ONTD

7:07 pm - 11/19/2012

Jennifer Lawrence: Katniss is "Like a male hero with a vagina"



On the big screen, Jennifer Lawrence is as tough as they come. But meet her for dinner, and you’ll quickly learn the truth—she’s a lightweight. After a single glass of wine, she’s starting to feel tipsy. “I’m going to need to eat,” Lawrence says. “Or take my clothes off.” She orders a hamburger with bacon and truffle fries. No, wait, she tells our waitress, hold the bacon. And, actually, hold the burger. She eyes the strip steak, before deciding on the chicken. “Hang on. Sorry, I’m so annoying.” Pause. “The mashed potatoes! Yeah, instead of the fries.” She tops that off with bacon, because she loves bacon (and Domino’s pizza, bubble gum, Sour Patch Kids, and pretzels dipped in avocado). Should we share some fries? “No,” she insists. “Order what you want.” When I do, she interjects: “You’re making a huge mistake!” The truffle fries it is.

If this sounds like a scene from When Harry Met Sally, it’s because Jennifer Lawrence, 22, is an eccentric spirit. You’d never know that from her roster of serious roles—Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games, Mystique in X-Men: First Class, and her Oscar-nominated debut in Winter’s Bone. Despite gravitating toward dramas, Lawrence, who grew up in Louisville, Ky., worshiped Lucille Ball and wanted to make people laugh. When she met with director Drake Doremus in 2010 before shooting Like Crazy, the two bonded over one-liners from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. “She’s so funny and goofy and vulnerable,” he says. “She’s so carefree and fun when she’s comfortable.” Now audiences are about to see that side in Silver Linings Playbook.

This isn’t a screwball comedy as much as a dark one. Lawrence plays Tiffany, a widow who falls for her neighbor Pat (Bradley Cooper), a bipolar guy pining after his adulterous ex-wife. To help him move on, Tiffany enlists Pat in a local dance competition. Originally, Anne Hathaway was supposed to play Tiffany, but after she bailed, director David O. Russell narrowed his sights on other actresses, and Lawrence auditioned for him over Skype. He knew she had a chameleon’s way of blending into a room. During the 2010 awards season, “she was going around with Winter’s Bone and we were going around with The Fighter,” Russell says. “I never recognized her. She would be standing next to me—who is this tall blonde that looks like a model from the Valley? Someone would say Jennifer Lawrence. That’s Jennifer Lawrence? I just met her! How is that Jennifer Lawrence?!”

To get into Tiffany’s skin, Lawrence knew she’d need to perform another disappearing act. She dyed her hair darker and spoke in a deeper octave to make herself sound older. “I was too young for the part,” she says. “I was way wrong. There was this fear at first. Am I going to ruin this for everybody?” The hardest part, though, was the film’s dance finale. Cooper was a natural, but Lawrence admits a lack of coordination. “I can barely walk across the room,” she says. To improve her skills, she studied old Gene Kelly videos. “That made me want to kill myself.” The hard work paid off. Lawrence is so good in the role, critics are touting her as a frontrunner for Best Actress at February’s Academy Awards.

With Silver Linings Playbook, Lawrence is entering a category occupied by the likes of Angelina Jolie and Meryl Streep. She’s a leading lady who can rack up box-office dollars and critical praise. Now in Atlanta filming the Hunger Games sequel, Catching Fire (with two more installments to follow), Lawrence describes Katniss as “this Joan of Arc who doesn’t see herself that way. She kind of grows into it. And she’s strong, like a male hero with a vagina.” As much as she adores the character based on Suzanne Collins’s bestselling novels, she almost didn’t accept the part. “If I’m honest with myself,” she says, “the thing that was driving me to do the audition was being competitive. Everybody was auditioning.” After she was cast as Katniss, she thought about the offer for three days—and decided to turn it down. Fortunately, she called her mother before she called her agent. “She told me I was being a hypocrite,” Lawrence says. “I wasn’t sure I wanted to be part of something that big. I was going to be the indie actor. I was going to drive my kids in a minivan and have a normal life.”

