I enjoyed Jennifer Lawrence’s Vogue covers and interview, but I guess I was in the minority. I enjoy her, in general, when I take her in small doses, and I want the best for her. Personally, I do not believe Darren Aronofsky is the best. I like him as a director just fine, but I keep getting the feeling that Aronofsky is not really the best boyfriend, nor the best human being to be around. Jen’s Vogue interview seemed to reveal more than she intended – she thought she was telling a humbling story about her work ethic, but really she was telling a story about how her director boyfriend didn’t give a sh-t about her even when she injured herself. So, shock of shocks, a source came forward who claims to have been an extra on the Mother! set. This extra claims Aronofsky was pretty abusive towards Jen.
Jennifer Lawrence has finally figured out why her boyfriend Darren Aronofsky earned the nickname Mr. Mean. Shocking new reports claim the 48-year-old director drove Jennifer, 27, so hard during filming of ‘Mother!’ that she was an “emotional mess” by the end of it.
In a Facebook post that’s since been deleted, an extra on set detailed the nonstop bullying they witnesses when the cameras weren’t rolling. “I would have personally walked out that door ASAP. Swallowing the amount of crap and yelling Jennifer has to take in and redoing a perfect performance over and over a hundred time,” wrote the whistleblower, adding that the actress was forced to shoot the same scene for 12 hours straight. “Abuse is abuse, no matter what job you do or how much you’re paid.”
While Jennifer calls Darren a “visionary,” other people have another word: “a–hole.” Natalie Portman admitted he tried to make her “jealous” of Mila Kunis on Black Swan, and Emma Watson became “delirious” after he banned bottled water on ‘Noah.’
“Jen says Darren is everything she’s ever wanted in a man – intense and passionate,” declares a source. “Ideally, you have to take the good with the bad in any relationship, but these allegation are troubling to say the least.”
[From Star Magazine, print edition]
You know what this reminds me of? All of the stories about how David O. Russell – another notable a–hole director known for treating actors like sh-t – treated Jennifer on all of their films together. She was so blown away by the idea of being Russell’s muse that she basically let him scream at her from dusk ‘til dawn. Amy Adams got the same treatment from Russell too, only Amy vowed to never return. It sounds like Aronofsky is the same kind of guy. It’s like these directors don’t believe that actors can simply, you know, ACT. They believe that to play a misery/fear/whatever, they have to put their actors through hell. Which would be bad enough if Jennifer and Darren’s relationship was merely actor-director. But she went on to date him and they’re still together. Ugh. I’m starting to wonder if her picker’s broken, Nicholas Hoult notwithstanding.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
Yea that’s what a lot of us mentioned in the Vogue thread. How disturbing some of her comments were. Frankly I wouldn’t be with someone that verbally abuses me or others in the name of “work”.
Her picker is seriously broken. Or maybe she believes she should “take” the kind of abuse these guys deal out. Both are worrisome in a work or personal environment
EDIT: Also no one would take this crap if it was a female director. Just more proof that male directors like DOR and Darren get away with everything.
I agree it’s so disturbing. I also wish we could put the artistic male visionary crap to bed, being a controlling asshat does not equal being a creative genius and there are plenty of great movies made by decent people. Maybe Jennifer has a masochistic idea of suffering for her art but I think she should get the hell out if it’s truly bad, these people don’t change (or improve). Just look at Charlie Sheen, sadist from beginning to end and hurt a lot of people. Doesn’t make him a great actor at all.
I agree. It’s disturbing and the “suffering” for art just gives these guys license to abuse people. It’s ridiculous.
And yes jen should get out.
Or maybe she just likes dogs because some women do.
Frankly I think Aronofsky is a homely guy who enjoys having control over beautiful women. And some of them are dumb enough to fall for it.
I think you’re right. I also don’t think he would be able to behave this badly if he wasn’t a well thought of director. He thinks he has a license to make people suffer kind of thing. I don’t buy into people like that but I’ve definitely seen it happen :/
There are lots of guys like that. To the credit of their victims, it’s usually a gradual process of negging, love bombing and withdrawing, triangulation, flattery, and gas-lighting that abusers use over months and months. It’s subtle and even intelligent people can fall for it because most people don’t act that way in relationships and no one is used to being treated that way. It’s hard to see the bigger picture when it’s happening to you so no-people don’t have to be dumb to fall for it. He’s gross.
