Jennifer Lawrence on “empowering” female filmmakers
Building on the success of The Hunger Games franchise, Jennifer Lawrence has established herself as one of the leading female voices of her generation. As she moves on to newer projects, though, Lawrence is keen to emphasise the role of women in the industry.
When sitting down with Cameron Diaz for Interview magazine, Lawrence discussed how women have a greater position in the film world today, saying: “I can’t speak for every woman but there’s this extra gusto. You want to prove yourself, and you’ve had to do everything the hard way for a really, really long time. So you’re just used to not being able to ask somebody to do something for you”.
This is a shift from what Lawrence talked about seeing when going on her first auditions, recalling: “It was always this recycled pool over and over again. It was kind of like, you have to be successful to get successful. I remember feeling that way getting into filmmaking”.
While Lawrence expressed concerns at the start of her career, she discussed having a lot more faith in the story than the people behind it. She said: “The harder thing is, ‘We’ve got this great story. Who can direct it?’”.
These comments arrive as Lawrence is beginning a career behind the camera, serving as a producer on the movie Causeway and her latest effort, No Hard Feelings. As she joins the production side, Lawrence also praised the role of the director, explaining: “First-time directors don’t scare me because I trust my experience, and that empowers us to work with more people that haven’t had the opportunity yet”.
When asked about her relationship on set with first-time directors, Lawrence welcomed the idea of giving new creatives the tools to make great projects, telling Diaz: “I can use my movie star-ness for good. You know, anything that the creative process wants, or a first-time director wants, I can just blame it on me”.
No Hard Feelings marks the first time that Lawrence has acted since Causeway and also stars Natalie Morales and Andrew Barth Feldman. It is set to hit theatres on June 23rd, 2023.
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