It really is amazing to see Jennifer Lawrence’s star rise so quickly, just over the course of about three years. She’s only 25 years old and already an Oscar winner, with two more Oscar nominations in the bag, and maybe another one this year. She’s part of two major franchises, The Hunger Games and X-Men. She’s the muse to director David O. Russell. And she’s truly funny and silly and “real.” So, obviously, she’s Entertainment Weekly’s Entertainer of the Year for 2015. Some highlights from the interview:
Being part of two franchises: “It’s crazy. I signed on to these projects when I was 20 years old. I remember being like, ‘Oh my God, I’m going to be 25 when I’m finished. It seemed so far away.”
Saying goodbye to Katniss: “It does feel over. It didn’t for a while and I didn’t think it would ever sink in, but it has now. It feels over. And that’s okay. It’s okay to move on.”
Working with David O. Russell: “David and I will never, ever, ever, ever not do movies together. I love him so much that sometimes I can’t talk about him without tearing up. Look! I’m tearing up. I understand every look, every eyeball move, every word he says or doesn’t say. We were made for each other.”
The problem with squading in Hollywood: “People start to feel a lot less guilty when you become bigger or have more money. People feel less guilty taking from you because it’s like stealing a Snickers from Duane Reade [drugstore]. People forget about the personal drain or attack that you feel. I have a very small circle [of friends]. The moment I feel like someone is using me or is in it for the wrong reasons, I have zero guilt about just cutting them the f— out of my life. My bulls— detector is phenomenal. None of my friends bulls— me. Everything in my life has to be real.”
Her wage gap essay: “Some news show called my essay a ‘bratty display’ and I was like, thank you for proving my point. Would you have called a man a brat? I was very clear: My problems are not relatable. This is not about money. I don’t need money, I have plenty of money, I’m already overpaid. What I was trying to write about was how my own mentality was getting in my own way…It is harder for a woman to be blunt than a man. It just is. We’re not victims because we have vaginas – we need to push through that idea. I feel like I’ve stopped all that bullsh–. I say exactly what I mean. I can see that it takes people aback at first, but then they see that’s how you operate: straightforwardly. It’s about being assertive with your voice and not being ashamed.”
The best thing to happen to her all year: “The best thing that happened this year was when my friend Amy [Schumer] and I got so drunk that we ended up on the top of Billy Joel’s piano. So just to explain further we were on Piano Man’s piano…She was like, ‘If you try to leave I’ll grab onto you and keep grabbing onto you until the end of the song so just stay.’ And that was really cool because she didn’t have to share that piano with me.”
[From Entertainment Weekly]
Am I the only one a little bit concerned about Jennifer’s friendship with Amy Schumer? I’m not saying Schumer is a “bad influence” or anything, I just don’t get why they’re suddenly BFFs and “OMG, let’s write a script together” and all of that? Maybe that’s cynical of me, but I’m side-eyeing the friendship. I can see where they would find the same things funny and want to hang out a little bit, but… I don’t know. I get the vibe that Schumer is a little bit of a user (JMO).
Speaking of J-Law’s squad, she was out and about in NYC on Monday night with… Emma Stone. And Adele. Now, those are some #SquadGoals.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Entertainment Weekly.
I think Taylor Swift would have been a better choice as she’s been on a tour for most of the year and had a number 1 CD out towards the end of last year. She has been much more in the public eye for the whole year compared to Jennifer Lawrence.
Jen’s squad is putting Taylor’s army of C-Listers (an exception is due for Karlie Kloss) to bed.
You can’t get better than Adele, Emma Stone and Amy Schumer.
I find both squads show-offy and exhausting. I do like Emma and Adele.
True Hollywood Queen not a media/blog construct who is actually a feminist, who has female friends, who has not slept with married man to get ahead, who doesn’t need faux humanitarian jaunts to refurbish image may be boring to some. But I love it.
Go Jennifer Lawrence
who slept with a married man to ‘get ahead’?
The better question is who hasn’t slept with a married man in Hollywood to get ahead? The list is long. Google it.
I’m just wondering if she means Kristen Stewart, because the argument that she had whatever she had with a zero known director of a couple of averagely successful adverts to his name to get ahead (all while she was the star of the biggest franchise, made a successful transition from child star to grown up roles, making movies with Walter Salles, face of Balenciaga etc) is so transparently ridiculous. Especially when the producer admitted that they had to go back to her twice with the offer as she turned it down the first time.
It’s just disappointing when so many women like to throw the ”casting couch’ thing at people who it doesn’t apply to, and i have no doubt there are other actresses who get tarred with the same lies.
Faux humanitarian jaunts. Because nothing says a refurbished image like toiling in the Syrian refugee camps. /s
I agree with the choice, she is talented and funny so why would she not be chosen for this? In a world with mindless celebrity reality stars and douchebags its great to see a real talent win this.