Justjj – Yeah I agree, I don’t think anyone is stupid for falling in to that trap, you’ve usually either gotten used to it from previous conditioning relationships or you’re so blind sided by it you can’t quite believe it. Either way I like Jennifer but I don’t think this is healthy for her. She’s taking on a lot at a young age and I hope she has some good people around her who can tell her what’s up with these asshole directors.
All this. I hope she wakes up. Or is the woman who finally has the wisdom to dump him instead of being this clown’s project. I hope she realizes his “genius” is confined to being just another a self-involved dick who makes movies, and tries to make up for high school rejection by knocking up movie stars and messing with their heads. He is not curing diseases or negotiating world peace. He is just one more pushy little money ball in glasses with a Hitchcock bend.
Men with actual brains and skill and genius don’t have to resort to screaming and berating people, girl. Look it up.
Jennifer Lawrence seems to have issues with men, first that crazy director she made 3 films with, now with this guy, also the Director of her film. I was a fan for a while, but now, she’s just weird.
As for the picture of her, a few more pounds and she will not be cast in any films.
Why are you body shaming a woman. She always gets slender and in shape for filming. Then let’s go somewhat afterwards just like some stars.
He is repulsive.
I got the same feeling about him.
This +1000
intense and passionate – meaning controlling and abusive, because that’s what it is. The fact that she constantly allows to be abused by asshole directors show that she has some problems mixed with understanding that a woman wanting a job has to put up with any amount of shit male superiors drop on her. She is young though maybe she will grow out of this phrase of thinking that she need intense and edgy man as a boyfriend that she mistakes abusive and disrespectfull for artsy.
Totally.
@minx: Now that is a fact, gross AND repulsive.
Run girl!
There is only so much to tolerate even for the sake of art.
She gave as good as she got with Russell, and other stories from the mother! set have her doing the same with Aronofsky. I’m not a fan of this ‘creating drama’ style of directing, but I don’t think there’s any reason to worry about Jennifer in those situations.
TBF to him on one point, that Emma Watson story was idiotic. He banned plastic water bottles for environmental reasons, he didn’t ban water. Nothing was stopping Watson buying some reusable bottles and filling them up, but instead she drank stagnant water and made herself sick. That bit of stupidity isn’t remotely his fault.
I remember that water story! I’m still astonished at Emma Watson’s cluelessness and stupidity. Girl. Come on.
Absolutely. I also just read that Nolan bans plastic bottles from set and it makes sense because of the constant sound they make when people touch them. Cant be good when you are shooting a movie.
I think people underestimate how tough she is. She is fully aware of the dynamic and I think she likes that they think they have the power but in reality she does. DOR is despondent she dumped him and moved on after she gets what she wants here she will do the same. The girl is calculating. There is something in her that likes this game. I have a friend who lived with me for a year years and years ago. She had an angelic beauty that made her look so sweet and innocent. These guys like DA would flock to her, and she let them feel powerful and slowly she turned the dynamic in her favor, and then they were boring to her, so she dumped them broken and stunned. I think Miranda Kerr operates similarly but my friend wasn’t a gold digger.
She may be tough, but as a woman in Hollywood, she has far less power than any male and in particular a male director with the power DA has. She is also under 30 and her looks are a lot of her power. Most actresses are not really educated beyond high school either, so they are easily impressed by these guys who act like they are artsy intellectuals. If you have done an undergrad in the arts or social sciences, you see these douchebags all the time and learn to avoid them, but Jlaw did not attend university to get this training. DA is basically negging her, but she thinks it’s his auteur style, which is really a bunch of white male privilege bs.
This. Well said. DA was in school until he was 30-31 perfecting his specialness arc, too.
I saw that tweet months ago from a supposed extra on set. I do not believe it. This story has come out to smear the potential awards for mother!. People who have been allowed to see the movie stated it was very good. If this tweet true why is it just coming out now?
But this isn’t about whether or not the movie is good, it’s about Darren Aronofsky and how he treats Jennifer Lawrence.
It could be coming out now because the source(s) assumed that no one would believe their claims. Jennifer’s Vogue interview revealed A LOT without stating much of anything. That doesn’t make the allegations concrete, but she, unknowingly and unintentionally, gave them substance. His previous behavior on the set of Black Swan was also telling.
What was his behaviour on the set of Black Swan like?
@Qaz – he drove his actresses to eating disorders, played them off each other, and knocked one of them up.
