Let us preface this by saying that we know Jennifer Lawrence is still a massive star. After all, she’s got several movies coming out this year and, by all accounts, delivers an excellent performance in the TIFF-bound drama Causeway. But, it has to be said that Hollywood tends to anoint young actors as the next big superstar and then ditch them after one or two flops. In the wake of The Hunger Games, Jennifer Lawrence was everywhere, winning an Oscar for Silver Linings Playbook and solidifying her box office power with a long-running role as Mystique in the X-Men prequels. But, when The Hunger Games series ended, and she had a few high-profile flops, including Mother, Dark Phoenix and the surprisingly great Red Sparrow, Lawrence all but disappeared from view for two years.
She re-emerged last year in Don’t Look Up, but what happened, and why isn’t Lawrence still leading massive tentpole movies? Where’s her big franchise? Or was this lower-key return Lawrence’s idea, as she looks to re-establish herself in roles far removed from the ones that made her famous? It makes sense if you consider the much of her early career was defined by two franchises. One, The Hunger Games, showed Lawrence at her best, but it can also be argued that the X-Men series showed her at her worst, with many complaining her performance as Mystique began to grow listless by the time the franchise finally came to an end with Dark Phoenix. We dig inter her career in this episode of WTF Happened to this Celebrity!
This episode is written (with Brad Hamerly), narrated and produced by Taylor James Johnson. Juan Jimenez edits. What’s your favourite Jennifer Lawrence performance? Let us know in the comments!