What's Next for Jennifer Lawrence
Thursday, September 17, 2015 at 9:01AM 
Murtada here with some casting news. With commitments to her two franchises coming to an end soon, Jennifer Lawrence is getting busy considering all types of movies. November 20th brings The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 her 4th and last outing, for now, as Katniss Everdeen. Next summer’s X-Men Apocalypse is supposedly the last time we will see Lawrence as Mystique.
This week came news that she is attached to an adaptation of the book Red Sparrow about a Russian intelligence officer trained as a seductress and her handling of a rival CIA operative. This movie could re-team her with Francis Lawrence her first Hunger Games director. It’s a hot property in Hollywood that previously had director/actress combos of Darren Aronofsky/Natalie Portman and David Fincher/Rooney Mara interested.
More projects and some recent Lawrence quotes after the jump.
A couple of months ago we heard that Lawrence will play photographer Lynsey Addario in a Steven Spielberg directed bio-pic that chronicles Addario’s time in war ravaged Afghanistan, Somalia and the Congo. She’s also attached to Richard Linklater’s romantic comedy The Rosie Project, a love story between a socially awkward scientist and the titular character who’s “quite intelligent for a barmaid”. Before any of these projects come to fruition we will see JLaw teaming with Chris Pratt for Passengers a sci-fi love story directed by The Imitation Game’s Morten Tyldum. In addition there are many other projects that are announced for Lawrence then somehow are never heard of again. The Dive? East of Eden?
A Russian intelligence officer? A seasoned war photographer? A new variation on the manic pixie dream girl? Is there no end to Lawrence’s range. Never doubt Lawrence, after all who knew she had the miracle mop inventor in her somehow. Range aside, she’s the biggest movie star in the world and as she said recently to The New York Times “I can get movies fully greenlit”. However it would be nice if Hollywood had a little bit more imagination and offered some of these parts to other actresses of her generation, especially those who have proved how big their talent is.
To be fair Lawrence is far from the only actor who gets a pass at every hot script first. Just look at her X-Men co-star Michael Fassbender, hardly a week passes without a new project announced with his name. And Lawrence is aware that some of these parts might not entirely suit her. In the same Times interview, she said about being cast by David O. Russell as women much older than she is:
David gets visions. He’s in his own beautiful, amazing world. Those kinds of silly questions don’t really matter to him. It’s not like I was old enough for American Hustle. And I was way too young for Silver Linings. That’s why I almost didn’t get it”.
That quote is interesting when coupled with what Anne Hathaway said recently in another interview, this time to Glamour Magazine.
When I was in my early twenties, parts would be written for women in their fifties and I would get them…And now I’m in my early thirties and I’m like, ‘Why did that 24-year-old get that part? I was that 24-year-old once, I can’t be upset about it, it’s the way things are”.
Wonder who Hathaway was thinking of when she said that.
Which of these projects are you most excited for? Or do you dream of a Hunger Games reboot?
Reader Comments (43)
Well, that was a depressing read.
subtle, sort of.
I hate her.
She may call him a visionary, but I've always found JLaw's miscasting in older roles by DOR terribly distracting and definitely the main reason I still haven't completely bought her performances in either of their movies together.
A star like Lawrence getting films with a female lead greenlit is a good thing. Otherwise some of these films (especially if they need a budget) may have never got made. So instead of "she's taking the roles from other actresses" some of this is her bankability leading studios/producers to bankroll these films. The more talented female stars with real box office mojo around the better - especially if their focus is not exclusively on romantic comedies.
She's charismatic alright. As good as she was in American Hustle, she was way too young for that role.
I love her. She's the Diane Keaton of our times
She's the Diane Keaton of our times
But Diane was never the c-word.
I understand why people are unhappy with her casting in DOR films. In defense, for American Hustle's casting, all of those actors are playing a 'role' and playing against type-- just like their characters. I thought that was the whole point/message of the film.
I truly dislike Jennifer Lawrence. Seriously. She's given one great performance in Winter's Bone and a bunch of uneven shit but her praise reaches new levels every day.
I think she's quite good, and she's very likable, but I still don't get the mega-stardom. I haven't seen any of the Hunger Games films--is that it? Can't be.
yah given how massive those films are at the box office that's it :) I like JLaw a lot and yes I agree a lot of films that she's offered wouldn't get made otherwise if she's not attached to them
Do not really understand this intense infatuation the public or the academy has with her....
You can say she is not that brilliant as an actress - but she's very very good - but you can't deny her stardom. She's incredibly watchable, she fills the screen in a way that everything else becomes pointless, she has a never-ending charisma.
The last time I saw someone give a performance like the one she gave in American Hustle was when Julia Roberts had Erin Brockovich. I can't wait for Joy to see her solo flight.