Now, they both loved the publicity and the awards/noms, so… not really for us to judge from here.
At this point, everyone knows who Aronofsky is and what he’s like. It not like this was JLaw’s only chance to score a role. Actresses who work with him know what they’re signing up for.
I follow a private account on twitter and the person worked on the set and he said that the filming was painful painful painful
There were rumours about his behaviour towards Lawrence way before today and I believe them. Always watch out for the ‘little people’ who work with or for celebrities because they are most likely to spill the beans if they see dodgy things. The fact that it was somebody working on that set + his past behaviour with actresses points to ‘where there is smoke there is fire’.
If he bullies her at work, how does Darren treat Jennifer at home behind closed doors?
Good question!
And how was she able to think he could be a good boyfriend? Why?
Probably not much better. That’s probably why we haven’t seen them together in months. I’ve said it before, but JLaw looks and sounds like she’s over this relationship already.
Hope so!
blinds have been saying she’s been rekindling with hoult…. 😀 better than this darren tool
My thoughts too. It is no mistake she revealed what she did.
Do these directors all suffer from tiny-penis-syndrome??? What the hell? This is what happens when actors and directors are rewarded for that Leonardo-suffered-like-nobody-EVER Oscar campaign. They think it won’t be a good movie unless someone’s molested by a CGI animal. For the art! Oh, the art. What a ridiculous industry.
A lot of directors do this because they think it stimulates creativity…and usually it does. Nicole Kidman has talked a lot about this since she frequently works with difficult auteurs.
Then maybe they all need to switch jobs. If I had to be yelled at constantly to do my job well, the HR department would not be amused.
Abuse is abuse. If an actor needs to be tormented to get a good performance, he or she isn’t a good actor.
And if torment is the main tool in a director’s little holster of skills, he/she is greatly lacking and undeveloped too. As a well-placed person I know has always said, “99% of the time it’s not Art, it’s an Ass.”
Was she bullied in high school? Or at home? Because people who can just take abuse like that, time after time, often have endured it since a very young age.
Yes jennifer has stated in interviews that she was bullied very badly by her brothers. She was the first girl born after couple generation of only boys being born. She mention that her brothers tied her upside down on a fence. They put peanut butter on her face and had dogs eat it off. Javier stated in vogue article that Jennifer brave actress and had the strength of a bull. I feel that because of the bullying she has become very tough.
Oh man I didn’t know that. I mean, where were her parents? So she’s a tough girl out to prove how tough she really is by working with the biggest bastards in Hollywood? Doesn’t bode too well… I hope she sees reason, I like her
Oh no. This is news to me. Now I feel terrible for her. Families like that leave deep scars.
I hope she ditches this abusive jerk and works on her own healing. She deserves better than this. Everyone does.
…..Jesus. 😳
During all of this she developed romantic feelings for this guy? This is why I’m ambivalent towards director-actor relationships, because there’s such an obvious power dynamic there. Regardless of how it’s spun, the director has an influence and control over the actor/actress, even if for a few months. When it’s male directors in their forties directing twenty-something actresses, that entire dynamic is amplified. I know that Jennifer seems confident in herself and her relationship, but he still has so much more experience and power over her. Gah the whole thing is so creepy and inappropriate.
This. People think because jen has money that eliminates the dynamic but it doesn’t. I also think we know women do not have the power white males do in Hollywood and the rest of society.
I loathe this whole “method” acting thing. Like when Dustin Hoffman slapped Meryl Streep for real to get an “authentic” response in Kramer vs Kramer. No woman would get away with that crap.
Or when Hoffman brought up her recently-deceased (at the time) fiancé and began bullying her about his death? Yeah. Abuse does not equal art.
My first thought on reading the headline was of David O. Russel. The video of him berating Lily Tomlin is despicable. His treatment of Amy Adams was despicable. Regardless of whether or not Jennifer Lawrence gives as good as she gets, I can’t imagine wanting to work with someone like Russell again after witnessing how he treats your colleagues (much less dating someone like him).
That video was horrid. I loathe him and I hate his movies.
“While Jennifer calls Darren a “visionary,” other people have another word: “a–hole.” Natalie Portman admitted he tried to make her “jealous” of Mila Kunis on Black Swan, and Emma Watson became “delirious” after he banned bottled water on ‘Noah.’ ”
LOL one is not like the other. Sounds more like Emma was too stupid.