The indie-movie track may be on hold, but Lawrence is still attempting to live a quiet life. A big challenge, she says, is the paparazzi. Her younger self, the one who daydreamed about fame, thought photographers chasing her would be fun, not scary. “I’m a single girl driving around”—in her old Volkswagen—“being followed by a bunch of strange men I don’t know. You just want to run and get away.”

source
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fauxparadiso 20th-Nov-2012 12:20 am (UTC)
Not enuff energy for this poast.
allysouu 20th-Nov-2012 12:20 am (UTC)
This isn't word vomit. This is just a fucking dumb thing to say. I don't care if she has foot in mouth syndrome, it doesn't excuse the fact that what she said was idiotic.
crystalzelda 20th-Nov-2012 12:23 am (UTC)
Thank you. She's been in the scene for years and years now, and she's said a bunch of really insulting things before that has annoyed people, this is not her first rodeo and at this point it's on her, not because she has no filter or training. Those are skills she's got to develop pronto, and adapt to her new life in the spotlight.
allysouu 20th-Nov-2012 12:29 am (UTC)
It's even more annoying because if someone like Kirsten Stewart said it (and I know there are other reasons to dislike her) people would be all over her case and reference her saying it to justify their hatred forever!

But because Jennifer Lawrence likes to play the "I'm not like the other girls" routine, people ignore it and call her fun.
kwikimart 20th-Nov-2012 12:33 am (UTC)
You are perf in this poast btw
shining_starsxx 20th-Nov-2012 12:36 am (UTC)
This. There's a point where you have to stfd, stfu and educate yo self.
kampfbaby 20th-Nov-2012 12:53 am (UTC)
what other things has she said?
soul_amazinn 20th-Nov-2012 12:26 am (UTC)
it doesn't excuse the fact that what she said was idiotic.

MTE That's because she doesn't give a fuck.
_xxtom 20th-Nov-2012 04:51 am (UTC)
exactly.
phoe21 20th-Nov-2012 12:21 am (UTC)
I am really starting to dislike her personality. She says some dumb shit and gets away with it bc she's cute, uggh.
ohkimosabe 20th-Nov-2012 12:23 am (UTC)
how is she getting away with it? ontd turned on her a little while ago.
flashnights 20th-Nov-2012 01:36 am (UTC)
everyone outside of ontd still loves her imo. i haven't seen any hate on other sites like tumblr or in any articles etc.
flashstruck 20th-Nov-2012 12:23 am (UTC)
mte. I loved her, but after she started constantly talking about her weight and shading thinner actresses in the process, I just really started to dislike her.

you can only play up the ~quirky and relatable~ thing for so long before you start getting backlash for the stuff you say.
xdecadentx 20th-Nov-2012 12:47 pm (UTC)
Can you imagine if it was KStew saying this?
baboona 20th-Nov-2012 12:21 am (UTC)
i knew people would turn on her

rogue 20th-Nov-2012 12:25 am (UTC)
lickety_split 20th-Nov-2012 06:23 am (UTC)
bee_xx3 20th-Nov-2012 12:35 am (UTC)
lmao
muzicnem 20th-Nov-2012 01:07 am (UTC)
lol like basically almost every celeb out there
milkchocolat 20th-Nov-2012 01:11 am (UTC)
lolll
immaflirt 20th-Nov-2012 04:33 am (UTC)
lmaoooo
ohkimosabe 20th-Nov-2012 12:22 am (UTC)
lmao i dont even care i love her.


oh and thedailybeast? i'm sick of all these random ass sites being posted here when they're not even legit. ontd reads this stuff like the bible and think it's all true and they hold grudges against ppl for things that may not have even been said.

