Why [SPOILER]’s Brutal ‘Hunger Games’ Death Was Actually ‘So Much Fun’ To Film 

Why [SPOILER]’s Brutal ‘Hunger Games’ Death Was Actually ‘So Much Fun’ To Film

A fallen "Hunger Games" victor tells us what it\'s like to get ripped apart by lizard-men.

Major spoilers for “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2″ lie ahead!

Fans of Suzanne Collins’ “Hunger Games” book series knew that Sam Claflin’s onscreen death was coming, but it certainly didn’t make it any easier watching him be ripped to shreds onscreen, Glenn-style, by a bunch of weird mutated lizard-things. In the sewer! While his wife was pregnant! And escape was

However, according to “Mockingjay – Part 2” director Francis Lawrence, shooting Claflin’s demise wasn’t nearly as emotionally powerful off-camera as it was onscreen… mostly, because the majority of the cast and crew involved really, really wanted to go home.

“That was one of the toughest sequences to shoot overall, just being in the sewers, and being wet, down in these claustrophobic spaces,” Lawrence told MTV News at the “Hunger Games” premiere in Berlin, Germany. “I think the funny thing is, is because we were shooting in order, it was so close to being the end of that sequence that people were actually very relieved, because the majority of the cast was now already out of the water… we knew the end of that sequence was near. It was a relief, oddly. It’s always sad to see the character go, but… it wasn’t as emotional for us on set as it is trying to get through an arduous sequence.”

For Claflin, of course, shooting Finnick’s death was a bit different — internally, anyway — since he was saying goodbye to a character he’d grown to love.

“It was emotional, that day especially,” he said. “Everything that I’d been doing over the last three films was leading up to that moment. To me, that was the most special, most emotional, most physically exhausting day of work I think I’ll ever do. Francis… really allowed me to play around with that scene was much as he could, and the stunt guys were incredible and literally drove me into the ground.”

“We actually had stunt people dressed up in silver suits, they didn’t look anything like what the final product looked like,” Josh Hutcherson added. “So it was kind of weird.”

“It was the very friendly and familiar faces of the stunt team, charging at me going, ‘I’m having so much fun!’” Claflin concluded with a laugh. “They did all the [body] movements; it was an amazing day. The best, but also the worst day of filming I’ve ever done. It was so hard, but it was so much fun… to be torn apart by lizards, I’d do that any day.”

There’s a role on “The Walking Dead” in your future, Claflin.

“The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2″ is in theaters now.