The Emma Stone role Jennifer Lawrence bombed her audition for: “You didn’t get it because you suck”
The 2010s was a mammoth decade for Jennifer Lawrence, who nabbed an Oscar nomination when she was just 20-years-old after starring in the drama Winter’s Bone. As one of the youngest ‘Best Actress’ nominees of all time, the acclaim indicated her forthcoming success in the industry, and she subsequently earned another nomination two years later for Silver Linings Playbook, which she ended up winning.
Clearly, from the beginning of her career, Lawrence had what it took to become a star, and she quickly landed roles that would solidify her place in Hollywood. With The Hunger Games franchise, she became one of the biggest actors of the decade, gaining a wealth of fans who loved her performance as Katniss Everdeen, a heroic young woman who causes an uprising, helping to overthrow a powerful and grotesque government who force children to kill each other for entertainment.
She became a teen idol, appearing in countless magazines and picking up several Kids and Teen Choice Awards. However, Lawrence never boxed herself into the role of being an actor who catered for younger audiences. When she wasn’t portraying Katniss throughout four films, she starred in many mature roles, from American Hustle and Red Sparrow to X-Men and Mother!. Clearly, Lawrence knew that it was important to balance the kinds of roles she accepted, and as a result, she has made an incredibly successful career for herself that ranges from teen dystopia to erotically-charged thriller.
However, before she became Katniss, she auditioned for a role in another hit teen movie, although one that was much more sexually charged than The Hunger Games. The actor really wanted the main role in Easy A, a part that eventually went to Emma Stone, helping to boost her career as a leading star. Directed by Will Gluck, the film takes inspiration from The Scarlet Letter but with a considerably modern twist.
Stone stars as Olive, a high-schooler whose white lie about losing her virginity, turns her into the school’s most controversial student, which she embraces, basing her identity around her so-called promiscuity, even though she is still, in fact, a virgin. As men line up to ask Olive to pretend to sleep with them so that they become more popular, her life spirals out of control as she attempts to maintain her lies.
Alongside Stone are Penn Badgley, Stanley Tucci, Lisa Kudrow, Amanda Bynes, and Malcolm McDowell, with the result being a well-acted and well-written comedy that teens and adults alike enjoyed upon its release. However, Lawrence really wished she had scored the role, explaining in an ‘Actress Roundtable’ organised by The Hollywood Reporter, “I auditioned for Easy A. I wanted it so bad.” To that, Stone jokingly replied: “Well, guess what? You didn’t get it. You didn’t get it because you suck.”
Lawrence might not have gotten the role, but she might not have become the star of one of the biggest teen franchises of the 21st century if she had. Both Lawrence and Stone have since gone on to have incredibly successful careers, and the former finally got the chance to appear in a sex comedy akin to Easy A in 2023 when she starred in No Hard Feelings.
