The Hollywood Reporter has released yet another new outtake of Jennifer Lawrence for their Anuual Actress Roundtables issue. Below are some interview excerpt from the magazine.
I’ll start with a simple question. Why do you act?
LAWRENCE: Because I have to.
Jennifer, who do you act for?
LAWRENCE: My agent. (Laughter.) If I hadn’t found [acting], I would have never been able to make sense of all of these bizarre things we all had when we were kids. Why, if I think something, do I feel it? Before you’re acting, that just makes you feel crazy.
LAWRENCE: [Once] I convinced my entire bus that we were being held up for ransom because I was reading about it and I was like, “This is real.” I have an outlet, and now I understand what it is, otherwise I would have felt mentally insane. I really act for myself. I really love it. I don’t think there’s a way that you could handle these schedules, all of the actual work that goes into it, if you don’t really, really love it.
LAWRENCE: That is what acting is.
Are you ever afraid of acting?
LAWRENCE: I’m always terrified before every movie because I haven’t found her [the character], and I don’t get it. [Without acting, I’d have] become a nurse.
LARSON: I think you’d be a great nurse.
LAWRENCE: Well, thank you.
LARSON: I don’t know if I’d let you put me under, but —
LAWRENCE: No, no. I’m not good with math. You don’t want me to deal with your Propofol.
Older means over what age?
LAWRENCE: In Hollywood or in real life? (Laughter.)
Jennifer, you’ve written about the pay gap between men and women, and you’re taking a stance on issues. Has there been a backlash?
LAWRENCE: There’s always a backlash in everything that you do, but it’s not going to stop or change anything. And it’s not only an issue in Hollywood. When you’re asking about roles for men and women, men certainly have a longer shelf life. Men can play the sexy lead for 20 years longer than we can —
LAWRENCE: Across all fields, women are generally paid 21 percent less than men.
LAWRENCE: Was it real pee?
Is there anything you wouldn’t do as an actress?
LAWRENCE: I get nervous.
Have you said no to doing something onscreen?
LAWRENCE: I don’t think so. I mean, I’ve skinned a squirrel.
Not a real squirrel?
LAWRENCE: Of course it was a real squirrel. I didn’t kill it. But no, not yet. I had my first real sex scene a couple weeks ago [while shooting Passengers with Chris Pratt], and it was really bizarre. It was really weird.
LAWRENCE: No, no. Thank you for clarifying. It was weird. And everything was done right; nobody did anything wrong. It’s just a bizarre experience.
How do you prepare for that?
LAWRENCE: You drink.
I got really, really drunk. But then that led to more anxiety when I got home because I was like, “What have I done? I don’t know.” And he was married. And it was going to be my first time kissing a married man, and guilt is the worst feeling in your stomach. And I knew it was my job, but I couldn’t tell my stomach that. So I called my mom, and I was like, “Will you just tell me it’s OK?” It was just very vulnerable. And you don’t know what’s too much. You want to do it real, you want everything to be real, but then … That was the most vulnerable I’ve ever been.
In creating the truth, do you borrow from other actresses’ performances?
LAWRENCE: I take from people all the time. I didn’t ever go to acting classes or anything. You can just watch people.
Do you like to watch your own work?
LAWRENCE: I do, too. It’s hard to do, but I think it’s really important to go back and watch yourself.
LAWRENCE: I can’t hear myself. I can stare at my double chin all I want, but hearing this androgynous voice, you can’t even tell what sex I am.
Have you ever acted onstage?
LAWRENCE: I never have. I’m scared of it. I don’t know if it’s a different animal, I don’t know if it’s the same animal. I don’t know.
LAWRENCE: When I watch you onscreen, it’s your eyes and it’s your soul.
BLANCHETT: And doing that:
(rolls her eyes).
LAWRENCE: Yeah! (Laughter.) You have crazy eyes.
How else are film and theater different?
LAWRENCE: I’m going to ask this because I don’t have children: What is the difference between men who direct [and] have families, too?
LAWRENCE: I do want to be a mother. But I don’t need to think about it right now. I really only think about work. But it’s interesting that there’s so many different sides of this: Women get frustrated that we don’t get paid enough; and then the Republicans or the CEOs that are men say, “Well, it’s because women take off time for maternity leave.”
You can read the rest of the interview over at The Hollywood Reporter official website.
