Jennifer Lawrence covers the December issue of France’s Madame Figaro magazine to promote Catching Fire. The cover leaves me a bit cold, which isn’t something I’m used to when it comes to JLaw. It’s probably the open-mouthed gaze, right? Very few models or actresses can get away with that expression, but photographers love to request that look all the time. These clothes are all Dior, by the way.
In the interview, Jennifer reveals something that we’ve never heard before now. She claims to have experienced a huge case of social anxiety during childhood, and she says it only went away when she started acting and modelling. It’s hard to believe that the biggest dork in Hollywood once suffered from an extreme case of shyness. This does sound like shyness, I think. Maybe a bit of depression too. You be the judge:
JLaw’s childhood change: “My nickname was ‘Nitro,’ as in nitroglycerin. I was hyperactive, curious about everything. When my mother told me about my childhood, she always told me there was like a light in me, a spark that inspired me constantly. When I entered school, the light went out. We never knew what it was, a kind of social anxiety. But I had friends.”
Acting cured it: “I went to see a shrink. Nothing worked. One day, I begged my parents to take me to a casting. We went to New York, and that’s where I started acting. Just on stage, my mother saw the change that was taking place in me. She saw my anxieties disappear. She found her daughter, the one who had this light and joy before school. I finally found a way [to] open the door to a universe that I understood, that was good for me and made me happy, because I felt capable, whereas before I felt worthless.”
She’s trying to stay unaffected: “I want my life as normal as possible. One of the dangers in the film industry is that things are too fast … I want to keep it simple.”
She takes her BFF on location: “At the end of a day of shooting, I can go home and hang out with her. Do what we do … and not share time with someone who works for me.”
[From Madame Figaro]
What do you think? Some of you are very skeptical about Jennifer’s “aww shucks” persona. She herself has stated how she can’t believe we’re not all tired of her yet. I can see how a child could be depressed and then gain a spark back once they discover their calling in life. JLaw was so into acting that she graduated high school two years early so she could start her career.
I’ve included the rest of the editorial at the bottom of this post, but first, here’s an adorable spoof from Sesame Street. Introducing The Hungry Games: Catching Fur starring Cookiness Evereat, Finnicky, and … Pita. That piece of bread’s face looks a lot like Josh Hutcherson. I’m kinda creeped out and fascinated at the same time.
Photos courtesy of Madame Figaro
Blah, blah, blah, not as confident as she seems, blah, blah, blah, doesn’t work out, blah, blah, something’s about a moderately tough girlhood.
Seriously – do they give these girls a manual?
^ this!
I know! Seriously, is there any among us who didn’t get teased at school? Who didn’t have a nickname? Who didn’t feel shy and awkward at times?
Oh, and not liking school doesn’t equate to ‘social anxiety’. Why do celebs have to put a pseudo-medical label on what are in fact, normal aspects of growing up?
Really. Please find me a 6th or 8th grader who doesn’t have social anxiety. I like her, but why has our society turned into a competition for who had it worse?
Come on. When we were young and in grade school we were all insecure at times. We didn’t look around and see everyone else with the same insecurities.
How bad it was for an individual is relative and it’s nice people to hear they;re not alone in feeling this way. That someone else felt like that and overcame it. So, I have no issue with her talking about this. If it annoys a thousand, but helps one it’s fine.
And honestly wha else is she to talk about? She’s in 2 movie franchises not counting other films. She’s covered food and working out. What else is left for an actress to talk about without sounding full of it?
I know adults are tired of it, but living with a teen girl, I see that Jennifer has had a great effect on younger girls. Its refreshing to see my sister have someone she can actually relate to and a lot of what Jennifer has had to say gets back to my sister on an emotional level. Its not cool in my sisters school to starve yourself like it was in my day there and I think its because Jennifer is the big “it girl” among the 13-17 demographic and the actors like Jennifer that they look up to encourage a healthy body image. If being like Jennifer and being humble is making more of in impact on people than Miley and those idiots, is it really such a problem?
JLaw is not a teenager, your sister should by no means look up to someone who is not her same age/does not have the same life.
I highly doubt Jennifer is that influential. I was a freshman in high school 13 years ago and anorexia and bulimia were always frowned upon heavily, though yes being thin was highly desirable. For the past decade the media has been on a super heavy “love your body, love your weight” campaign…it didn’t start with Jennifer.
Anyway being thin will always be desirable because it’s not a case of normal weight vs thin girls, America has a case of too many fat/obese people. 1/3 of teenagers are overweight and when they’re adults, that balloons up to 2/3 are overweight (with 1/3 obese).
I honestly don’t understand why there’s such an emphasis on loving your obese body and hating anorexia, as overweight/obesity cost us billions more in healthcare every year than bulimia+anorexia do. Of course I think anorexia is just as bad as obesity but America has an obesity problem, not an anorexia problem.
marie says:
November 19, 2013 at 8:27 am
JLaw is not a teenager, your sister should by no means look up to someone who is not her same age/does not have the same life,
So, teenagers that haven’t been sent to concentration camps or been born blind and deaf can’t look up to Anne Frank or Helen Keller?
Heroes don’t have to be the same age as you, either. Amelia Earhart was a hero of mine as a child.
@M: My daughter likes Jennifer for all the reasons you’ve listed. And I’m okay with it. It’s WAY better than looking up to Miley….
