How Jennifer lost her mystique and became a master plasterer
FILM director Darren Aronofsky wrote his latest film, Mother!, which stars Jennifer Lawrence, following a ‘fevered dream’ full of rage and anger about how insatiable people are. During a frenzied five-day writing session in the kitchen of his New York home, Aronofsky realised he could take a relationship thriller — ‘this tension that was growing between a husband and wife’ — and fashion it into an allegory that ‘connected with all of the frustrations I was feeling in the world’. The result is a stunning piece of filmmaking that will shake and divide audiences. Aronofsky and Lawrence travel to Venice today ahead of the movie’s world premiere at the Venice Film Festival next week. There will also be a special screening of the picture at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10. Aronofsky’s stroke of luck was to cast Lawrence as the wife, opposite Javier Bardem as her famous novelist husband. The couple find their home under invasion from pushy, uninvited guests played by Ed Harris and Michelle Pfeiffer, who are so hard to get rid of they’re like human knotweed. Husband and wife reside in this big old octagonal house, which Lawrence’s character is doing up while heavily pregnant. Her performance dominates the film, and the screen loves her ferocious intensity. There are 66 minutes where the camera focuses on Lawrence’s face alone.
Initially, Aronofsky — who made the acclaimed Black Swan and Requiem for A Dream — wasn’t sure Lawrence was up to the task.
Not that he doubted her acting abilities. But, as he pointed out, ‘I don’t think she’s ever played a character who’s so on the back foot. She usually plays these strong, heroic women,’ he said, referring to her role in The Hunger Games and as Mystique in the X-Men pictures.
Once they started working together, though, his view changed. To: ‘Omigod! There’s a lot that hasn’t been tapped here.’ Indeed, it’s hard to think of another actor who could match Lawrence’s performance.
Once the film was over, they became lovers. Aronofsky says they worked well together because she’s straightforward to the point of bluntness. ‘She’s one of the most honest people on the planet. That’s possibly why people really enjoy her public persona, because it is who she is. There’s no baloney going on.
‘If she doesn’t understand or agree with something, she just says it; and it’s over with.’
Plain-speaking has long been a part of the 27-year-old’s charm.
Lawrence certainly made her feelings known during three months of rehearsal in which, among other things (like learning how to move like a pregnant woman) she had to hone her DIY skills.
‘Jen did a lot of plastering,’ Aronofsky told me. His crew brought unfinished walls into the mammoth rehearsal building, and the actress had to tackle them.
‘Believe me, she wasn’t happy about it,’ he said, with a laugh. ‘After everyone else had gone, I’d say: “Hey Jen! You’ve got a wall to plaster.” ’