Jennifer, Emma and Adele….that is a total squad goals
I totally get the same vibe from Schumer. Something shady about her. I think she likes all the media attention she gets from this friendship.
Hear! Hear!
Yep agreed. Just look at the last few months of interviews. More often than not she has name dropped Jen in every single one.
Jen’s other famous friends (Josh, Liam, Emma, Taylor, etc) never mention her at all. Rarely do you even know they are hanging out till much later. Amy is a user and I’ll be so glad when their movie is over. I’m already over their “friendship”
I’m a true fan now of JenLaw. She’s been through a lot and quite frankly came out with flying colors of sincerity and honesty. I think Amy and Jen are fine and I see an issue at all with her friendship w Schumer.
@Trinity, who wrote: “She’s been through a lot and quite frankly came out with flying colors of sincerity and honesty.”
What has Jennifer Lawrence been through?
I guess the photo hack?
You could also count “dating Chris Martin” too.
@Abbot: LOL! Excellent!
Abbott, so true. I still hope it was a relationship for the media…
Right? Honestly, I find her gross. The faux modesty, “real world girl” stuff has worn thin. She is as much a product of the machine as anyone else but she just pretends to be down to earth, pulling bits of her story out to prove legitimacy but she gives poor people a bad name! All that disgusting stuff about peeing in the sink–who does that??!!!–and all the other gross things she does. No, I’m sorry, I just can’t with that. If you’re going to be that dirty, just keep it to yourself.
This is going to be an unpopular opinion, but I think her friendship with Amy is just a mutual ego stroke. They look and act a lot alike so this fawning they do with one another feeds their own narcissism.
Something nice, I really like her hair color.
Good point.
Love the cut too.
Yeah I could definitely see that.
Good call by EW. J-Law is consistently entertaining, and interesting.
Jen is top of the food chain right now- with the exception of Adele, anyone befriending her is going to look like a climber. Hopefully she’s right that she sees through people trying to use her.
Good choice by EW and good interview by Jennifer.
I think the media makes it out to bff, “look they’re hanging out together, they’re total bffs” but didn’t Amy say her real bffs are from her hometown? That her and Jen are friends but they’re not hanging out all the time? Nothing wrong with that. I’d take that duo over Taylor’s squad.
i love how Adele travels light to shops/restaurants. great pop of color in her otherwise black on black.
i did enjoy the little snippets of interview she did with Jimmy Fallon. and is it just me or she’s been promoting Rihanna’s ANTI album more than Rihanna? i think she’s been saying about it in 2 interviews, or 3? now. and her Frank Ocean pleading haha. now you know how it feels for us to wait for a record, Adele.
Great call. We need more women like her: beautiful, but with talent and personality that overshades it.
Absolutely boring
Agreed. How in the hell did she get an Oscar nom for that trainwreck of a film American Hustle? The only person who should have gotten an Oscar for that was whoever did her hair and makeup. Costuming was awesome… Otherwise, ugh.
Meh.
Wasn’t Taylor Swift Entertainer of the Year last year? I am not a huge fan of J. Law, but she is the right choice for this title. Although, I do like her a bit more because QUEEN ADELE.
It was Jimmy Fallon (ugh).
She’s the entertainer of the year and she doesn’t entertain me at all.
yep. she is boring as … yaaaaawwwwwnnnn
And of course she wants to direct ( I read the whole interview in EW). Another yawn.
I used to like her, but then she got overexposed the past year or two and has gotten very annoying. I’m glad that she’ll most likely fade away now that the Hunger Games films are over.
The most likely to fade away is Josh Hutcherson, Liam will coast by as long as teeny girls want to hump him. Jennifer has got an Oscar and even one more franchise. if someones career in Hollywood is safe for the next couple of years (as long as she isnt sheening or something) its hers.
The fate of her career will most likely be decided by Passengers, the movie where she is getting 20 million to star in because she’s such a “box office draw.” It will be fun to see the movie bomb with that ridiculous budget, even if I like Chris Pratt. I just don’t believe anyone anymore truly has enough star power to draw people to a specific movie they would otherwise have no interest in seeing (like a slow movie about two people on a spacecraft waiting to die on their way to a new planet). We are in the franchise era–put someone else in the Hunger Games, Guardians of the Galaxy and Jurassic World, and they would still succeed. Does she have the star power for a 20 million (oh yes, so underpaid, her job is the hardest on the planet) paycheck?
we’ll see, i dont have a boat in that race but if Pratt and her cant do it i dont see anyone else doing it. could also be that everyone will get sick of them at the same time when they do promo together. they must be exhausting together.
