The movie Jennifer Lawrence hated making: “I wouldn’t be able to do it again”
It goes without saying that moviemaking is a stressful process, especially when the subject is intense and harrowing. For Jennifer Lawrence, though, one production took her past her limits.
Indeed, when Lawrence appeared at the premiere for this film in 2017 at New York’s Radio City Music Hall, she was customarily candid, or, more accurately, blunt, with the press about what they could expect from Mother! “You’re laughing and smiling now, but you’re all going to really hate me in about an hour and a half,” she admitted with the kind of grin that hinted there was quite a story behind her words, “So, the first thing I want to do is apologise.”
Why would an A-list Hollywood star preemptively apologise for her movie? From the whacked-up brain machine of Darren Aronofsky, the auteur best known for distressing, visceral pictures like Requiem for a Dream and The Wrestler, Mother! was a psychological horror thriller that paired Lawrence with Javier Bardem as a couple who invite two strangers, played by Ed Harris and Michelle Pfeiffer, into their home. Over time, the presence of these newcomers becomes malignant, and the movie builds to a climax that can only be described as excessive, histrionic, and downright horrifying.
While shooting the movie, Lawrence and Aronofsky also dated, which raised some questions about blurred lines in terms of the personal and professional. The latter characteristically demands a lot of his actors emotionally and physically, and this feature was no different, if not more exacting. Thus, on one particular day, Lawrence was pushed so hard while hyperventilating for a traumatic scene that she actually dislocated one of her ribs.
The star wound up needing significant medical attention, and let’s just say Aronofsky didn’t cover himself in glory by insisting they keep shooting. Tensions were high, and “I ended up getting on oxygen,” the actor told Vogue, adding, “I have oxygen tubes in my nostrils, and Darren’s like, ‘It was out of focus; we’ve got to do it again’. And I was just like, ‘Go fuck yourself’.”
On another occasion, her weeks of going through the emotional wringer reached a crescendo when they were shooting the revolting scene of her character’s baby being killed by a group of zealots, which the actor believed audiences would “hate” the filmmaker for. “That was the worst feeling I’ve ever had in my life,” Lawrence confessed during an event at the Toronto Film Festival, “It was awful, and I don’t know if I would ever do such a movie again”.
Amazingly, at the premiere, when asked about how she felt when she first saw Mother!, she led with the kind of honesty few Hollywood stars ever display when promoting a film. “I was really shaken,” she acknowledged, “My first reaction was that we took it too far”. She did clarify that, upon reflection, the movie’s confrontational nature was exactly “what we need to be doing” and that she was happy Aronofsky didn’t water down his vision, but it was obvious she had decidedly mixed feelings on the making of it.
All in all, while hate may be a strong word, it would be hard to deny that Lawrence had an extremely rough time making Mother! “I’m happy I did it,” she half-heartedly told Entertainment Weekly, before admitting with candour, “If I had to do it again? If there was a Mother! sequel? No. I wouldn’t be able to do it again. I did it once, and I gave it my all.” Point noted.