@Marie: Seriously??? There isn’t a lot of young adults that are worth looking up to. Plus most people look up to others that are a few years older than they are and Jennifer sure fits that bill being in her early 20’s. Sure Jennifer has her faults but I’d much rather my kids looked up to her than Miley or Lindsay.
ETA: BINGO Nico! I loved Elizabeth I of England as a child and was a HUGE fan of Eleanor Roosevelt too. Heroes and heroines can be found anywhere and it’s their character we should be looking at not superficial qualities.
Gossy “I highly doubt Jennifer is that influential”
To @m’s point, for teen girls today she actually is. She is the star of the biggest YA franchise now and for the next few years, playing a character that is strong and smart.
She is also giving new voice to discussions of body image. Of course she is not the first, or the only, but for many teen girls she is one that has their attention.
At my daughter’s high school there are groups of girls that constantly talk about the desirability of the “thigh gap”, juice fasting (it’s a new cover term for not eating) and how having hips is undesirable. Many also eat a few pieces of lettuce at lunch with claims they are “vegetarians” but again, use this as a cover for starving themselves. If you spoke to these girls they would all place negative connotations on eating disorders, but many exhibit behaviors that are in line with them.
It’s so unhealthy and makes me sad. My daughter and I have many discussions about it. I have to remind her that having a turkey sandwich on whole wheat with a slice of cheese at lunch does not mean she’s pigging out (as many claim).
Just as when many of us were younger, there are so many pressures on young girls to be thin vs healthy. Social media amplifies this now. If a Victoria Secret model like Miranda feels the need to photoshop, some girls take that as further judgment on themselves.
So while Jen Lawrence is not a large person by any means, she does blast the idea that a healthy young girl only means being model thin. Lawrence does not have the thigh gap, has some hips and a booty and she talks about actually eating. This can be a helpful counterbalance to the other things teen girls are exposed to.
sorry @marie, but who on earth are you to tell people who and who not to look up to?
+1000000
I’m with Jennifer. How is most of the world not sick of her already?
The photos aren’t great, but she seems to be fresh faced, no make up.
The Hungry Games: Catching Fur just made my morning.
I like the black and white shots the best and especially # 3. That dress would look good with her shorter hair too.
I like all the other pictures far more than the cover. She’s actually shared her story about anxiety/school in the September issue of Vogue, nothing new.
Oh, shut up already………..
If you don’t like her and want her to “shut up already” then why do you read articles about her?
I read articles about people that I think should shut up all the time on here. I sort of thought that was part of the fun.
@Lara Morgana I hate that logic! I click on stuff like this to make an informed decision on if I want someone to shut up or not. Sometimes I’m pleasantly surprised by people I don’t like too.
I’m with Lara, why read an article if you want the person to shut up already…it’s why I never read anything Kardashian related, they make me stabby.
I was extremely shy as a young girl and I still haven’t fully “mastered” it. I had friends too but I was never the cool girl or the really popular girl and the only time I really did come out of my shell was in drama class. I can understand when she says that her ‘light went out’ when she was in school though yes, this is all starting to sound a little too perfect and rehearsed.
As for the social anxiety – I get it, completely. In school, my sister was (we thought) a very introverted and shy kid. Other kids at school just thought she was awkward, weird and odd, and for a while the tormented was relentless. But it turned out she had been suffering from a kind of social anxiety the whole time. My mum took her to a child psychologist, who suggested that she try take up an activity that would address her anxiety by expressing herself to others in a way she enjoyed. For my sister, it was performing in the choir. She became more comfortable at school, confident in herself and made a bunch of friends. It really was a Godsend for her.
It sounds like acting really helped JLaw in the same manner. Good for her!
she suffered from an extreme case of shyness… yes this is why she was a cheerleader allll righhht 😉
JLaw started modelling very young, so why has she only one facial expression in every single photoshoot i´ve ever seen of her?
She stated before “Oh, I can’t stand shy people. Like, make it up already. Ask about the weather, don’t stare at your plate and make me feel like I’m making you uncomfortable!”
Wait so if you’ve suffered from social anxiety, why are you annoyed that shy people exist? Maybe they have social anxiety as well and that’s why they’re staring at their dinner plates and not engaging. Shouldn’t she be one of the most understanding people about this?
Also, social anxiety is a disorder, just like OCD…so why was she saying she wished she had Jesse Eisenberg’s OCD?
Wow. Did she really say this? Tacky tacky tacky.
Gossy- do you have a link to these quotes? You always quote JLaw but never provide a link. I’d like to read these quotes if you don’t mind providing a link, please. 🙂
http://www.vogue.co.uk/news/2012/10/05/vogue-archive-jennifer-lawrence-cover-interview
@ORLY
Thanks Bourgie for providing the link! And for the Jessie eisenberg thing, it was an interview, you can just google “Jessie Eisenberg OCD Jennifer Lawrence” to get it.
Anyway here’s the problem ORLY, I assume you like J-Law right or are at least she’s one of the celebrities you’re interested in (dislike or like, doesn’t matter). The fact that you haven’t heard quotes like that shows how well protected and manufactured she is. Her PR team makes sure no headlines are made about those quotes while only the quotes like “doctors and teachers should be paid more than me” make headlines.
I don’t think she deserves any criticism for smoking weed with friends, but interestingly the media never cared enough that she got away with no comments.
Justin Bieber is over 18, pictured smoking weed in his own home with his own friends, and he gets all sorts of nasty comments.
