Stef Dawson The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Parts 1 and 2

Lionsgate has announced that Australian actress Stef Dawson has joined the cast of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Parts 1 and 2 as the character Annie Cresta, Finnick's (played by Sam Claflin) love interest in the films.

A native of Canberra, Dawson is known for her work on television as well as numerous independent films including the recent thriller Wrath.

The news follows last week's announcement that Natalie Dormer, currently starring as Margaery Tyrell on HBO's Game Of Thrones, had been cast as the character Cressida.

About The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Parts 1 & 2
Directed by Francis Lawrence and based on the novel 'Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Parts 1 and 2 make up the third and fourth installments of heroine Katniss Everdeen's (Jennifer Lawrence) journey as she leads the districts of Panem in a rebellion against the tyrannical and corrupt Capitol. As the war that will determine the fate of Panem escalates, Katniss must decipher for herself who she can trust and what needs to be done, with everything she cares for in the balance.

The blockbuster first installment of The Hunger Games franchise is the 14th highest-grossing North American release of all time and grossed nearly $700 million at the worldwide box office. The second film, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, will open in Australia on November 21st, 2013.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 will be released worldwide on November 21st, 2014 and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Parts 2 opens November 20th, 2015.

Lionsgate is a leading global entertainment company with a strong and diversified presence in motion picture production and distribution, television programming and syndication, home entertainment, family entertainment, digital distribution, new channel platforms and international distribution and sales. Lionsgate currently has 28 television shows on 20 networks spanning its primetime production, distribution and syndication businesses, including such critically-acclaimed hits as the multiple Emmy Award-winning Mad Men and Nurse Jackie, the comedy Anger Management, the network series Nashville, the syndication successes Tyler Perry's House of Payne, its spinoff Meet the Browns, The Wendy Williams Show, Are We There Yet? and the new series Orange Is The New Black.

Its feature film business has been fueled by such recent successes as the blockbuster first installment of The Hunger Games franchise, The Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn – Part 2, Now You See Me, Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain, Warm Bodies, Snitch, Texas Chainsaw 3D, The Expendables 2, The Possession, Sinister, The Cabin in the Woods and Arbitrage. Lionsgate's home entertainment business is an industry leader in box office-to-DVD and box office-to-VOD revenue conversion rate. Lionsgate handles a prestigious and prolific library of approximately 15,000 motion picture and television titles that is an important source of recurring revenue and serves as the foundation for the growth of the Company's core businesses. The Lionsgate and Summit brands remain synonymous with original, daring, quality entertainment in markets around the world.