Edited at 2012-11-20 12:25 am (UTC)
ohkimosabe 20th-Nov-2012 12:31 am (UTC)
if the source was newsweek mag then it sounds legit, the daily beast doesn't seem legit. i'm pretty sure there's been some phony stories on there.
rogue 20th-Nov-2012 12:30 am (UTC)
it's from newsweek, smartass. it was reposted on the daily beast.
aubade_saudade 20th-Nov-2012 12:30 am (UTC)
do you not care or don't believe it?
winniechili 20th-Nov-2012 12:30 am (UTC)
Uh The Daily Beast is 100% legit, it's the online side of Newsweek magazine
vampireweekend 20th-Nov-2012 12:31 am (UTC)
why are you so embarrassing

stop blindly stanning people
kwikimart 20th-Nov-2012 12:34 am (UTC)
:/

kurtvonnegut 20th-Nov-2012 12:37 am (UTC)
lol the daily beast has been around as a legit news source forever.
thewhowhatwhats 20th-Nov-2012 02:05 am (UTC)
lol the daily beast is completely legit.
dirtyknife 20th-Nov-2012 02:46 am (UTC)
Wow, this comment is embarrassing.
fancypiink 20th-Nov-2012 03:28 am (UTC)
gurl sit down
yaoiworksforme 20th-Nov-2012 12:23 am (UTC)
Yep, my irrational hate for her is justified.
sandstorm 20th-Nov-2012 12:48 am (UTC)
MTE. Feels good to finally have some validation.
whataboutdasha 20th-Nov-2012 02:20 am (UTC)
omg other people who hate her yeeeessss. My god I can't even stand to look at her. She's so fucking stupid.
pineandapple 20th-Nov-2012 07:30 pm (UTC)
OMG, your precious icon. I just became addicted to this show.
fancypiink 20th-Nov-2012 03:29 am (UTC)
ya same. it only worsens when she's passed off as this cool down to earth gal who is like one of the dudes and not like your typical female celeb.
xdecadentx 20th-Nov-2012 12:50 pm (UTC)
I irrationally don't like her face, idk what it is.
derrobitch 20th-Nov-2012 12:23 am (UTC)
rme she's clearly trying to express that katniss isn't your typical female heroine, who are usually pathetically written and often serve to be damsels in distress too. when the word 'heroine' is used to describe Bella, you gotta face reality that there are few female characters who are unapologetically strong and badass, and who get to show their strengths (and vulnerabilities) in a way usually only male characters get the luxury to. she could have used better wording though.
bent_ley 20th-Nov-2012 12:26 am (UTC)
yeah ia. there is nothing really said in this article worth noting
crystalzelda 20th-Nov-2012 12:27 am (UTC)
The only thing she's doing is reinforcing these harmful stereotypes by reaffirming the fact that these strong traits that are usually attributed to men are present in Katniss, therefore not making her a atypical female heroine but a man with a vagina. She's saying that these traits Katniss possesses are inherently masculine, which is fucked up, so no, no cookie for her, no matter what she was trying to say or how she meant it.
derrobitch 20th-Nov-2012 12:35 am (UTC)
Well you can choose to read it as her saying that these qualities are inherently masculine, orrrr you can choose to read it as her saying we usually only see these qualities being attributed to male characters, which is why Katniss is so refreshing. This is something many feminists have spoken about when discussing Katniss and THG. It's rare you see a female protagonist in a popular franchise be given the luxury to be strong, unapologetic, unlikable. 'Heroine' has become synonymous with 'damsel in distress' and/or 'klutz'. God forbid JLaw discusses that her character doesn't embody the typical makings of a heroine right now eh.
littlepunkryo 20th-Nov-2012 12:31 am (UTC)
rme she's clearly trying to express that katniss isn't your typical female heroine, who are usually pathetically written and often serve to be damsels in distress too.

I don't actually think this is true at all, there's an entire genre of women who are written to be badass and they're called "Strong Female Characters". The problem is they're given lots of traits that are only thought of as "masculine" and they're never actually allowed to express anything typically thought of "feminine" because it somehow makes them weaker/lesser than their dude counterparts. It's actually like the flip side of damsels in distress imo. There are plenty of characters like that out there, apparently she thinks Katniss is one of them.

