Jennifer Lawrence: I’m Lucky, Many Actresses Body Shamed or Fired

Jennifer Lawrence has finally passed into that rarefied area in Hollywood that very few women get to live in. At Comic-Con on Thursday, the Mockingjay actress talked about the struggle some actresses ...
Jennifer Lawrence: I’m Lucky, Many Actresses Body Shamed or Fired
Written by Mike Tuttle
  • Jennifer Lawrence has finally passed into that rarefied area in Hollywood that very few women get to live in. At Comic-Con on Thursday, the Mockingjay actress talked about the struggle some actresses have with being expected to be skinny in order to get roles.

    Lawrence told Harper’s Bazaar in 2013 that she was once threatened with firing if she did not lose weight.

    “Somebody told me I was fat, that I was going to get fired if I didn’t lose a certain amount of weight,” Jennifer Lawrence said. “They brought in pictures of me where I was basically naked, and told me to use them as motivation for my diet. It was just that.”

    One reviewer said of her figure, “A few years ago Ms. Lawrence might have looked hungry enough to play Katniss, but now, at 21, her seductive, womanly figure makes a bad fit.”

    With all the talk of a shift in Hollywood numbers toward roles for women, Jennifer Lawrence addressed the topic again.

    “I would hope that there are more opportunities for women, but sometimes it’s hard,” Lawrence said. “I was just having a conversation with somebody about the struggles of weight in the industry, because they know that it’s something I talk nonstop about. Once you get to a certain place [in your career], people will hire you and they want you to be in their movie, so they don’t care. It’s more about the struggle for the actors and actresses who haven’t made it to a certain place.”

    Lawrence explained that she has less trouble with the issue now, because she is sought after.

    “I’m not really in a place where I can complain or speak to not getting enough roles, because I’m very lucky to have a lot of opportunities. But I would be interested to hear someone who is not in two franchises answer that question.”

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