Josh Hutcherson didn't experience "rejection" in Hollywood until after The Hunger Games

He told the Dinner's On Me podcast: “I didn’t learn rejection ever.
"I knew only success from the age nine to, like, 24, then kind of post Hunger Games world. Because Hunger Games set things up.
"The industry is so goddamn tricky because they set you up in this way where they’re like, ‘You’ve arrived. You now are working with Jennifer Lawrence and Philip Seymour Hoffman, and you’re in this movie that makes billions of dollars, you’re the second lead of the film.' ”
Before Hunger Games, Josh appeared in the likes of Little Manhattan, Zuthura: A Space Adventure, Journey to the Center of the Earth and The Kids Are All Right.
He insisted that as "quickly as they're excited to get you into the spotlight", those opportunities fade.
Josh was around 25 years old when he first felt "disappointment, failure [and] rejection" as he struggled to land any roles.
He said: "It was just like a string of no one calling, not getting any offers, auditioning, but not getting cast.
“It’s this whole thing of, ‘Oh wow, I have my career that I’ve had since I was 9 years old. It’s always worked. I always got cast.’
"Of course, there are things that you don’t get cast in, but I had only known that the chances are, if I was auditioning, was going to book it. That is just not the reality at all.”
Josh's recent credits include the likes of The Beekeeper, Five Nights At Freddy's and HBO comedy I Love L.A., and the latter has been a real boost to his morel and motivation.
He recently told Variety: “[It has] reignited such a love and appreciation for this job in me. I’ve always wanted to do an HBO comedy on Sunday night. That, to me, is a dream come true.”