I like Lawrence as actress and celebrity just fine, but I cannot get behind casting any performer, male or female, in roles for which he or she is not suited for age or other reasons merely because of stardom. It may be right for business, but it's wrong for art.
"A Russian intelligence officer? A seasoned war photographer? A new variation on the manic pixie dream girl? Is there no end to Lawrence’s range. Never doubt Lawrence, after all who knew she had the miracle mop inventor inside her somehow."
Have you somehow seen all of those movies already to claim that?
Getting cast in everything does not mean that she has limitless range, it means that the masses are obsessed with her and therefore Hollywood is as well.
I'm not the biggest fan of Lawrence but I agree any actress getting films greenlit is a good thing.
Anne was meant to star in Silver Linings right? I'd of loved to see what she'd of done with Tiffany after seeing her in Rachels Getting Married.
She's aiight I guess.
Jan - I think Murtada's comments are tongue in cheek playing at Hollywood's short sightedness.
I adore her, particularly in comic roles. She absolutely set fire to the screen in Silver Linings and American Hustle. She's done more with her Hunger Games performance than the rather flat character in the books promised. She was devastating in Winter's Bone. And on top of that, she's a fresh, funny, real person off screen. She doesn't seem to take the Hollywood machine too seriously. She's not a hot mess like other young performers.
Why the hate?
3rtful - Over my years of reading articles and comments at the Film Experience I've seen you refer to different actresses as the c-word several different times. It's not funny, it's not clever, and it doesn't say anything insightful about the particular actresses performances or real life character. It just says a lot about you and it's pathetic.
I know this is an Internet comment section and trolls are to be expected but I can't not say something about it anymore. Now I will go back to skipping over most of your comments as I usually do.
There seems to be a lot of comtempt for Jennifer Lawrence. I agree that she isn't perfect in every role (she looked great in Xmen, but she is ill suited to it beyond that) but it's not like she is Pia Zidora or someone who is more celebrity than actress. most actors do not have an unlimited range (even Kate Hepburn, as the Year with Kate posts showed) but she is good playing what she does best. But I understand that film is very subjective and not eveyone will agree. To each their own. Personally, I couldn't stand Robert Redford until I saw Butch Cassidy. I thought he was just a pretty face who got a bunch of roles that he didn't deserve. Rewatch Out of Africa and you can see Streep laughing inside whenever she is with him. she knows it is her movie and he is just window dressing.
I LOVE her.
It's bad enough that actresses are discriminated in Hollywood.
We as the people need to love them.
She reminds me of Julia Roberts because her intense fame and popularity far eclipses her actual talent. She burps and talks about bodily functions. IMHO, for Jennifer Lawrence, there only is a downward trajectory. She already makes $20 million per movie at 25, largely due to Hunger Games, which is ending. I honestly don't think she has the talent to sustain a complex character for two hours because she has had no training (and don't say Winter's Bone, because it was years ago and an enormous bore). But, go ahead, prove me wrong sister.
3rtful - you always take things to the nth degree. Like, I can understand disliking someone, but you act as though you're literally plotting their murder. Calm down. And quit using the c-word to describe women, it's disgusting, and extremely misogynistic.
I may be one of the few people on that planet that actually likes her. I think she's brilliantly talented, although a lot of her key roles should go to older actresses...
I don't hate JL. I just found everything starting with "To be fair Lawrence is far from the only actor who gets a pass at every hot script first..." simply depressing. Her shrugging her shoulders at the age issue around her casting in several films ("Those kinds of silly questions don’t really matter to him."); that photo of her and Hathaway; Hathaway's resignation about being "over-the-hill" at 33...
I do think she's good but she was way too young to play Bale's wife in American Hustle. Plus, I'm getting annoyed by her public persona.
What roles did Anne get that were meant for 50-year-olds?
Lol you all kind of disgust me with the way you all comment on her like she's murdered your children or something.
she's talented, she's funny, she's got a great public persona and she didn't give herself the role in American Hustle did she? She won it and took it and ran with it and a gave a feisty fiery woman who may have been too young, but was hella entertaining. What was she meant to do? Not audition? Say no, sorry I'm too young? She's just like us - she wants shit too.
This is why we can't have nice things - you tear her down to support others. So and so should have played this or that, she's annoying, so and so would have done that better and so on - this is not the culture Nat is trying to promote nor is it one most of you espouse when supporting underrated actresses who you love.
Celebrate her, celebrate your favourites, celebrate women, talented women and actresses of all colours, shapes and sizes! Tear down the system with your love of all things actressexual and stop this schoolyard nonsense.
The world is round people!
