities are as bold yet earthy as each other, with the uniquely dreamy attitude of the late ’60s pushing them towards success.
5 The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 (2015)
Lionsgate
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 has remained the final taste of the Hunger Games series in movie theaters, until the adaptation of A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes takes the big screen by storm soon. It’s the last act of the story viewers know and love, concluding as Jennifer Lawrence’s Katniss and her allies finally face the Capitol. She and Shields and get one more opportunity to enjoy some happier moments with one another before Prim’s tragic death during the second half of the film. Even if you’ve completed all of Suzanne Collins’s books, watching the heart-wrenching bombing scene is even more shocking than reading it. Prim’s wide-eyed face emphasizes her pure heart as she tragically becomes another victim while assisting those in need.
4 The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 (2014)
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 sees Prim come into her own, as District 13 offers her the chance to enter the medical field following District 12’s devastation. Growing up before the very eyes of Katniss and their mother, it’s clear that she isn’t just a helpless girl anymore. Prim helps out wherever possible and contributes to the greater mission of District 13, becoming a sorely-needed calming presence in such a tumultuous place. Shields emphasizes the gentle and dedicated nature of this character in this Hunger Games film. She also showcases the graceful way in which Prim has risen to the challenge, especially through dark and unprecedented circumstances.
3 The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)
As the wake of trauma from the 74th Games settles in around Katniss and Peeta, the earth-shattering changes that The Hunger Games: Catching Fire brings about become more and more apparent. Before the Quarter Quell tosses the two back to the Capitol’s latest arena, audiences note the difference between the Victor’s Village and the previous accommodations in District 12. Prim shares a couple touching moments with Katniss, and Prim’s awareness begins to stand out as she starts to realize the depth of the change happening all around her. Viewers watch Shields begin to grow up from the scared little girl people recognize from the first film into someone cognizant and concerned as she gets used to their new circumstances.
2 Spinning Out (2020)
Spinning Out, a Netflix show, follows two sisters deeply enmeshed in the universe of figure skating. This extremely ruthless internal world and its external expectations exacerbates mental health challenges and family issues. The stress it invokes speaks to the relationship between Kaya Scodelario’s Kat Baker and Shields’s Serena. Kat’s past accident causes her to switch gears on her medal-filled future, kick-starting the series. Serena’s character – described by The Hollywood Reporter as “lonely” – seems caught in the middle of her older half-sister and their mom Carol as the stakes get more intense and devastating as the series progresses. The sisters are sent on their own uniquely difficult journeys.
1 The Hunger Games (2012)
As Katniss Everdeen’s little sister, Primrose, Shields’s portrayal in The Hunger Games started to bring about the rebellion through the strength of the bond and devotion between siblings. Like many of her performances within the franchise, this one is a brief yet hard-hitting exposition of her talent. Cast in the film when she was 10, she played 12-year-old Prim at age 11. Her raw shrieking sticks with viewers as the jaw-dropping Reaping scene unfolds, exposing to audiences the horrendous and unforgiving attitude that the Games forces upon Panem’s residents. Her unforgettable performance here showcases the terror that the annual occurrence strikes into these families, especially when one of the youngest tributes is chosen.
