Forget the ‘Hunger Games‘. The fiercest battle Jennifer Lawrence ever lost was for an $8 million teen comedy about a fake sl*t.
In the history of Hollywood “what ifs,” the casting of the 2010 hit ‘Easy A‘ is a strange “Sliding Doors” moment. Last year, while promoting her psychological thriller ‘Die, My Love,’ Lawrence brought back a joke that has defined her friendship with Emma Stone for nearly fifteen years. Sitting with Josh Horowitz at the 92NY Kaufmann Concert Hall, the 35-year-old actress said she is still, at least for laughs, upset about losing the role of Olive Penderghast.
“I was nuts for Easy A, and I really should have gotten it, right?” Lawrence joked to the audience. She added with a playful nod to Stone’s success, “The movie could have turned out great.”
The Audition That Sparked a Legendary Friendship
This is just the latest part of a long-running inside joke that started during a 2017 Hollywood Reporter roundtable. Back then, a 27-year-old Lawrence said she had auditioned for the lead in Will Gluck’s high school comedy. “I wanted it so bad,” she admitted. Stone, sitting right next to her, fired back with the deadpan cruelty only a best friend can use: “Well, guess what? You didn’t get it. You didn’t get it because you suck!“
For Lawrence, who had just won an Oscar for ‘Silver Linings Playbook‘, the loss clearly bothered her. Not in a mean way, but because ‘Easy A‘ was the perfect “It Girl” role of that time. Olive Penderghast, a smart-mouthed teen who pretends to have a wild reputation to get ahead socially, was the part that proved Stone was not just a funny sidekick but a real leading lady.
The funny thing is, losing worked out great for both of them. Stone got her first Golden Globe nomination for the role, which helped launch her toward ‘La La Land‘ and ‘Poor Things‘. Lawrence, on the other hand, moved to indie films like ‘Winter’s Bone,‘ which got her first Oscar nod before she became the face of ‘The Hunger Games‘.
How Woody Harrelson Introduced His “Two Favorite People”
This story also shows how one of Hollywood’s strongest friendships started. The two actresses did not meet on a movie set; they met through a mutual fan, Woody Harrelson. He was working with Lawrence on ‘The Hunger Games‘ and with Stone on ‘Zombieland‘. He decided these two intense, funny women would get along, so he gave Stone Lawrence’s phone number.
“She texted me that she got my number from Woody,” Lawrence said in 2017. “I replied, ‘F— off!’ And we’ve been really good friends ever since.“
In case you missed it: Emma Stone Names The Hollywood Star She’s Convinced Isn’t From Earth
That friendship has survived awards season pressure and being typecast. Just last October, Stone returned the compliment with high praise in The New Yorker. She explained why Lawrence is so captivating on screen, using an old theater saying about performing with a cat. “The audience would watch the cat… because it’s going to respond genuinely in the moment, while the actors are still acting,” Stone said. “It’s that quality. Jen’s the cat.“
Will Lawrence and Stone Finally Share the Screen?
Their rivalry popped up again just in March this year during the SAG Award nominations. When Stone got a nod for ‘Bugonia,’ and Lawrence did not for ‘Die My Love,’ Lawrence went to their group chat to “demand” an apology. “She’s been winning against me for a couple of decades now,” Lawrence said recently. “It’s an honor.“
What about a future where they finally share the screen? Lawrence teased that a “secret idea” is floating around. Until then, the ‘Easy A‘ grudge is a funny reminder that in Hollywood, sometimes the best thing you can do is lose the part and gain a best friend.
You might also want to read: “I Just Felt So, So Small”: Jesse Eisenberg Reveals Emma Stone Bullied Hum During Her Audition For ‘Zombieland’
