Image: Jennifer Lawrence – flickr via Dominick D.jpg
There aren’t many actors you can name who have had such an extensive and fruitful career as Jennifer Lawrence. That’s why highlighting her for Women’s History Month is so well-deserved. She has starred in prime roles in series like “X-Men” and “The Hunger Games,” which have both surpassed billions, respectively, at the box office — not to mention notable roles in “American Hustle” and “Silver Linings Playbook.”
Around the middle of the last decade, Lawrence was on a hot streak in Hollywood, shooting films as Mystique in “X-Men,” and finishing up her role as Katniss in “The Hunger Games.” Lawrence was twice named Hollywood’s highest-paid actress by Forbes in both 2015 and 2016. She also won a People’s Choice Award for Favorite Movie Actress in 2016 and subsequently starred in the movie “Passengers” (2016), co-starring with Chris Pratt.
After taking some time off from acting, Lawrence has started putting her name back in the forefront of Hollywood with recent roles in Netflix’s “Don’t Look Up” (2021) and Apple TV’s “Causeway” (2022), a beautiful movie about a soldier whose time on the front lines led her to suffer an injury that would change her forever. Lawrence spoke on this role in an Actors-on-Actors interview by Variety with Viola Davis. She explained, “When I read “Causeway,” even though the situations could not be more different, I’m not a hero who’s risking my life to save my country at all; I’m an actor. But the idea of carrying this invisible injury, of knowing that the healing is not linear and that there is so much progress and then there’s a step back and there’s so much progress and then there’s a step back, and this very complicated relationship with home.”
Lawrence also said, “It was such a healing process that I think that’s why it’s still so hard for me to understand that people like it or…even that it’s…a movie. ‘Cause it was so personal for so long that…it’s just bizarre too…to be talking about it.”
Her most recent film, “No Hard Feelings” (2023), was something Lawrence has always wanted to do. During a Q&A with Cameron Diaz for Interview magazine, Lawrence talks about the movie, saying, “It was a blast. I’ve always wanted to do comedy, and I’ve been asked a million times. I was never against it, but you’ve seen the movies that come out. I don’t want to name anything specifically, but there hasn’t been anything that funny… Then I read this script, and I had never read anything so funny. I know Gene Stupnitsky [Director of “No Hard Feelings”], so I know how funny he is. I felt a unique sadness when wrapping this one, because it’s so nice when you feel so confident while filming a movie.”
Lawrence’s down-to-earth and comedic personality has earned her a lot of respect and personality from peers and fans alike. A great example of that is her friendship with decorated actor Emma Stone. In an interview with Julie Miller for the 2016 Vanity Fair cover, Lawrence spoke about her friendship with Stone. Miller writes, “She has made good friends in the business, such as Emma Stone, who understand Hollywood’s inherently bizarre pressures. Lawrence and Stone met via mutual co-star, Woody Harrelson, who appeared with Lawrence in “The Hunger Games” and with Stone in “Zombieland” and predicted their compatibility. “She texted me that she got my number from Woody,” Lawrence says. “I replied, ‘Fuck off!’ And we’ve been really good friends ever since.” The two of them texted every day for a year after that. “I feel like it was our version of The Notebook — 365 texts.” The friendship — between two actresses two years apart in age, presumably in contention for similar roles — transcends the ugly stereotypes of an industry infamous for pitting women against one another. “I love my job,” Lawrence says. “I don’t know what I would be without acting. So if there is someone who loves the same thing, it should bring us closer. But it depends on how that person is, and Emma is so normal and lovely.” More recently, during this year’s Oscars, while presenting the award for best actress (which Lawrence won in 2013), the two shared a moment on stage: Lawrence was seen crying as Stone walked onstage, winning the award for best actress.
A few fun facts about Lawrence are that she learned how to pick locks from acting in the movie “Red Sparrow” (2018), she is married and has a son, and her favorite movie of all time is “Father of the Bride 2” (1995). The actor she admires most is Meryl Streep and her favorite real housewife is Sonya. Lawrence has been nominated for four Academy Award nominations. She has won three Golden Globes and one BAFTA award.
Isaiah Ireland is a third-year Media and Culture major with a minor in Digital Marketing. II978280@wcupa.edu