Jennifer Lawrence became one of Hollywood’s biggest stars after playing Katniss Everdeen in ‘The Hunger Games’. However, the actress has admitted that she came surprisingly close to rejecting the role.
At the time, Lawrence had already imagined a very different future for herself, one built around motherhood and a normal family life rather than global fame.
Jennifer Lawrence Had Always Pictured Herself As A Soccer Mom Before ‘The Hunger Games’
Before ‘The Hunger Games’ changed everything, Lawrence felt happy with the direction of her acting career. She had worked on smaller films and enjoyed the freedom of being successful without becoming one of the most recognizable people in the world. Appearing on the Happy Sad Podcast, she explained, “I had reached this point in my career that was really lovely. I was doing indies, which was what I wanted to do, and I had just finished doing a sitcom where I had a steady paycheck“.
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And that level of success suited the life she had imagined for herself. Lawrence added, “I could act, but I wasn’t very, very famous; those people have a normal life“. For the actress, motherhood had also been part of her plans since childhood. She said, “I’ve just always wanted to be a mom, ever since I was little, and so that was always what I was going towards“.
But the offer to play Katniss suddenly put that future into question. Lawrence knew the role could send her career in a completely new direction, far away from the ordinary family life she had pictured. “And so when I got the Hunger Games, it just looked so different than the original future that I had pictured for myself, which was a soccer mom“.
A Rejected ‘Twilight’ Audition Made Her Even More Worried About Fame
Lawrence’s concerns about ‘The Hunger Games’ were also closely connected to another major franchise. She previously revealed on The Rewatchables podcast that she had auditioned for ‘Twilight’, only to face a quick rejection. “I auditioned for ‘Twilight,’” Lawrence confirmed. “They turned me down immediately. I didn’t even get a callback. But my life would’ve been totally different. I got ‘Hunger Games’ I think, like, a year later. It was probably after ‘Winter’s Bone.‘”
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‘Twilight’ launched in 2008 and eventually grew into a five-film saga that ran through 2012. The franchise made $3.3 billion worldwide and turned Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner into overnight stars. Watching the intense fandom around them made Lawrence seriously question whether she wanted to accept another franchise role.
“I was still in a franchise, so I was still trying to counteract the franchise-ness,” Lawrence said. “I’d still be doing that if I was in ‘Twilight.’ But I almost didn’t do ‘Hunger Games’ because ‘Twilight’ had come out and that fandom had happened.”
Lawrence also explained why the decision felt so difficult after the ‘Hunger Games’ offer arrived. “When I was trying to talk to people about making this decision after [‘Hunger Games’] got offered to me, it was hard to explain to people… this level of fame,” Lawrence said. “I assumed it was going to be the ‘Twilight’ level of fame and that was never something I had in mind. I never wanted to be the most famous person on the planet. That’s a very different life than I pictured for me.”
Lawrence ultimately accepted the role of Katniss, and the decision transformed her career. The first ‘Hunger Games’ film arrived in 2012, and the franchise continued across four movies through 2015.
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