Kieran Culkin feared replacing Stanley Tucci in Hunger Games prequel

Kieran Culkin felt he was "being set up for failure" when he was offered Stanley Tucci's character in The Hunger Games prequel.

In Sunrise on the Reaping, the Succession actor plays Caesar Flickerman, the character played by Tucci in the original four-film franchise.

When he was offered the role of the Hunger Games TV host, Culkin initially told himself not to do it because he felt he couldn't live up to Tucci's beloved take on the character.

"It was already too much pressure," he told The Hollywood Reporter at the film's fan screening event in London on Wednesday. "To me, this was like a no-brainer - don't do it, because everyone loves what Stanley Tucci did with the role. So I was like, 'They're gonna hate (me).' I feel like I'm being set up for failure. (They'll say), 'That's not Caesar!' No matter what I do."

However, he noted, "But I found a different take on it, something that I think connects to his."

Culkin added that he has yet to speak with The Devil Wears Prada actor about their shared character.

When he was first announced as Caesar, the A Real Pain star jokingly told a fan to "lower those expectations" while signing autographs outside his Broadway play.

Explaining his comment, he told the outlet, "People were like, 'Oh, I hear you're doing Hunger Games,' and I was like, 'Lower those f**king expectations,' because at that point, I had no clue what I was going to do with it."

Sunrise on the Reaping is set 24 years before the first film and follows a younger Haymitch (played by Joseph Zada) as he competes in the Hunger Games tournament.

In addition to Culkin, the film stars Elle Fanning, Ralph Fiennes and Jesse Plemons as younger versions of established characters Effie Trinket, President Snow and Plutarch Heavensbee.

Original Hunger Games stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Woody Harrelson will also make an appearance in the film, which opens in cinemas on 20 November.