Lala, sure, Passengers may bomb. It’s a risky project. But male stars are regularly paid 20 million or more for similar potential disasters. (Johnny Depp gets 25 million minimum, apparently…and Mark Wahlberg gets 15 million!) And, of course, Lawrence has never complained about being underpaid, as she has made clear repeatedly, over and over and over again. It’s equal pay that is the issue, not the level of pay…
@Lala, Gravity was slow and Bullock just by herself in space, and it did big numbers. It was packed at the theater. It was okay, not great.
That Tom Hanks movie, Castaway, where he survived a plane crash alone for years on an island and just talked to himself throughout the movie was slow and fantastic and was a hit.
I don’t know much about this movie, but if it’s good, it won’t bomb.
Why shouldn’t she get 20 million if a man would have for the same project who is considered a box office draw? It doesn’t always pan out. But more power to her.
Lawrence isn’t going anywhere. Take away the Hunger Games, and she’s still a three-time Oscar nominee at the age of 25 and one of the best known female Hollywood stars in existence.
when one peaks so earlier, one can only go
down
@Grace, sure, she can’t be as big as she is now for ever – and probably doesn’t want to be. However, given that she’s talented and smart, it’s likely that she’s going to be a leading Hollywood player for a long, long time.
I can’t think of any stand out performances this year, so I guess it’s the “it” girl. Personally I think she’s spreading herself thin with all the photobombs and hooking up with Kris jenner and Amy Schumer. She’s a pretty girl but seems to be trying so hard when she doesn’t have to. Not everything has to be a comedy skit. With time, hopefully will come maturity. So good for her.
I don’t like her, I find her annoying but I like that she’s friend with Adele and Emma Stone. That’s so cool!
interesting you think Schumer is using, because I think Lawrence is using others to seem cool.
Like she’s Swifting these women and trying to create a squad out of rando’s.
Has anyone in previous generations at her age been as lauded as her both commercially and critically?
I know Julia Roberts and Tom Cruise were huge stars in their early 20s, but they weren’t Oscar winners by 25. I find her rise unusual in the sense that she’s a huge star at a young age AND critically praised. Hollywood tried to make Natalie Portman and Winona Ryder happen at young ages, but it still took awhile for Natalie to get that Oscar and Winona lost her Oscar to an 11 year old. Jennifer seems so much bigger than the other young female stars (with the obvious exceptions like Julia and Tom) Hollywood hoped would go far, AND she actually seems to be respected as an actress (I can’t remember if Julia Roberts was considered talented in the way Lawrence is).
I can’t think of anyone. The closest would be Meryl Streep, but she was around 30 when she received her first Oscar Nom for the Deer Hunter, and Won the following year with Kramer vs. Kramer.
Was Jennifer’s Oscar for SLP really deserved, though? That movie was mediocre at best, as was her performance. Beside Katniss (she’s great in that role), she plays the same kind of character, especially in the David O. Russell films (neurotic and screaming all the time). She has more celebrity than other actresses from her generation, but I don’t think she has nearly the talent that Carey Mulligan, Mia W, Saorse Ronan. I am blown away by almost every performance of Amy Adams. I know she is older, but she is so much better of an actress.
Stop with the talk about Oscars which are deserved or not…it’s not like that. I think the majority of the nominations are well deserved, but the choice what film you get the Oscar for is pure politics. People get Oscars because they are “overdue” or liked or popular. DiCaprio doesn’t get an Oscar because he’s a whore. He made good films, especially in his early career. Still no Oscar. It’s more an opinion than something that is deserved.
That said Jennifer Lawrence is very talented and in my opinion much more talented than Wasikowska or Adams. I love Carey Mulligan and think they are at the same level. Ronan is good too, but nowhere near Lawrence in my opinion.
Jodie Foster? I don’t have any fact to display, but I though she was pretty popular & critically acclaimed at a young age.
I think Jodie Foster comes closest. She won her 2nd Oscar by 28 and I think she sealed her bankability later on with Silence of the Lambs in her 30s.
I think what’s interesting about Jennifer Lawrence is that she seems to hit every spot that might be appealing in different ways to people — she’s considered to be funny, comedic, sexy, talented, and pretty enough. Julia Roberts hit mega-stardom, but I can’t remember if she was considered all of those things at once. I vaguely remember girls and women liking her, and I know she was considered a great beauty, but I can’t remember if she was considered to be sexy like Lawrence can be perceived at times (although this doesn’t define Lawrence’s persona the way it does with someone like Megan Fox). I think Roberts got Oscar nominations, but somewhere along the way she became known more as “America’s Sweetheart” whereas Jennifer seems to be perceived as more complex than that, even though she makes fart jokes and doesn’t try for as much of a mystique. Her entire quick rise both commercially and critically is fascinating to me, probably because I never would have guessed she’d become this huge.