42% of Americans are opposed to weed, which is a substantial amount. If J-Law were truly genuine she would have commented on the weed issue instead of remaining silent, but obviously she cares about the 42% of fans.
Thanks for the link, Bourgie.
Gossy – I like JLaw, I think the reason I haven’t heard those quotes is because I really haven’t paid much attention to her print interviews.
On your (or someone else’s) point of not believing she could be a cheerleader and have social anxiety, both can coexist. The fact that she was called Nitro because of using nitroglycerin, I’m assuming for anxiety attacks, is a tiny bit of proof that she had those issues.
What I have noticed, is that a lot of people from the Twilight/Pattinson/Stewart fandom spend a lot of time blasting JLaw.
Regarding weed, why should she address that issue unless she was asked about it? Has she been asked? If so, I may have missed it.
Wow, I never heard of this. This goes to show how really manufactured she is.
Just proves she’s a fake, anyone who has social anxiety knows it’s nowhere near as easy as just asking about the weather. You have a voice in your head going “what can I say that won’t make me look weird, stupid, awkward, then you start panicking that your making them uncomfortable and they can’t wait to get away” Anyone who has ever suffered with this would have complete sympathy with how crippling this is, It’s even cost me jobs from fluffing the interviews. She’s definitely on my shit list now. I’d give anything to be able to make small talk easily.
I personally don’t think she and Dior work well together. The clothes age her. I also can not stand her personality but even I will concede she is too vibrant and young for the clothes she is being made to wear. She was interviewed earlier this year at the MET about her Dior outfit and she was quite blasé about it. Not a good fit.
@Harriet
I’m right there with you. . She’s so not Dior.. She’s an average looking girl with no unique features that they’re using to to sell a high-end brand. It’s not working. She looks so awkward in their clothes. I’m sorry but something is off. I see Emma Watson or even Lorde in their clothes before Jennifer.
Lawrence may be a great actress, but she is a lousy model. At least for Dior, which is not a good fit for her at all. When are Dior going to learn that they don’t have to award a contract to EVERY young American actress? Charlize Theron? Yes. Sharon Stone? Fine. Marion Cotilard? Great. But Jeniffer Lawrence and Mila Kunis? Seriously?
Totally agree with your comments regarding Dior. Every ‘it girl’ actress is not right for Dior and I don’t think JL is a good fit at all.
I suppose I can see what the Paris fashion houses – especially Dior – are doing. They are hoping to appeal to young American women who might otherwise see Dior as a snooty old lady brand that’s not relevant to them. Hence the high-profile young Hollywood actresses. Fine, but surely there’s a way of making Dior relevant without tainting the air of Parisian luxury and exclusivity that is its selling point?
Jennifer Lawrence is pretty but she doesn’t have the sophisticated ‘high fashion’ look. I’d say the same for Mila Kunis, and Kate Winslet for Lancome. Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but any chance we could get back to the days when actors acted and models modelled? Please!
Yes, I think that’s part of the problem: how do you market Dior to a younger crowd? Simply putting their brand on the hottie du jour doesn’t really work, though. I am 100% with you on letting models model and letting actors act. Yes please!
That covet shot is Awful!! The facial expression looks like a dead fish.
Ai yi yi, I’m a little embarrassed for her, it’s so bad. It kind of reminds me of Justin Bieber and his ‘who am I, why am I here, I’m constipated’ face. They should have chosen a different shot for the cover, without a doubt.
Please don’t attack me for this JenLaw stans, because I sincerely do like her….I jumped on the Jennifer train a while ago and I am completely psyched for Catching Fire…..but I am starting to understand why people are getting a little fed up with the “ah shucks” thing and thinking some of her personality is a PR construction. I remember when she was on some talk show with Jesse Eisenberg and she talked about how she wished she had a “weird quirk” like him and she was “jealous” when he talked about having OCD…so I’m having a really hard time buying that she had social anxiety considering those comments…
I don’t know…sometimes I feel like she tries super hard to be relatable (maybe after seeing the AnneE backlash?) and that her pretty but non-threatening beauty (basically, she’s not Angelina or Charlize) help her with this image. Like, she tries to be smart but not too smart (Natalie and AnneE have been dinged and accused of being pretentious because of their intelligence) and makes a point of trying to point out her (sometimes imaginary) flaws or issues. I buy that it is her real personality, but I kind of wonder if she “exaggerates” certain traits to play into the fan base…This is a weird comparison, but it kind of reminds me of Taylor Swift…I think both are very cunning, self-aware, and know how to “play the game” (although Jennifer is way more talented in her field imo)…..and I kind of wish they would “own it” instead of playing this over the top “oh me” thing.
Agreeing with a lot of what you are saying, Lark! She also said in an interview once that she couldn’t stand shy people. If you are being your true self, would it be so hard to be consistent? But I’ve become so cynical in my old age, what do I know.
I’ve said something similar before. Basically Jennifer really is a sweetheart, that is her true personality, but she NEEDS everyone to know she’s a sweetheart.
Like for example, if she saw a girl crying by the roadside with no one around, she would help that girl because she feels bad for her and is a nice person. However, when she gets to school, she will find a clever way to bring up in conversation “What’s the best way to comfort a crying girl?” and obviously her friends will be like “Why do you ask this” and she’ll be like “Oh, I came across this random girl crying and I stopped to cheer her up” and then everyone will be like “OMG YOU’RE SO NICE AND DOWN TO EARTH” and she’ll be like “Oh, it’s nothing.”
