Jennifer Lawrence is one of the biggest Hollywood stars of today. She broke through at the age of 20 with her starring role in the independent film Winter’s Bone, followed by roles in blockbusters such as X-Men: First Class, The Hunger Games and Silver Linings. The now 32-year-old won an Oscar for best actress for her performance in the latter film opposite Bradley Cooper. Lawrence has had an incredible career without ever having attended drama school. But at some point Lawrence had to learn to deal with defeat.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, the actress spoke about her biggest flop roles – and the time after the end of the “Hunger Games” era in 2015, which she describes as the most difficult time of her career. Because both the horror film “Mother!” 2017’s Javier Bardem and Michelle Pfeiffer, in which Lawrence starred, and 2018’s spy thriller Red Sparrow, in which the 32-year-old plays a dangerous spy, were heavily criticized after their theatrical release .
For her appearance in “Mother!” Lawrence even received the Golden Raspberry, the award for the worst performance of the film year. “Spiegel” commented on her performance in “Red Sparrow” with the words: “Jennifer Lawrence drowns in nasty Bond clichés”.
An even bigger flop for Lawrence, however, was 2015’s sci-fi blockbuster Passengers, in which she starred opposite Jurassic World star Chris Pratt as a passenger aboard a spaceship that turns humans into one Colony transported 60 light-years from Earth. The story revolves around the relationship between the two characters after they are accidentally awakened from their destination 90 years early.
The compulsive love story that springs from their loneliness in space has been described as “lustless” and “staged.” Her performance in it is considered one of her most criticized works. He “causes dismay among her fans,” she later told the New York Times. Only one person advised her against the project prior to filming: “Adele told me not to do it. She was like, ‘I feel like space movies are the new vampire movies.’ I should have listened to her,” the actress reflected.
Speaking to Vanity Fair, Lawrence revealed her verdict on the 2015-2018 period, saying, “I think everyone was fed up with me. I was fed up with myself.” Until then, she had mainly tried to please people. She said, “When I work, people don’t get mad at me.” But at some point she got to the point where this calculation no longer worked out. She no longer knew whether she accepted a role simply to have something to do or because she really liked a project, she says.
When she understood that, she withdrew, wanting to build a “real life” outside of the film world. Their hiatus lasted three years. Lawrence married, became a mother and returned to the big screen in 2021 with Adam McKay’s Don’t Look Up. However, the 32-year-old is only now celebrating her real comeback – and comedy debut – with her appearance in the comedy “No Hard Feelings”. In it, she plays the 30-year-old seductress of an introverted 19-year-old man who is hired by his parents to finally steer him toward adulthood.
Quelle: “Vanity Fair”, “Spiegel”, “New York Times”
