At 20 years old, Jennifer Lawrence received an Oscar nomination for Winter’s Bone and at 22, she won it for Best Actress category for Silver Linings Playbook. The Hunger Games actress has also added one BAFTA and three Golden Globe awards to her list of accolades. With an impressive line of work at such a young age, the Joy actress is well on her way to achieving legendary status in Hollywood.
However, Lawrence found herself often subjected to media scrutiny, to the extent that she took a brief break from acting to escape it. Throughout her career, Lawrence has been outspoken about the body image issues that plague young actresses in the industry.
Jennifer Lawrence Was Called Fat During Her Role As Katniss Everdeen
Jennifer Lawrence recalled, in an interview with Elle Magazine, how the media was not happy with her size during the release of The Hunger Games. The criticisms ranged from her not appearing starved enough for her character’s role to being perceived as bigger than co-star, Josh Hutcherson. The American Hustle actress shared that she was resolute in not setting the wrong example for young girls by starving herself.
Lawrence further called out Hollywood’s unrealistic beauty standards and shared that by industry standards, she was considered obese. The X-Men actress even made a tasteless joke about looking like Val Kilmer in his beach photo. Jennifer Lawrence told Elle Magazine (via EW):
“In Hollywood, I’m obese. I’m considered a fat actress. I’m Val Kilmer in that one picture on the beach.”
However, the No Hard Feelings actress refused to let the criticisms affect her self-esteem. Lawrence further added that she aspired to be the one actress who would not be plagued by anorexia rumors. She shared with Elle (via EW):
“I don’t want little girls to be like, ‘Oh, I want to look like Katniss, so I’m going to skip dinner’. I was trying to get my body to look fit and strong — not thin and underfed. I’ll be the only actress who doesn’t have anorexia rumors.”
Lawrence vocally stood against fat-shaming girls on public television. Her comments related to body image issues often irked people from the fashion industry.
Jennifer Lawrence Takes A Strong Stand Against Fat-Shaming In The Media
Jennifer Lawrence was selected by US TV host Barbara Walters as one of the ten most fascinating people in 2013. During her interview with the host, Lawrence was once again vocal about the body image issues. She shared that she never fully understood why fat-shaming people became funny. The Red Sparrow actress wanted the media to take greater responsibility in this matter. She told Walters (via The Guardian):
“But I think when it comes to the media, the media needs to take responsibility for the effect it has on our younger generation, on these girls who are watching these television shows, and picking up how to talk and how to be cool. So then all of a sudden being funny is making fun of the girl that’s wearing an ugly dress … and the word fat. I just think it should be illegal to call somebody fat on TV.”
The Passengers actress advocated for the censorship of fat-shaming from television programs aimed at young audiences, just like regulating cigarettes, s*x, and cuss words. The mother! actress has successfully shattered such stereotypes in the industry to emerge as one of its leading actresses.
For her role in her latest Netflix film, Don’t Look Up, Jennifer Lawrence earned a handsome paycheck of $25 million, making her one of the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood.
Source: EW, The Guardian
