Daily Mail

I wear what I want! J-Law’s defiance over THAT dress

- By Baz Bamigboye EXCLUSIVE

SHE was widely criticised for wearing a dress with a plunging neckline and thigh-high split to go out in the freezing cold.

But Jennifer Lawrence hit back yesterday, saying the revealing gown was her choice – and she will wear a bikini under a snowsuit next time.

Mail The during 27-year- an old interview actress told at Claridge’s the Daily hotel in Mayfair that she wore the dress to Tuesday’s photoshoot in London for her latest film ‘because it was fabulous’.

‘I wasn’t going to cover it up with a coat or why would I wear it? It was Versace,’ she said. ‘I was outside for five minutes and if I choose to be cold then I choose to be cold.

‘I mean, nobody told me I couldn’t wear a coat. In any case I didn’t want to wear a coat at the photoshoot. I wore a coat to the photoshoot. But why hide the dress for the photograph­ers?

‘And nobody can tell me what to wear and not what to wear. It’s my choice to wear a dress that I feel fabulous in.’

Puffing on an e- cigarette, the Oscarwinni­ng Hollywood star added: ‘Feminism is equality. It’s social, political and economic equality. ‘It does not mean I have to wear a coat when you think I should. It does not mean I shouldn’t get nude when you think I shouldn’t. I’m a grown-ass woman and I can wear or not wear whatever I please.’ Bursting out laughing, she asked: ‘Can you tell I’ve had a lot of caffeine and that I’m fired up?

‘Seriously though, why is this a controvers­y? I wore a beautiful dress that made me feel gorgeous. I was with a bunch of men and they were wearing coats. So what?

‘People make controvers­ies just for sport and it’s actually just irresponsi­ble, because there’s no controvers­y there.

‘I’ll wear a bikini next time but, OK, I might wear a snowsuit over it if that will make them happy and stop people complainin­g. But just so we’re clear, if I don’t want to wear a coat then I’m not going to wear a goddamned coat.’

Miss Lawrence, who presented one of the awards at Sunday’s Baftas, plays a ballerina-turned-spy in her latest film, Red Sparrow, which opens The role on March called 1. for nudity, something she has shunned since private photograph­s of her were hacked into in 2014 and published online.

‘I felt violated and I just wanted to

shut my ever body, again,’ down. my I she never flesh, said. wanted with the to public share

‘But reading the script for Red

Sparrow was a huge growing point

for me. I knew the nudity was relevant for the character and for the

story and I felt, “OK, if I don’t do this movie, they win”.’ However, she had always regarded screen nudity cautiously. She said: ‘I think Americans have a different attitude towards nudity, very generally. I grew up in Kentucky, I grew up in a conservati­ve home, so those factors come into play.’ Miss Lawrence said the #MeToo and #TimesUp sex abuse and equality campaigns in showbusine­ss had allowed her to question her views about on-screen nudity.

‘It’s true, I have been afraid and insecure in ways of sexuality and nudity for so many years that I felt like, finally, I wasn’t going to let that ruin my life any more and so I felt freed and empowered by that,’ she said. She stressed that the nude scenes in Red Sparrow added colour to her character and were not gratuitous. ‘She has been trained to use her body as a seductress but she actually gains her freedom by using her mind,’ Miss Lawrence said.

‘She gets ahead by using the forces of being a woman. She’s manipulati­ve, she’s cunning, she’s brutal and she has rage and she has a brain and she uses all of herself to defend herself and defend others.’

Asked if equality should go as far as leading men revealing more on screen, she replied: ‘Our bodies are definitely more beautiful naked in my opinion. If the role calls for nudity and you want to do it then do it, as long as you feel comfortabl­e. We have the freedom to do as we please as long as there is consent.

‘I get why men shy away. Our biologies are different, there’s a lot a woman can hide with prosthetic­s but with a man it’s out there. If I were a man, I don’t know how I would approach it.’

Miss Lawrence announced this week that she would use a year’s gap in her film commitment­s to work for community organisati­on Represent.Us.

‘I’m trying to get young people engaged politicall­y on a local level,’ she said.

‘I’ve been to Ohio and New Orleans and there are 48 more states to go. I just want to spark a conversati­on that can hopefully create change in the way our democracy is run.’

‘Our bodies are more beautiful naked’

 ??  ?? Daring to bare: Her choice of dress was criticised on social media
Daring to bare: Her choice of dress was criticised on social media
 ??  ?? What, no coat? Miss Lawrence with wrapped-up male co-stars
What, no coat? Miss Lawrence with wrapped-up male co-stars
 ??  ??

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