Rachel Zegler on Lucy Gray Baird's Fate in 'Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes'

Editor's Note: This story contains spoilers for 'The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes'

The Big Picture

• Rachel Zegler believes that her Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes character Lucy Gray Baird, escaped and got to rebuild her life after leaving Coriolanus Snow in the woods.
• Zegler thinks that Lucy Gray was more clever than Coriolanus and flew away, being free like she wanted to be, while Coriolanus was left behind.
• According to Zegler, Lucy Gray had more of an edge and believed in the good of humanity, allowing her to start again or hide, while Sejanus couldn't escape Coriolanus because his heart was too good.

With The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes premiering in theaters, it's been revealed that Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler) is nowhere to be found after abandoning Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) in the middle of the woods. But Rachel Zegler seems to believe that it wasn't the end for her character's story, and that she somehow got to rebuild her life after the traumatic events she experienced during the prequel. During a recent interview with Collider's Perri Nemiroff for Ladies Night, Zegler spoke about what she thinks happened to Lucy Gray Baird after the credits rolled on the latest installment of the franchise, explaining:

"I can feel that she got away. She's so much more clever than anybody gives her credit for because it's just one of those stories where Coriolanus thinks that he's ahead of the game, and in reality, he's 12 steps behind her. I like to think that she truly, just like the bird and Lucy Gray in the poem that she sings, that she flies away and that she gets to be free the way she wanted to be, that she really did run like the others were planning to do, and what Sejanus wanted to do, that she was gonna do that and carry out that deed in honor of somebody who couldn't escape Coriolanus like she could."

Zegler continued to explain how her character was different from Sejanus Plinth (Josh Andrés Rivera), Coriolanus' best friend, and fellow mentor to the tributes, whose rebellious sympathies have fatal consequences, saying:

"And it's not because Sejanus wasn't strong enough, it's just that his heart was too good, and Lucy Gray’s isn't . I believe she's golden-hearted, but I believe that she's got more of an edge than anybody else in the film does without having to actually be a bad person. I believe that she believes in the good of humanity, and so she thinks she can probably either start again or just be free and hide. I hope we get to see the continuation of her story. I don't know, I'm not in charge, but I hope one day."

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes takes place decades before Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) became Snow's greatest enemy in the original Hunger Games series. When Dr. Volumnia Gaul (Viola Davis) was appointed to supervise the tenth annual Hunger Games, she noticed that people weren't watching the competition anymore, and changes needed to be made in order to breathe new life into the project. That would inevitably lead her to a very young Coriolanus Snow, who had ideas of his own to improve the deadly broadcast.

Who Is Lucy Gray Baird?

Lucy Gray Baird was part of the Covey, a musical group that traveled all across Panem to share their culture with the people around them. After being selected to compete in the tenth edition of the Hunger Games, she would end up meeting a young Coriolanus Snow, and the relationship between the pair would permanently change the course of their lives.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is currently playing in theaters.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes follows a young Coriolanus (Tom Blyth) - the last hope for the once-proud Snow family - who is reluctantly assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), a tribute from the impoverished District 12 for the 10th Hunger Games. Snow sets out on a race against time to survive and reveal if he will become a songbird or a snake.

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