Bad guys get all the fun in movies.

That is what Canadian actor Alexander Ludwig finally experienced playing the menacing brute Cato in the sci-fi action-drama, "The Hunger Games."

"He's the badass of the movie," Ludwig, 19, told CTV News Channel's Express on Monday.

"He's the most skilled. He's the most fearsome. But there's a scene at the end where we see there's more humanity to this character than we could imagine," said Ludwig.

That complexity appealed to the Vancouver-born actor, who captured Hollywood's interest playing good-guy heroes in Disney's 2009 adventure "Race to Witch Mountain" and the 2007 fantasy film, "The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising."

"Cato's a phenomenal role for an actor to play. To dive into that dark side is emotionally draining," Ludwig said in a taped interview with CTV's Canada AM.

Based on the successful fantasy book trilogy by author Suzanne Collins, "The Hunger Games" is a sci-fi tale for our times.

Like Collins' books, director Gary Ross sets this adaptation in the post-Apocalyptic nation of Panem, where each year teens from 12 districts are chosen to enter a state-sponsored fight to the death.

The film stars newcomers Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth and Ludwig.

Veteran actors such as Woody Harrelson, Stanley Tucci and Donald Sutherland are also on hand in this dystopian tale that questions how humanity will survive in a future with no hope.

Like millions of fans, Ludwig was captivated by Collins' trilogy when he first read it.

"It definitely has an edge to it," said Ludwig.

"‘The Hunger Games' deals with real people, real children and men thrown into the most abnormal of circumstances. Everything in this movie has a lot of depth and substance," he said.

Co-stars Hemsworth and Hutcherson also found great meaning in this story.

"A big part of 'The Hunger Games' is this disconnect between the rich and the poor. Some people find these games entertaining because they don't know what hunger is," Hemsworth told CTV's Canada AM.

The 22-year-old Australian actor portrays Gale Hawthorne, one of the primary characters in this tense adventure.

"These characters are doing extraordinary things at a very young age," said Hemsworth.

Hutcherson, 19, also found a strong personal connection with his character, Peeta Mellark.

"I felt like Suzanne had based him on me," Hutcherson told CTV's Canada AM.

"He maintains who he is as a person. He doesn't let the games change him," said Hutcherson.

"The Hunger Games" trilogy has been compared with Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" novels, primarily because it also centres on a young heroine played by Lawrence.

Those comparisons are natural, according to Ludwig.

"People have related it to ‘Twilight,' but the only thing I can relate to is that the phenomenon is similar," he said.

Whether "The Hunger Games" can spawn a new billion-dollar franchise and a new generation of heartthrobs remains to be seen, however.

"I don't really know what to expect. I'm just stoked to be part of it," said Ludwig.