Hemsworth: 'Hunger Games' violence not unwarranted

"None of it is glorified and it's not about that," said the 22-year-old Australian.

"It's about kids in a horrible situation and there's this girl who overcomes it and gives hope to everyone and they come together to do something about it," he said.

In the PG-13 movie, which opens Friday, Hemsworth plays Gale Hawthorne, best friend of Katniss Everdeen, portrayed by Jennifer Lawrence. His role in the first 'Hunger Games' story is a small one but is more prevalent in the two stories that follow. (They're based on a best-selling book trilogy by Suzanne Collins.)

Hemsworth doesn't have any fight scenes in the first film but did have to lose "quite a bit of weight" to play a teen living in a poor area who hunts to help feed his family.

He recalled one memorable day off from dieting during filming in North Carolina when he and costar Josh Hutcherson visited a certain fast food chain.

"Josh and I went to Kentucky -- he's from Kentucky," Hemsworth said. "We decided to get White Castle, which I'd never had before, and then we played basketball after eating the White Castle and we threw up a little bit so that was interesting."

'The Hunger Games' also stars Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, and Donald Sutherland.

Source: AP