When “The Beekeeper” with Jason Statham as a revenge-seeking executioner opens Friday, moviegoers will discover a Josh Hutcherson they never imagined.

Since gaining global stardom as Peeta Mellark in the “Hunger Games” franchise, Hutcherson, now 31, has epitomized upstanding decency, an immensely likable good guy.

No longer. “Beekeeper,” with Statham a highly efficient bone- and skull-crushing killing machine, pits the retired CIA operative against Hutcherson’s coke-snorting, arrogant, cowardly slime ball of a crime boss Derek Danforth .

Derek we immediately see is but a punk hiding behind momma’s powerful skirts who believes he’s invincible — as long as his hired protection still walks.

Hutcherson, in a Zoom interview last weekend, credited writer-director David Ayer (“Training Day,” “Suicide Squad”) for his shift to the (very) bad side.

“I was surprised that this this came to me, for sure. As an actor your dream is to never get boxed in and only seen as one thing,” said the star of last year’s horror hit “Five Night’s at Freddy’s.”

“For David to see me with the potential of becoming Derek feels really good. To be seen in a different light is what every performer wants, to diversify the kinds of characters they play, to challenge and push themselves.

“For me this opportunity was conscious in the sense that ‘Yes! I’ve always wanted to do things that are different and push myself to new explore new types of humans.’

“When I first started talking with David about understanding what makes Derek tick, it was intimidating to jump into a villain type character. It’s not something I have much experience with.

“So it was important for us to create the truth in understanding how someone gets to be the way that he is. A lot of it is based on the fact that he just really wants and feels like he deserves more respect and love than what he gets.

“Unfortunately, he’s extremely primitive, privileged and wildly wealthy — and has his fair share of issues with some substances. That creates this kind of power-hungry bravado, all wrapped up in a character that’s just pretty wild.

“For me, the biggest thing was allowing myself to let Derek be as wild as he needed to be without judging my own performance as an actor.  Because that’s new to me, to step into something that wild. It’s also very freeing.”

Hutcherson has known since early, really early childhood his path was to be an actor. At nine he moved with his mother from Kentucky to LA to pursue his dream. The kid immediately succeeded.

He now divides his career between, he said, “Like a pre- and post-‘Hunger Games’ moment. I feel like ‘Hunger Games’ also marks my transition from teenage into adulthood.”

“The Beekeeper” opens Friday