J
ennifer Lawrence’s first major role was on The Bill Engvall Show. She then appeared in indie films like The Burning Plain and Winter’s Bone, which garnered her nominations at almost every major awards ceremony that followed. She was the third youngest actress ever to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress at age 20. At 22, she scored herself an Academy Award for the same category for her performance alongside Bradley Cooper in the rom-com Silver Linings Playbook. Her role as Tiffany Maxwell also garnered her a Golden Globe, a Screen Actors Guild Award, Satellite Award, and the Independent Spirit Award for Best Actress, just to name a few, marking Lawrence as the youngest person ever to be nominated for two Oscars for Best Actress and the second youngest to actually win the award.
Born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, she was active on the local theatre circuit and at age 14, convinced her parents to take her to New York to get her a talent agent. She graduated from high school two years in advance with a GPA score of 3.9 so she could pursue acting full time. One possibly little-known secret about Lawrence is that she auditioned for the role of Bella Swan in Twilight but Lawrence expressed her relief for not getting the part because of the attention and feedback Stewart was receiving. Albeit fresh on the scene, Lawrence has starred alongside seasoned stars like Charlize Theron, Jodie Foster, and Mel Gibson. Her shot at true Hollywood fame came in the form of her role as Katniss Everdeen, the heroine of The Hunger Games. Playing Katniss got the critics singing praises in her name and even secured her a sweet spot as the highest-grossing action heroine of all time. She’s been christened “the most talented young actress in America”, ranked as one of 100 most influential people in the world, and also named “the most powerful woman in the entertainment business” by some highly notable publications. Sitting down for a chat, she tells us about reuniting with the cast of The Hunger Games on the set of the second movie, Catching Fire, and meeting a few new faces as well as what it takes to be a positive role model to her fans. Probably working with Philip Seymour Hoffman; he’s incredible. I am a huge fan! And also being able to do very long, intense scenes with Donald (Sutherland) was incredible. Yeah. (laughs) The wedding dress was incredible, it’s stunning and unbelievable but I am not good with big dresses. And stairs. She’s different. She’s suffering from post-traumatic stress from the first Games, and she’s trying to get her life back but her life is very different. She’s living in Victor’s Village now, she doesn’t have to hunt anymore, which kind of makes her feel useless and bored, and there’s a part of life that Gale will never understand; Peeta is the only one who understands that part of her, what she went through. And when she has to go back to the Capitol, it’s not a foreign world to her anymore, it’s not something she likes but she understands it now, and she knows how to work it. We have really similar tastes so we enjoy working on the same kind of movies with the same kind of directors, and that always lands us together. I love working with him; he’s a great guy, great actor. There really wasn’t anything I learned. She’s naturally different and anybody would change, especially when her life has turned dramatically. And I know how that feels so I am changing how she is doing very slightly, but that’s because she has changed in her circumstances.
The movie also deals with rebellion and all the actors and the director mentioned what a fun and free spirit you are. Where you like that as a teen?