Yeah I have a few friends like that. Awesome people, but they like to broadcast. I also had a friend who seemed to identify with everyone, plus one. Finally I had to clarify whether she was A or B, because the two attributes in question we’re mutually exclusive… At least to the extent she was claiming them. We’re still friends, and she has toned down the identity assumption and hyperbole.
Well welcome to the land of Celebrity Jennifer.
and so it begins
So first she is discovered in NYC, now she went to a casting in NYC.
She was bullied, but she had friends.
She had a “spark”, school killed it.
She graduated early with a good GP, she felt like an idiot at school.
There is so much duality in this girl, she’s driving me crazy.
Now STFU JLaw and take some acting classes because your PR machinery is goign down FAST.
None of these things are exclusive.
I was bullied, but I still had friends. Just because you have friends doesn’t mean other twits can’t pick on you. Why do you even think for a minute that the two things can’t happen?
I graduated HS with an excellent GPA – still felt like an idiot. The anxiety I had made me think all the answers I gave out loud were stupid, and that I shouldn’t even bother answering.
Not everyone is like you. Not everything is black and white. Give the girl a break, and stop expecting things to conform to your specific standard of life.
Erinn, you will honestly twist anything she says to make it believable, no offense. For example, if she punched some kid in the face, you would be one of the stans who would argue “That kid is probably a sociopath about to kill someone so Jennifer had to stop him…don’t judge until we hear more details”….obviously that’s an exaggeration, but still….
Let me just ask you this. Do you believe that Jennifer is 100% honest, 100% unmanufactured? That she is 100% above and not into the Hollywood PR game?
The reason I’m asking is that every single star has to play the game to some extent, maybe some less than others, but most Jennifer stans believe she absolutely has no idea how the Hollywood game works but is successful because she’s the only person in the history of Hollywood to be so down to earth, so normal, so relatable.
NO, I’m sorry. This girl is fooling everyone. She makes up stories that suit her. She plays the game and then trashes it. There is no correlation to what she is saying and what she has said in the past. She said she couldn’t stand shy people now she says she’s shy. She needs to stop with all these tricks she is pulling on people and take some acting classes because now she is loved by everyone because Hollywood wants everyone to love her like Hollywood wanted everyone to love Gwynnie and KStew and Lindsay and AnnE and Natalie and whatever. If she’s where she is now is because they are allowing her to do so, once they get tired of her, she’s dead. And her talent does not match up her accolades.
GOSSY-
I’ve made two comments on this, and I don’t think I’ve commented on more than one other JLaw thread. So no, I don’t spin anything she says. Your comments to me were a bit uncalled for, honestly. Your extreme exaggeration is ridiculous, and nothing in my post spurred that. Of course she’s playing the game, though I don’t think she’s nearly as manufactured as most. I think she’s kind of goofy, and mostly honest. What I posted was that these things aren’t exclusive. It’s not black and white. You can be bullied and still have friends. I was. You can be shy, and shove yourself through it. I have depression and anxiety issues, and I have to do it on a daily basis. I got good grades in school, but still didn’t FEEL smart a lot of the time.
MARIE – I don’t think she’s just making them up. Like I said in the previous post, and the reply to Gossy not everything is black and white. You can be more than one thing. She might be exaggerating a bit, or whatever, but I think her intentions are good, and that the basis is in fact.
You also made the comment upthread: “JLaw is not a teenager, your sister should by no means look up to someone who is not her same age/does not have the same life. ” Do you not realize how ridiculous you sound simply tearing into this actress? She’s likable. She’s not out having wild parties, she’s not fucking her way through Hollywood, or at least not that we know of. It seems like your views can only be black and white. People can look up to whoever they want. People can like whoever they want. Same as you not having to like her. I just would like you to realize not everything in life is perfectly black and white.
@Erinn,
Okay I agree on one thing: I think she exaggerates, but I think she exaggerates A LOT.
This is my own opinion. If one girl in elementary school called her fat once, then when she tells it, it will be she got bullied by lots of girls who called her fat every day.
And by the way, I commented elsewhere saying I genuinely do believe she’s a nice sweetheart girl. My problem is that I think she’s super manipulative of the press but she herself has stated that she’s so out of the loop of the PR/Hollywood game, which is BS because ALL actors have to play it. Maybe she’s not invested in it, but she has to play it somewhat. She just won’t admit it.
Wait a minute.
I can be wrong but isn’t her that said in a past interview she can’t stand shy people, or something like this ?
Iza, you beat me to it! And no, you are not wrong.
It’s possible that she hated that aspect of herself, too. Maybe she feels like she tried to shove herself through it, and that other people need to try that as well. I was terribly shy growing up, still am pretty shy. I don’t like that aspect of myself, and I try to shove myself through it.
^^ I’m with Erinn. Actually, I support pretty much everything she’s said so far. I’m shy and I hate when other people are shy because it makes me have to work so much harder. I appreciate gregarious people as they make my life easier. And I’m sure JLaw has some PR training and is partly designed to come across the way she does, but I truly think she’s as honest and down to earth as you can be in the environment she’s in. And she’s a pretty good role model for young women.
Good point, Erinn. I was always shy (and hated it) and when I went away to college the first thing I did when I arrived in my dorm was to try to be as outgoing as possible (for me). I thought I could re-invent myself a bit with people who didn’t know me. It didn’t really stick, I realized it’s hard to force it. But if anyone could make that kind of change, I’d think an actress might have an easier time of it.
