“It was my blunder”
Jennifer Lawrence is setting the record straight on a comment she made about female-led action movies following backlash.
At one point during the actress’ conversation with Viola Davis for Variety’s “Actors on Actors” series, Lawrence, 32, said, “I remember when I was doing ‘Hunger Games,’ nobody had ever put a woman in the lead of an action movie because it wouldn’t work — [because] we were told girls and boys can both identify with a male lead, but boys cannot identify with a female lead.”
However, Lawrence received some backlash on Twitter over the particular remark in which she said that before she starred in “The Hunger Games” “nobody had ever put a woman in the lead of an action movie because it wouldn’t work.” Her comment became a trending topic as many pointed out how actresses such as Sigourney Weaver and Linda Hamilton were the lead stars in the action franchises “Alien” and “Terminator,” respectively.
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On Thursday, Lawrence addressed her comment while speaking with The Hollywood Reporter.
“That’s certainly not what I meant to say at all. I know that I am not the only woman who has ever led an action film,” she said. “What I meant to emphasize was how good it feels. And I meant that with Viola — to blow past these old myths that you hear about … about the chatter that you would hear around that kind of thing.”
“But it was my blunder and it came out wrong,” she admitted, before adding, “I had nerves talking to a living legend.”
As for why she decided to speak out about her comment, the Oscar winner said, “One time I was quoted saying that Donald Trump was responsible for hurricanes. I felt that one was ridiculous, that it was so stupid I didn’t need to comment. But this one, I was like, ‘I think I want to clarify.'”
The comment about females leading action films came during a moment in Lawrence and Davis’ conversation in which they discussed being action stars, specifically Davis’ role in “The Woman King.”
Davis recalled her reaction after “The Woman King’s” co-writer Maria Bello first pitched her the story. “When have I ever seen anything like ‘The Woman King?’ she said. “Not just with me in it, but with anyone who looks like me in it? What studio is going to put money behind it? How are they going to be convinced that Black women can lead a global box office?”
Lawrence went on to praise Davis over the film, in which she also served as a producer.
“I wanna circle back to you being the lead of ‘The Woman King.’ And we’re at, I think it’s 94 percent on Rotten Tomatoes? 66 million domestic. I mean, it is just … It couldn’t have been more wrong,” said Lawrence.
After mentioning the now-infamous remark about male versus female-led action movies, “The Hunger Games” alum said, “It just makes me so happy every single time I see a movie come out that just blows through every single one of those beliefs and proves that it is just a lie to keep certain people out of the movies, to keep certain people in the same positions that they’ve always been in. It’s just amazing to watch it happen and watch you at the helm.”
Click here to read more about Lawrence and Davis’ conversation, including how the two bonded over the ups and downs of motherhood.