Sorry Nat, had to vent on a tiny iPhone so it may not make sense. Love your work - you know this.
She's not my favorite but I am going to chime in with others and say that calling her a "c***" and "I hate her" is petty, immature, and terribly sexist and just plays into the misogyny and cattiness that people are expecting when actresses come up. She's a talented, hard-working actresses and she's obviously enjoying her success and trying to pick interesting, complicated female characters to portray (side note: I really hope The Glass Castle comes into play. She was rumored to be attached to that a while back and it is a GREAT book and a great part).
And please, I'm finding the misplaced pettiness toward her (and Meryl Streep) about hogging all the parts for actresses to entirely miss the point about this industry. The reason she (and Meryl. And Sandra. And Angelina) get first dibs on most female parts is because they sell tickets. Without their involvement there would be no film. It's not like they are maliciously cackling in their living rooms with a glass of champagne saying "F*** Glenn Close and Brie Larson . I have the part! MWAHAAHAA!". I would love for Michelle Williams and Elizabeth Banks, for instance, to get more work but they have very little clout to get mainstream Hollywood films the financing they need.
Am I still in play? Jurrassic World was one of my better movies.
Jessica -- i know you're working nonstop but please try and keep track of your own projects ;)
Everyone -- agreed that name-calling is gross. I like Jennifer Lawrence but I don't love her. But the stardom factor is real. She is absolutely a movie star... you can't look away even if you don't think she's right for the part (which was what was going on in American Hustle and Silver Linings -- neither of which she was remotely old enough and both of which were uneven performances but she was super watchable nonetheless)
Aaron -- selling tickets does insure the first dibs yes, but there are other bankable actresses besides the ones that get cast in everything. One of Hollywood's problems is that they get these weird fixations that they just can't let go of. They do it with character actors too (who do not sell tickets) you'll see them in virtually every film for a few years and then the parts are few and far between. I find it all terribly weird. Probably because I love variety in my cinema. As I've said many times i don't want to see anyone in every film. And I don't think the big stars should be doing tiny parts just to have multiple movies all the time -- it's distracting and they don't need the money and and and... argh.
Nathaniel - I never thought about it, but that is so true about character actors. You just know that JK Simmons will be in everything for the next 5 years. I really don't get why they don't use them once their "time" is up; it frustrates me that Ed Harris, for instance, who is great in his own right, hardly ever gets parts in major films anymore.
I can hate her and refer to her as the c-word, the b-word, and every other letter in the alphabet. I do not hate women. Though I'm pretty open about my disinterest in the agency of trans women. Sure I bitch about Streep. But I tried really hard to appreciate her and see what everyone else seems to see and I get nothing. Her movies are boring and her performances are devoid of personality and feeling.
Nathaniel Hollywood hates to think. Hence casting those who are popular for their given time in everything.
I try not to be snarky in my comments, but I have to laugh when people say we shouldn't unduly criticize actors. They are famous figures in major movies, and as such, they are open to widespread public criticism, just as politicians, doctors and scientists are. It makes no sense to argue that they shouldn't be judged. As long as the critiques are in good taste, it's all fair game. If someone doesn't like Jennifer Lawrence (I'm not one of them), then shout it from the rooftops. Peace, out.
3rtful is simply disgusting with his completely unnecessary and barbaric comments
I would love to see a Meryl, Cate, Jennifer film. Mother, daughter, mother, daughter. They fight over a giant estate in the woods, and it's not pretty when one of their daughters reveals their family secrets. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow. Can't you block hate speech Nathaniel? What a tired commentator who is starved for attention.
Steve-I'm kind of curious about that myself. Counting out voicework, Get Smart, Passengers and Alice in Wonderland seem to be the most likely culprits, as all of those roles could have gone to older actresses without blinking an eye.
I am so glad that ,others are now voicing their disapproval of 3rtful's ugly remarks, especially at certain actresses .. I have battled with him on and off for years and no one has backed me up..
I have always felt that somehow I was wrong...
We like the Meryl, Jennifer, Cate film, but can one of their husbands be the one who creates the secret telling havoc and tipping point? It would be much easier to sell. They each could arrive with their own lawyers. Ugly tension in the woods with a rich family going haywire would sell, so this film is a go.
@rick:
Your concern is Streep. You shit on Kidman and Pfeiffer. Not the only actress villain in these parts.
My God you are tired. I will be skipping over everything you say, which is the only way to deal with Internet trolls. (You can't mention their name or acknowledge them in any way).
She has charisma and screen presence, I will give her that. But apart from "Winter's Bone", I haven't seen her give a full-bodied, three-dimensional performance. She relies purely on instinct in her acting, which is a great asset, but she completely skips over specificity and nuance.