I think she’s genuine. I also get a humanitarian vibe from her. I can see her dedicating her life to charitable works like Angelina Jolie did after she came to the realization that all the fame, success, and money did not bring her real happiness.
If it was bad enough that her mom took her to a doctor it sounds pretty bad. Most schooling IS soul killing for a lot of creative people, lots of standing around in lines and coloring within them.
I’m glad she had a great mom who let her excel in what makes her (and a lot of other people happy).
I’ve hit saturation point with Lawrence. I hope she isn’t a big part of the PR for whatever that 70s movie is.
But, it’s also pretty obvious that she gave the Interview, they translated it into French, and then these are English translations of the French versions. It’s possible that she sounded more natural/like herself in the original interviews.
It’s almost impossible for anyone to do so much promotion and not wear out their welcome by the end of it.
(In other news, when will the naked dress trend DIE already. That Dior she wore in LA is ony marginally less hideous than the one that Kristen Stewart wore! Who thought that was a good idea?!)
Her interviews become lie after lie, stunts and manufactured drama. Barf. She started as unusual and refreshing, now she repeat what KStew doing years ago: complain about school, dissing papz, fame, Hollywood, playing victim card by telling bulling stories AND wear nude dresses because Sex sells. JLaw become cliche. And looks like she lost her sense of humour. (sorry for my english)
btw, as a former fan I saw hundreds of her child and teenage photos and on everyone she looks extremely happy and smiley. But now JLaw rewrote history to create image that will benefit her celebrity profile. Just another PR product.
Is it normal to take your BFF to wherever you work like you do with your favourite toy?
I am sorry but the simple fact that she has an Oscar at 22 and Julianne Moore, Amy Adams or Leo DiCaprio do not, makes her as unappealing and suspicious as the people that offered it to her.
This girl is showered with excessive attention and praise without having to work for any of them.
I don’t think Silver Linings will stay in history, nor Catching Fire, nor her campaign for Dior, nor her completey off – base role in American Hustler (she is way to young for that).
I am not passing judgement but I thought actors work with emotions, acting is about conveying them, but she is so young, what can she search within herself to pull off emotion? Someone her age has no other option than to manufacture emotion, which is what I see in her acting. One can argue that everyone manufactures and it’s true, but a 30 year old has a different experience than a 20 year old.
Sandra Bullock earned her praise and I love her for that…but this girl…she’s just a girl that is very good at lying, not acting. I don’ see emotion in her eyes, on screen or off screen, but I see she has a very quick mind and she figured out how to play people. She does have a remarkable intelligence but I thought actors are supposed to act with their hearts.
that is the problem with her. People think she is a good actress because she can portray smart, tough chicks with a good heart which she probably has beneath all that PR. But the truth is, she cannot act outside her own persona, she is does not work with different energies/ personalities, everything she does feels JLaw and because the media tells us we have to love her, we do.
” makes her as unappealing and suspicious as the people that offered it to her.” EXACTLY. She’s not working hard for what she has but Hollywood is using her. It is not going to last.
Actually, yeah. It’s pretty normal for actors and singers to hire a friend they before they were famous or a family member to be their assistant & accompany them to sets (Miley, Colin Farrell, Beyonce, and many more). I believe Angelina was in her former assistant’s wedding, and that they were friends for a while before she worked for Angelina…. I think it must create a weird power dynamic, but I can understand it because they know it’s someone they can trust (NDA plus a deep history).
I get annoyed by her obviously, but one thing to keep in mind is that she will not last. This “love Jennifer because she’s so relatable” campaign will be over within 5 years at longest, and probably within 2 years after the last hunger games movie is finally over.
NOT A SINGLE person who got (super, super) famous through a franchise has lasted. The Harry Potter kids, the Twilight bunch, Keira Knightley, Orlando Bloom, Viggo Mortensen, Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Shia Labeouf, etc.
If you look at the actresses who have at some time held the highest paid/most famous/most valuable rank in Hollywood through the years, none of them ever starred in a mega franchise. Demi Moore, Julia Roberts, Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Angelina Jolie, Sandra Bullock….
Also the longest they’ve held onto the top has been anywhere from 3-10 years….and on average probably 5 years. Julia Roberts is kind of an exception (being valuable for 10 years) because she was famous back in the 1990’s and in the 2000’s onwards, stars aren’t as valuable as CGI and book adaptations, etc.
Jennifer is already at her peak. She’ll last 5 years and then be a very good, solid, actress who has the level of fame/value as an Amy Adams. So good career, but no longer shoved in our faces every day.
Viggo Mortensen and Kirsten Dunst?
These two actors have both had critically-acclaimed careers post-franchise. They might not be huge Box Office stars, but they are successful working actors.
Same with Knightly-she found a pretty unique niche for herself with the period pieces and consistently gets work as a result. I guess it depends on what kind of a career the actor is looking for but I think it’s potentially as lucrative and more creatively fulfilling for an actor to choose a consistent, if not large, paycheck than to do the blockbuster films that have a lot of money riding on them. Sure, they get the big payout, but they also have the pressure of the film’s success riding on their shoulders.
Also, Lawrence made her debut with Winter’s Bone, a small indie film, not Hunger Games. Winter’s Bone is really what first got people noticing her and talking about her acting abilities.
I personally think she’s here to stay, but she should focus on doing some more low-key independent movies–ones released by studios that don’t force her to do so much promotion. I think people are just kind of sick of her at this point..
