Is Jennifer Lawrence even aging at all? You could have fooled us. But the 25-year-old actress joked over the weekend that her hectic filming schedule is taking its toll on her. All photographic evidence to the contrary.
Lawrence and her Hunger Games co-stars Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth immortalized their work together on the popular franchise by becoming the 289th, 290th, and 291st people to leave their mark in the cement outside the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood. The trio pressed their hands, feet, and signed their names with all the solemnity we’ve come to expect from this crew.
Lawrence then answered questions about her busy schedule which has included an astonishing 12 films in the past four years. Two of which—Mockingjay—Part 2 and Joy—are due out before the end of the year. “I try to keep working so people can see other characters and other things I can do instead of taking vacation time, and now I’m aging like a president,” Lawrence told reporters referring to the tendency of U.S. leaders to go grey from stress while in office.
There’s zero physical proof to back up Lawrence’s claim; the young actress looks as rosy-cheeked as she did when she first appeared at the Oscars back in 2011. But for evidence of Lawrence turning her down time into more work, look no further than the now-famous oceanside vacation she took with Amy Schumer earlier this summer which ended up spawning a film collaboration. And as fun as writing a screenplay with Amy Schumer sounds, this video of their friend Aziz Ansari jovially shouting “Are we writing a script or staying at a bed and breakfast?!” at their collaborator Kim Schumer indicates that this process is a lot more work than it is play for these two ambitious women.
“I remember there have been a few times where I would have loved time off,” Lawrence said in reference to her famously rigorous schedule on The Hunger Games franchise. (Lawrence’s frequent collaborator director David O. Russell once likened her punishing work as Katniss to slavery.) “I was very aware of how overwhelming these movies and this character was, and that was a big fear of mine signing on to these movies.”
But Lawrence went on to say that she works so hard so we won’t just remember her for franchise roles like Katniss or X-Men’s Mystique. “I want people to be able to lose themselves when they’re watching a movie and not see the same character,” she said. There’s little danger of that given her award-winning work in the likes of Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle. And while Lawrence may be closing the book on both Katniss and that mutant gang, she’s about to start a whole new chapter that includes new words like “screenwriter” and “comedy star.” Lawrence may be well overdue for a break, first, but knowing her workaholic ways and full upcoming schedule, she probably won’t take one.