Interestingly enough – I can actually see Lawrence following in Foster’s footsteps with the directing later in life. She really seems to love fils – I remember a few years ago, she would drop movie quotes all the time, and not just what was currently showing.
I also think Jennifer was helped by staying off of social media (at least I have never heard of her on her own account). In her early days, we really only knew what she put out, which I wish more actors would follow that plan.
And I like your comparison/analysis to Julia Roberts. I wanted to say she became “America’s Sweetheart” by only doing fluffy movies, but them I remembered Flatliners and the one where her husband is an abuser (I am blanking on the name now), so she actually did venture into darker territories too. It really does make you wonder how some actresses’ personas get determined. In any case – I really like Jennifer Lawrence, and I hope she continues to tear it up. I thought her essay on the wage gap was great, and I would rather have young girls look up to her than some of the more vapid stars roaming Hollywood.
while Foster and Streep are obviously great actresses both werent as big commercially as she is, also down to the fact that there werent as many franchises around.
there was never anyone with that much critical and commercial success. Harrison Ford is hugely succesful but not a critical darling, Streep cant do anything wrong in the critics eyes but she isnt one with big hit after big hit.
Thank you Liv. This did she deserve the Oscar argument is idiotic. The Oscars, especially in the acting categories, celebrates a certain kind of film. That kind of film is rarely the best of the year, rarely a true classic. You have to go back to Frances McDormand and Jodie Foster, and then Diane Keaton and Faye Dunaway, before you find Best Actress winners in films that have/will truly stand the test of time.
Lawrence and SLP were a hell of a lot more deserving than Witherspoon, Roberts, Hunt, Paltrow, Berry, Bullock etc. Meryl Streep won recently for The Iron Lady, which was an awful film and a lousy performance.
Lawrence was really winning for Winter’s Bone, which she deserved. Just like Julianne Moore won last year not for Still Alice, but for all the times she was overlooked.
Kathleen Turner?? There are lots of actresses who are hot in their 20s and then disappear. I just can’t think of them because they are gone. LOL!!!
I’m not talking about simply having a high degree of fame in one’s twenties — I’m talking about being considered both a critical and commercial success, having both those successes merge with each other, and potentially having that success sustain over a certain degree of time. Julia Roberts for instance has been A-list for decades for being a movie star, but I can’t remember if she was respected in the way Lawrence is now. Meryl Streep has always been loved by critics, but her trajectory has a bankable star has always been kind of vague to me.
Edit: Duplicate.
Schumer is a user? Wow. No way. And Amy has stated she and Jennifer are friends and get together every once in a while, but that her best friends and closest people to her are friends from many years. She said the press exaggerated the BFF thing with Jennifer.
Amy only just wrote the screenplay and starred in a movie that was a hit and got great ratings by critics. She’s the “it” girl right now anyway in comedy. She is going to be headlining at Madison Square Garden on her own. She’s doing just fine without using Jennifer.
I love JLaw and she is a big star and all….but I just don’t really think she’s 2015 Entertainer of The Year. I mean, she only has 2 films out this year and one of them hasn’t even come out yet. It should be someone who dominated throughout the whole year….
I wish her and Amy would talk more about their friendship, they’re to private they need to open up more.
It seemed a bit extreme at first, but the light blonde actually looks amazing on her.
It’s a good call. Jennifer Lawrence is a safe choice.
Everyone in Hollywood is a use to some extent; at least with Jennifer and Amy we will get a film that will either be Grade A Hilarious, or a Grade A Entertaining Mess.
When I first saw Lawrence at an awards show , i thought, “Who is thaaat.” Then she became famous and whomever her stylist was/is seemed to hide her beauty. I’ve always thought she was stunningly gorgeous. They’re now letting her show off her beauty.
Whilst she is very talented, I am seriously astounded at the level her fame has reached. Sorry to say but I don’t think she is all that. Is this all Harvey Weinstein’s fault?
This girl is electric in every part she plays, besides being a down-to-earth, sweet and genuine human being! She deserves every accolade she receives!!
Agreed!.
@TOKEN5151: Agreed!.
I love her hair.
I would have thought this has been the year of Amy Schumer, since she aced everything she took up on, and I’m not even a fan. But I see she is not popular here much? I found her very irritating at the beginning but she grew on me, unlike JLaw who just strikes me both as immature and a player, not to mention highly overrated. I will say I like her hair this way. Also, not pleased with Adele squading, but it does not get much better than that 😀
How has no one commented on how oddly airbrushed her chest is yet?
Excellent choice by EW…no other actress comes even remotely close to the kind of success as Jennifer Lawrence.
Critically acclaimed, box office success, industry clout…Lawrence has it all.
I tell you, she has a hell of a PR team, but nobody’s going to remember this “award” a year from now.
And I love how her knockers are right up in the camera. Subtle.