Neither have won an Oscar or golden globe for their post work and neither are considered “in demand” actors at the moment. Obviously they can easily get work but they’re not up for the best roles, and note these “best” roles aren’t leads in CGI franchise films, but I mean films written by award winning writers, directed by award winning directors, etc.
Also the nomination for winter’s bone helped her on her path to hunger games/x-men but nobody knew who she was. That’s why I said “super super famous”.
Think about it, Angelina Jolie at the time of her Oscar win was known only to 20% of Americans, and that’s with her troubled family history.
Even with Jennifer’s nomination for Winter’s bone, probably only 10% of people knew who Jennifer Lawrence was (obviously more had heard/seen of her but couldn’t put a face to a name)
I actually think most of the people you’ve mentioned have very nice careers going on.
As a die-hard HP fan, I actually think the HP kids are doing really well, Daniel did some plays and got good reviews and now he’s starring in interesting movies and doing really well, Rupert is currently in a play ( Mojo) and the reviews are pretty good. Even Emma, who couldn’t act to save her life is doing some big projects. And it’s very hard for them to separate themselves from their HP chracter
Viggo was nominated for an Oscar for Eastern Promises and nominated for a Golden Globe twice, for Eastern Promises and A Dangerous Method–all post-franchise. Just getting a nom is an achievement for any actor, given how competitive the industry is. Mortensen got to work with Cronenberg twice and Dunst worked with Von Trier on Melancholia, a role that got her a lot of acclaim.
I’m curious as to what you would consider the “best roles”?
I agree with the gist of what you’re saying here, I just take exception with a couple of the people you mentioned, particularly because I don’t think that it was ever a potential career trajectory to be a Big Box Office star for a lot of these actors. I think for most of them, including Shia, it was a very deliberate choice to pursue non-blockbuster films that skew towards the creative side of things. I would say out of all, Orlando Bloom would be the only one that really couldn’t get away from the franchise, despite all the hype and his “It Actor” status at one time. And I agree that the Twilight franchise and Potter kids were definitely overshadowed by the power of the franchises they starred in. Same with Elija Wood..
Still, we see actors that are able to transition in and out of franchises and still maintain a hot career throughout. I guess your point is that most who are successful already had an established career once they entered into the franchise.
@Kitten,
Hi yes I was trying to say that actors who have longevity as A-List were well established (at least B+ list) prior to entering into some sort of franchise which then launched them into A-list. Those are the ones that last.
But for actors who were barely B-list to become A-list due to a franchise, none have had any staying power.
When I say A-list, for men I mean: Depp, Downey, Pitt, Smith, Cruise and for women: Bullock, Roberts, Jolie, Witherspoon, Kidman
At one time or other all of them have been global superstar phenomena and the HP kids, Twilight kids, etc. all reached that level due to a franchise, whereas the aforementioned needed to reach that level through years of good movies, both critical and commercially successful.
Obviously Jennifer has acting talent and without Hunger Games probably would have made A-list in 5-10 years, but since Hunger Games catapulted her to A-list, I don’t see her sustaining the A-list career of a Roberts, Jolie, or Bullock into her 30’s. And we all know how roles dry up for actresses.
There was this one article I read (I think Forbes) That analyzed all the top paid actresses over a 20-30 year period and the average age they hit their peak was between 33 and 34 years old.
So if 33/34 is the average age of an A-list actress’ peak, I’m just saying I don’t see Jennifer being the top star she is right now in 10 years.
Well apart from Orlando Bloom, all those people still have pretty good careers and in the case of the younger ones, they have potential to grow as actors. And apart from the Harry Potter kids and a few people from Twilight, they didn’t break out in franchises, they just got bumped up a notch or two for a while. All are still working consistently, many in really great projects. Viggo especially has exactly the career he wants.
Jennifer already had an Oscar nom and a different franchise on the go before Hunger Games, so she was getting good work and a lot of buzz before she got the role as Katniss. She’s still doing interesting work, and talented people want to work with her. She’s making good choices. Eventually she won’t be the hot new face, but that doesn’t mean she’ll fade away.
Angelina only became hugely famous after Tomb Raider, before that the average person would have only known her as the crazy chick who kissed her brother and wore Billy Bob’s blood around her neck. It was a franchise that launched her into the A-list, and she faltered like many others. Between the original Tomb Raider and Mr & Mrs Smith she made a ton of bad, forgettable films and for a while there her fame was coming from tabloids not from her work. Right now Reese Witherspoon is in danger if she doesn’t get some great roles. Sandra Bullock had a few bad years. Halle Berry would have made it on your A-list at one point and now she’s a year or two away from direct to video. I personally like Nicole Kidman but people are always claiming her career’s over. Matt Damon has faltered a few times. Even Brad Pitt had a couple of years where it looked like he wasn’t going to make the transition to proper leading man. Depp knew what he was doing, but for a long time people would have scoffed at the idea of him carrying blockbusters, and after The Lone Ranger people have started doing that again. I guess my point is that apart from Jack Nicholson and probably now Clooney, the top tier of the A-list isn’t set in stone. You can be there for a while, then tumble off, then work your way back up, then falter again. It’s not a sign of failure if you don’t stay at the very top forever.
I’m actually going to have to agree with you on one thing there. I too was confused as to why she won an Oscar for Silver Linings. She was okay in it but no where near the “amazing” the media made her out to be. She was just average to me. So yes, it’s surprising that someone as incredible as Julianne Moore hasn’t won an Oscar yet, but because of the Harvey Weinstein machine, Jennifer Lawrence had one at 22.