Edited at 2012-11-20 12:32 am (UTC)
anolinde 20th-Nov-2012 12:42 am (UTC)
Ugh, thank you.
iamtheliquorr 20th-Nov-2012 01:33 am (UTC)
That's how I read it too

lbr not everyone reads SJ blogs on the internet and knows why these things are problematic. What I got from it is that the kind of character Katniss is--proactive, central to the narrative, well-drawn--is usually coded male. It is rare to find that kind of role for young women in Hollywood,as opposed to romcoms or "chick" roles in action flicks or Bella Swan. People are interpreting it as "these traits are male so women can't have them" but lbr that is what Hollywood thinks. Whether she thinks it or not, I can't tell just from this quote.
soul_amazinn 20th-Nov-2012 12:24 am (UTC)
She's been saying dumb shit like this for years and people still defend the fuck out of her. How does she still get away with saying shit like this idgi?
kstew 20th-Nov-2012 03:58 am (UTC)
because she's quirky and fun and pokes fun at herself a lot and seems so normal omgawd she's just got word vomit!!!!1
isuspectnargels 20th-Nov-2012 12:24 am (UTC)


oh jesus no
winniechili 20th-Nov-2012 12:25 am (UTC)
She says a lot of stupid shit but apparently she makes fun of herself so she's so ZOMG REAL!
hello_samm 20th-Nov-2012 12:25 am (UTC)
You guys hate people for the dumbest of reasons, jfc.
hello_samm 20th-Nov-2012 12:30 am (UTC)
Yeah, that definitely sums up how she truly is. JFC
love_allure 20th-Nov-2012 12:31 am (UTC)
but that's what ontd is all about!

no honestly though, i think ontd is way calmer than how it was like 4-5 years ago.
lickety_split 20th-Nov-2012 06:26 am (UTC)
Ew but then this place would be one great big circle jerk like Omona...
bent_ley 20th-Nov-2012 12:25 am (UTC)
"Jennifer Lawrence, 22, is an eccentric spirit."

what an annoying way to describe someone
rogue 20th-Nov-2012 12:31 am (UTC)
i almost made it the post title tbh it was too good
but the one i ended up with is better
ijkliza 20th-Nov-2012 12:26 am (UTC)
so... a female hero.
hello_samm 20th-Nov-2012 12:27 am (UTC)
ohkimosabe 20th-Nov-2012 12:29 am (UTC)
lmao
juniorquincy 20th-Nov-2012 12:33 am (UTC)
this was my first thought lmao
vivisexion 20th-Nov-2012 01:24 am (UTC)
lol loves it
kwikimart 20th-Nov-2012 12:27 am (UTC)
She's gotta start reading books between takes on THG coz this shit is not cool anymore.
I'm still a fan of her acting but I've downgraded from stan to mild fan now till she smartens up.
noon 20th-Nov-2012 12:28 am (UTC)
mte :((((
vampireweekend 20th-Nov-2012 12:32 am (UTC)
yeah ilher but she says a lot of problematic shit :/
shining_starsxx 20th-Nov-2012 12:42 am (UTC)
Seriously.BB girl needs to pick up a non fiction book
muzicnem 20th-Nov-2012 01:10 am (UTC)
Agreed. I kinda have been giving her a pass because of her background but she's been in the Hollywood game long enough to where she should know what's ok to say and what's not.
ellie_andrews 20th-Nov-2012 12:29 am (UTC)
Image and video hosting by TinyPic
littlepunkryo 20th-Nov-2012 12:38 am (UTC)
This was the best show. I'm so glad he moved to Justified so I could watch him basically play this guy all over again and I'm not even kidding.
highd 20th-Nov-2012 04:14 am (UTC)
Bullock rules!
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