Also I wonder if Jennifer loves to play with Darrens boobs.
She was really young when she became famous and it looks like she sees this abuse as normal in some way.
Exactly! She’s been working with O’Russell for years, plus Harvey Weinstein, who “coached” her for her Oscar campaign. It’s not much of a secret how controlling and abusive they are, so she probably sees this as the norm in Hollywood.
I used to be jealous of jlaw but not after hearing of her horrible work environment. And to condone it is horrible maybe that’s why her people low balled her pay for jobs, they think being treated poorly is ok for her. How sad. She has a drinking problem too I bet it’s stress from this. That video of her pole dancing was her just falling on stage with her hand on the pole and some handler picking her up.
Why were you jealous? Just curious more than anything. She likes to have a good time that is for sure.
As a professional musician, I’ve seen a lot of this kind of borderline-abusive behavior by male conductors. One of the reasons why people tolerate this behavior is because of the power the director holds over those of us working on their projects. The part about forcing her to work on the same scene for 12 hours is sadly something I completely believe. Some directors are absolute dictators. Some don’t care if you are injured during or because of rehearsals. If you don’t please them you are humiliated, shunned, and possibly out of work. There is also the perceived “artistic genius” of these men that makes them highly respected despite their damaging behavior.
I don’t know a ton about movie sets, and I’m a little surprised about this particular report because I always took JLaw as a very assertive young woman, but we’ve seen this pattern of abusive behavior “in the name of art” from Aronofsky before. Unfortunately the fine arts industry often reveres and tolerates men like this. It’s extremely difficult to speak up when you work under one of these kinds of men. Some people are completely fine and it’s water off a duck’s back. But for some, you come to a point where you have to take a step back and say, yes, I want to make great art, but I also need to look out for myself.
It’s a tricky situation and there’s a lot of power play involved. I hope Jennifer has good people surrounding her to look out for her.
Finally! Thanks Kaiser. I was appalled by the way JLaw described O’Russell’s direction as down to earth or whatever nonsense she said after it was discovered what a bully he was. She started so young that she doesn’t seem to understand the line betweeen bullying and directing. Which, I believe, affects her acting: she mistakes yelling and wide eyed staring with conveying thoughts and emotions. Acting, as far as I know, is not about having real feelings but about projection. I hope she is thick skinned because otherwise she will be a troubled young woman. At the very least she is complacent as her evident daddy issues confirm.
Jeez, what happened to his woman? Remember when she was so laid back and normal with a super nice british guy?
She’s dating George Costanza’s meaner older brother, looks like.
Lol!!
I think of nice balanced mild Hoult, and Chris skipping around in his little embroidered stage pants, so yeah this Bruno Costanza is very different from them — but, so is a cobra.
I mean, once she got famous Hoult only wanted to be with her when they were on-set away from any attention, so I wouldn’t assume he’s some amazing guy. It seemed like he had some issues with her success.
It seems that female actors get psychologically and sometimes physically tormented much more so than male actors. Aronovsky, Russell, Bertolucci, Polanski, etc have all done horrific things to their actresses. There’s an actress in an Italian film who was actually raped by her male costar, under the direction of the director.
We hear more about “creative differences” between male actors and directors, not so much the gas-lighting and psycho torture.
I really have a bad feeling about this relationship since day one. And all her references .. is she really at 26 so naive or it is all game for the interview sake? Like: now I not confuse !! Of course sweety you are almost 27!! And not exactly living in Kentucky all this years. How can she mix the confusion that comes on being young and in love with being now of age , after her experiences in life. Please. Don’t like this at all. You can even smell the manipulation and the trying hard to sell him (maybe for an Oscar nom, whatever).
She calls herself a feminist , for the women, and praises him like she owes him. For me that isn’t feminism. I thought she was different and not this cliche of romancing the old director !! Please. Come on Jenn. He is and looks disgusting. At least google him and find out why Rachel Weiz gave up on him, after years and years of his mistreat towards her, even being the mother of his kid. She left him before daniel Craig, but no This 48 old man trashed Rachel .. thank god everybody in the industry knew how he was and is.
Hope that all of this is for selling the movie and possible Oscar noms. And that she doesn’t get pregnant. Please.
Can we stop with the silly revoking of people’s feminist cards over things like relationship choices already- something that we only seem to do with women? The more I hear about this guy the more I look forward to their break-up though.