Jennifer is a beautiful girl. Super talented. But everything about her brand is contrived. In the beginning it was genuine, but now there is too much try-hard. It’s too bad because she really is a likable kid. She is ruining it by talking out of her ass.
Exactly. I liked her when she didn’t talk about herself so much. I’m just very tired of her shtick.
I gotta give her a pass — she’s doing the pole dance to promote her movie, where basically they’re contractually obligated to talk about themselves all day long. She’s probably sick of hearing herself talk about herself, too!
Yeah I definitely take that into consideration.
I don’t hate her at all, quite the opposite, I just think we all need a break…
I forget which recent interview it was (Vogue, VF?) but I remember her saying how much she craved attention to the point of making up stories about herself and pulling attention seeking (and dangerous) stunts when she was in school. She claimed she jumped out of the fire exit door on her school bus once and for no reason, started to run really fast in gym class while the rest of her confused classmates just stood there and stared at her. Maybe that’s when and how she got her nickname “Nitro”. That doesn’t sound like social anxiety to me. It sounds like she was very keen on being the class clown, center of attention in school. Maybe she suffered from ADHD and had trouble controlling her impulsive behaviors. She also said she was in therapy and took medication when she was younger. I just don’t buy her being shy or suffering from social anxiety. Quite the opposite, actually.
What little authenticity I found in her manufactured, gee-whiz, girl-next-door persona was lost when she turned out to be just another skinny actress lying about her workout regimen.
does she ever remember a fun quaint time in her life??
walking to school and kicking fall leaves.. ANYTHING, you like to bake??
all she does is complain and rehash the “young Hollywood actress interview topics”
She is not really good actress, just a tricky liar that always plays diffrent verse of herself. That is why she flopped her role in Serena to the point that no distributor company want pick it, two years later movie still has no releasing date.
How do you graduate 2 years early? That’s not possible here, no matter how good you are. Even skipping a grade is very very rare.
High school exit exam or summer classes. It’s not that unusual for people to graduate early, sometimes it is because they are brilliant and sometimes it is because of personal reasons.
Yeah, not possible here, at least I think it isn’t.
In a different interview she said she never attended high school in the traditional sense and admitted she wasn’t very bright in school. It’s possible she might have been homeschooled for her high school years. I’m not familiar with homeschooling so maybe she was able to move forward quicker and graduate sooner than a traditional school setting.
Wow, I had no idea about the level of hate for her out there. I think she’s beautiful and a decent actor and no more contrived/offensive that most others in Hollywood. Also, I have a teenager who struggles terribly with clinical depression so right now I can relate to what she says here.
Whether or not it’s entirely genuine doesn’t really matter imo because kids do look up to her and listen to what she says. If she can give hope to others who are struggling, I’d say that’s positive and outweighs whatever negatives people seem to see in her.
I used to LOVE Jennifer Lawrence back in late 2011, early 2012, but now just really annoyed by her.
The “hate” is more people pointing out that she talks about too many things that make her relatable and they are all pretty iffy (she makes semi contradictory statements).
I think people more have a problem with the media portraying her as this innocent, naïve, awesome girl who’s so not into the Hollywood game when the “haters” as you call them see her as a PR genius who’s even better at it than Angelina Jolie.
Not trying to pick a fight here, but if she says too much and it’s all pretty contradictory, isn’t that kind of “bumbling amateur” vs. “highly calculating genius?”
I don’t know. I guess I’m not experiencing overload because I haven’t followed her all that closely. I can see why people would be disappointed if she presented one image that they loved and then changed it.
I didn’t read the article, but I just want to say that my inner bro loves NITRO as a nickname.
She was a lily white, blonde, blue eyed well-off cheerleader. What is with the victim complex? I can buy that some young actresses and singers were bullied because they were famous while still in school, but it’s not like she was a famous model or actress back in her schooldays. She also has told a completely different origin story that involved getting discovered and modeling. She keeps contradicting herself. She’s a very good actress and she does not need these PR games
If this girl soon didnt learn how to shut up , she inevitable become new Goop and AnnE H.People turn against her made up fake persona and BS-t propaganda. Megan Fox anyone?!
God, Jen, you make it so hard for me to continue to stan for you! STFU!
Personally, i’m sick of her and her so-called relatability. She’s a big try-hard imo. I like Emma Stone better.
Agree. Mia Was, Carey Mull, Soraice Ronan and the others is NOT for s bit less talented than Jenn, just has not working so hard on ownPR and Celebrity, while Lawrence do and said anything for fame – even show up in swimsuit on major premiere. Even kiss HarveyW ass.
I like her because of stuff like this: http://imgur.com/gallery/BnEBh
lol awwww she does look so darn cute there.
And as a klutz myself, i do find that moment endearing.
Lol. That was funny. She just needs to shut up and she will be fine.
really? because I think she can talk and be funny more than most actresses in Hollywood.
I meant talking like in this interview, you know? like when she keeps contradicting her past assertions about herself. That’s what she needs to shut up about.
she is pretty and talented…and a person who hates that she is normal and not special for anything – i mean, what kind of a person you have to be to be jealous on someone with OCD? She hates that she is average so she invents all kind of crap to gain attention. Totally unnecessary cause she is talented and has a good chance to have a great career just based on that. She doesnt need this crap she is doing.
