description: Maya Hawke told Hot Ones on October 22, 2026, about writing naughty limericks with Glenn Close on a cold German film set. Here's the story, the poetry joke, and why she was starstruck.
Because Glenn Close started improvising cheeky little poems while they waited together on a windy German filming location, and Maya Hawke joined in. Hawke told the story on the October 22, 2026 episode of Hot Ones, describing it as an unforgettable meeting between her professional life and her inner movie fan. This was an off-camera memory from the production of The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, not a scene from the film.
Where did this story come from?
Hot Ones is the First We Feast interview series in which Sean Evans talks to guests as they work through increasingly spicy chicken wings. Hawke, also known for Stranger Things, was discussing the intimidating lineup of actors in the upcoming Hunger Games prequel. She said she kept checking the daily call sheet and wondering which performer she had admired for years would be working that day. Glenn Close produced her favorite surprise.
What happened on the German tarmac?
According to Hawke's account, she was standing in freezing wind, teeth chattering. Close, by contrast, stood there in heels, entirely at ease, chatting and inventing slightly risqué limericks. At one point Close casually wondered aloud whether Hawke ever imagined what people around them might be like in bed. Hawke played along. The two began making up naughty verses together.
Hawke's reaction afterward was wonderfully disproportionate to the activity: she went home, wrote about it in her diary, and called people to tell them. She was not reporting a scandal. She was describing the thrill of being treated like a fellow performer by someone she had long admired.
What exactly is a dirty limerick?
A limerick is traditionally a short, often silly five-line English poem with a recognizable rhyme pattern, usually AABBA. Bawdy subject matter has long been part of the form. Here, “dirty” refers to adult humor rather than dirt on the set. Neither the full poems nor their exact wording were reproduced in the coverage, so any elaborate example attributed to Close or Hawke would be invented.
The contrast does the comic work. Close plays Drusilla Sickle, an intimidating Capitol escort, in the upcoming film. Hawke plays Wiress, a former victor who helps mentor young Haymitch. Off camera, the fearsome screen presence was cheerfully making naughty rhymes while the younger actor could barely process her good fortune. The extraordinary thing for Hawke was not the subject of the jokes alone; it was being invited into them.
Why is this circulating now?
Hawke's Hot Ones appearance was released on October 22, and Entertainment Weekly published a detailed account that afternoon in the United States. A discussion thread about the episode appeared on r/hotones the same day. That shows interest in the interview, not proof that this particular anecdote became a worldwide viral meme. The film is scheduled for a November 20, 2026 US theatrical release.
The takeaway
A screen legend who plays a frightening official turned out to be an unexpectedly mischievous poetry partner. For Hawke, the memorable part was the sudden shift from worshipping a star to laughing beside a colleague. The poetry may have been filthy; the professional welcome was genuinely sweet.
