When a young actor gets cast in a significant franchise role, a fairly predictable pattern emerges. Casting announcements, fan research on social media, profile articles in trade magazines for the entertainment industry, and the actor’s name being casually mentioned in a wider cultural discourse.
Then, virtually invariably, a specific group of search terms begins to gain popularity. Who do they date? Who is the girlfriend? Who is the boyfriend? The 20-year-old Australian actor Joseph Zada was chosen to play Haymitch Abernathy in Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games in April 2025.
| Category | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full Name & Born | Joseph Cumpston (professionally known as Joseph Zada) — born July 21, 2005, in Sydney, Australia; 20 years old as of April 2026 |
| Family Background | Father Jeremy Cumpston — director, actor, and doctor; mother Jessica Brentnall — film producer; one of five siblings, including brother Hal Cumpston who also acts; previously credited under the name Joseph Cumpston before adopting the stage name Zada |
| Career Status | Cast in April 2025 to play Haymitch Abernathy in Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, releasing November 20, 2026; previously starred in Stan Australia’s Invisible Boys (2025) and Amazon Prime Video’s We Were Liars (2025); also stars in Netflix’s East of Eden alongside Florence Pugh and Mike Faist |
| Public Relationship Status | Not publicly confirmed; Zada is 20 years old and has consistently kept his personal life private in interviews; no mainstream entertainment publication has identified or named a confirmed romantic partner |
| Whitney Peak (On-Screen Role) | Whitney Peak plays Lenore Dove Baird, Haymitch’s girlfriend, in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping — this is a fictional character pairing within the film, not a real-life relationship; Peak is best known for the Gossip Girl reboot and the Sony shark thriller Shiver |
| Esther McGregor (Co-Star Friendship) | Esther McGregor — daughter of Ewan McGregor — co-starred with Zada in We Were Liars, where the two formed a publicly described close friendship during filming; both have spoken in interviews about their bond as friends |
| Education & Path | Dropped out of high school in 2023 to pursue acting; explained in a GQ Australia interview that “my Instagramattendance was too low” and that he was committed to making acting work professionally |
| Representation & Reference | Represented by CAA, Untitled Entertainment, RGM, and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher; further career details available at IMDb |
Over the past 12 months, Sunrise on the Reaping has been going through this same cycle, and the inquiries about his relationship status have begun to come up frequently enough to indicate that his public profile has officially surpassed a certain level. The truth is that, at the moment, no one outside of his close social circle is aware.
The biographical details are recorded. On July 21, 2005, Joseph Zada was born Joseph Cumpston in Sydney, Australia. The family’s debut feature film, the 2019 comedy-drama Bilched, starred Joseph as Toby. His father, Jeremy Cumpston, is a director, actor, and doctor. Jessica Brentnall, his mother, is a producer of motion pictures.
He has five siblings, including his acting brother Hal Cumpston. In order to pursue acting full-time, he left high school in 2023. He told GQ Australia that he had made the decision to dedicate himself to the business and that his attendance had been too low to continue meaningfully.
At some point during the changeover, he took up the professional name Zada, and by the time his more prominent work started to appear in 2024 and 2025, the name change was finalized. The career path has been quick and out of the ordinary.
Zada acted as Charlie Roth in the 2025 Stan Australia series Invisible Boys, which received accolades from The Guardian for its emotional depth. She also took on recurring parts in the Australian political drama Total Control and played the major role of Dan in the 2023 crime documentary film The Speedway Murders.
He costarred with Ewan McGregor’s daughter, Esther McGregor, in the 2025 Amazon Prime Video film We Were Liars. It has been widely reported that the two became good friends while filming. Working with Florence Pugh and Mike Faist, he finished production on Zoe Kazan’s East of Eden series for Netflix. Everything that came after was sparked by the Haymitch casting in April 2025.
Crucially, there is no relationship information in the on-screen pairings. In Sunrise on the Reaping, Whitney Peak, best known for the Gossip Girl revival, portrays Haymitch’s lover, Lenore Dove Baird. Lenore Dove is a fictional character in Suzanne Collins’s story, and Peak is the actress hired to represent her.
It would be incorrect to interpret this on-screen bond as proof of any off-screen relationship between Zada and Peak. In a similar vein, Zada and Esther McGregor’s tight friendship during the filming of We Were Liars has been characterized by both actors as friendship—the type of connection that frequently develops between young actors who put in lengthy shooting hours on the same movie. Speculation beyond what either party has openly disclosed is necessary to have a deeper understanding of either relationship.
Observing how the speculation cycle has evolved around Zada over the past few months, it seems like he has been following the wise course of action. He is twenty years old. One of the most eagerly awaited young-actor jobs of the decade is part of his current career shift.
He hasn’t discussed his personal life in interviews, shared overtly romantic content on social media, or responded to the rumors in any way that would be visible to the public. This isn’t a story at all. When privacy is handled well by an actor’s representation team, it is precisely the lack of a narrative.
On November 20, 2026, Sunrise on the Reaping will be released. The proper response to the issue of who Zada is dating is the one his publicists have probably been providing for months: that’s not something we’re talking about, until and until Zada decides to make something public. Despite the fact that the question continues to produce a lot of search inquiries, there’s no reason not to take that at face value.