I’m not going to comment on her because it’s work, it’s PR for the movie and it always gets old, on everybody.
HOWEVER I will say…Bad stylist! Emma Watson was already photographed in that same outfit.
You people who say that you can’t possibly be an introvert and an extrovert at the same time – well, what can I say.
I mean I was exactly like Jennifer, and I still am – I’ve suffered from depression and anxiety since I was a child, with 4-5 suicide attempts and a lot of missed opportunities. I hated parties because I thought people could tell how bad and awkward I felt when around crowds of people… Still I’ve always had tons of friends and people who wanted to be – I was never a mean girl, but yes I was popular.
Though I felt terrible about myself, like Jennifer, making friends has never been a problem and I have no idea why, but I’m just “one of those people” you know? I hate to sound arrogant and full of myself but for some reason, getting others to like me by just being myself was much easier than to actually like myself. At home I was an introvert, self-destructive, insomniac, but then whenever I stepped out I was “somebody”. I made up reasons not to go to parties because I was certain people would question my attendance, but once I said yes to the first one I was invited to so many parties and gatherings at once it surprised me.
Please don’t think I’m conceited because I don’t take anything for granted; I want to deserve people’s devotion and love, so I try to be as kind as possible to everyone I meet. I see this ability to connect to just about anyone as a gift, and Jennifer reminds me so much of myself that I understand every single awkward move she does, and how she can shine so brightly but still talk about how bad she felt as a child. I don’t question her ability to be one thing and its opposite at the same time, and it’s incredibly cynical by people who assume she’s bullshitting us because hey, how can one person be so much more than meets the eye?
The way I see it, she is an actress because like me, she loves who she becomes when people look at her. It’s not about arrogance; it’s about feeling so misplaced but then strangers and friends alike make you feel so special and brilliant, even though you feel you don’t deserve it. She repays it by making people happy through her movies, and by being – by all accounts – a great person to everyone she meets. I’m sure plenty of you are sharpening your knives and think I sound like a fucking tool: obviously you are all entitled to your opinions, but I’m not trying to blow my own horn, and nothing about her seems fake to me. The bubbly, popular, funny girl might still have plenty of nights where she lies in bed hating herself. It’s not all black or white.
how much do you get paid to say this?? You try to justify everything bad she does.
Lol Marie, nobody is paying me anything and I’m not justifying anything, I’m trying to shed some light on JLaw’s experiences since I’ve shared some of them. I just wanted to be a bit real but of course people won’t buy any image, no matter how genuine it is. As I said, I find it very cynical that people like you are jumping to conclusions, seeing lies and contradictions in others where there might not even be any. People aren’t one-dimensional you know. Open your mind and loosen up and you’ll see that people are much more than whatever you’ve made them out to be.
JLaw’s gone now. Once Hollywood gets its fingers in new pie it spoils and she’s now part of a modern-day Capitol. You’d think people would learn.
I don;t know, judging from her interviews the real her is still there. She is still the same old bubbly funny and nice girl in all the interviews that happened this week. Still sounds grateful, normal, and kind. I don’t think she has changed at all since WB.
Her backstory still makes sense to me… but frankly i don’t care about her backstory. I enjoy her because of her portrayal of Katniss and her wit, humor, and personality in interviews. She is still so refreshing … after watching her interviews and watching another with some other actress… they still feel so bland and boring.
I hope you’re right. It would be so refreshing to see her maintain that down-to-earth enthusiasm without it becoming her schtick. But those open-mouthed photos are cracking me up.
I love her. She is a funny person and an awesome actress. She looks normal. Her interviews suck, but there is just a serious overexposure of her going on right now. Please don’t change Jennifer.
Why do her interviews suck? she is one of the few actresses who can give an interview , especially on a talk show, and not come off like paint drying. This interview is english translated into french and then back to english again… so it’s likely not all really what she said. But anyway, it’s nothing new. She has talked about having social anxiety is middle school before.
I’m surprised so many people have a prob w/ her. I think she’s refreshingly real.
I get what she says about being effervescent and then school changing that. Before I started primary school I was super confident and never shy or awkward. that changed in grade one because my teacher was an evil b!tch and she took an instant dislike to me. She bullied me every day, would tell me I was a horrible child, would blame me for things other kids in my class did knowing full well I hadn’t done it, would refuse to help me tie my shoelaces (I was 5) but help every other kid. A kid pushed me off of the slippery slide and I was bleeding and had to get stitches in my eyebrow and when the teacher on duty took me to the office she was walking past and when she was told what had happened she said “she probably brought it on herself. She’s a bad child” I mean so much stuff to the point I would be crying every day. I hated her and she made me withdraw into myself. I wasn’t a bad child, anyone else would have described me as sweet, well mannered and unfailingly polite (and they did) but she for some reason hated me. my point is, some things happen that make a once outgoing child change
Ummm girls who are uber-shy usually aren’t voted most talkative in school and aren’t on the cheerleading squad. She just says this stuff for sympathy. It’s pathetic.
She’s the one-eyed in the blind land (don’t know if this proverb exist in english). The most overrated actress EVER.
I admit, my French may not be what it once was, but reading the original article I don’t see her claiming anywhere that she was shy in school. Her “social anxiety” as she calls it seemed to come from her feeling stupid, feeling incapable and like she was a bad student. Getting into acting and making her feel capable brought back her light and her happiness. People sure are quick to read whatever they want into what she says and call this girl a hypocrite.