The Untold Story of Jennifer Lawrence's Rise to Fame

MsMojo

Dive into the extraordinary journey of Jennifer Lawrence, from a Kentucky horse farm to Hollywood stardom. Explore her rise through breakthrough roles, Oscar wins, viral moments, and personal challenges that shaped her incredible career.

Transcript

00:00Ashley bought Aniston, I could tell you that.

00:02Right, Jennifer Aniston is way better than Jennifer Lawrence, do you agree?

00:06Yeah.

00:07Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're unravelling the tumultuous but inspiring trajectory of

00:12Jennifer Lawrence's phenomenal career.

00:15It's awfully young to have so much success so far.

00:17You feel that this, is it a good thing that it's coming so early in the career?

00:21I hope so.

00:23J-Law's journey to stardom was shaped by both the Hollywood buzz machine and the challenges

00:29of public life.

00:30Raised on a horse farm in Kentucky, the free-spirited kid found it hard to fit in at school.

00:36So your classmates, they must have thought, this is a, you're different, if nothing else.

00:40You're, you're, you're, a little odd?

00:42Yeah, yeah, no I was weird.

00:43It was a struggle.

00:44And every day I really thought I was gonna like fit it together.

00:46Like I remember on the first day of school I learned that the kid sitting behind me's

00:49name is Ben.

00:50And so I just went, hi Ben.

00:54Struggling with social anxiety, she started seeing a therapist.

00:59When she started acting in church plays and school musicals, she found a new avenue of

01:04self-expression, setting the stage for her remarkable ascent.

01:08Well that doesn't surprise me that, that she had the courage to do that because she was

01:12determined and um, unflappable.

01:15When she was on stage, all that anxiety suddenly fell away.

01:19So when a talent scout spotted the 14-year-old Jennifer in New York City in 2005, she was

01:24ready to make some big moves.

01:26It was just an overwhelming feeling of, I get this, this is what I was meant to do.

01:31And to get people to try to understand that when you're 14 years old, wanting to drop

01:35out of school and do this and your parents are just like, you're out of your mind.

01:39Her mother allowed her to do some auditions, although she was nonplussed at the idea of

01:44her daughter going into showbiz.

01:46But Lawrence was determined.

01:48I've always had this really gross, dangerous mentality of no consideration of failure.

01:57Just never even considering the thought of failing, like if I want something I just go

02:03until I get it.

02:04She booked several commercials and dropped out of high school.

02:07Realizing that their daughter was in her element and much happier, her folks eventually came

02:12around.

02:13When my parents came and saw the apartment, that was exactly what changed my dad's mind.

02:16There was like no hot water.

02:17My dad was like, she really wants to do this.

02:20Luckily for Lawrence, the industry was quick to recognize her talent.

02:24However, that doesn't mean that it was all offered to her on a silver platter.

02:28You've been living on the streets.

02:30For three months, yeah, but it wasn't always like that.

02:34She began with guest appearances in TV shows like Monk and Medium before becoming a regular

02:39cast member on the Bill Engvall show, playing a rebellious teenage daughter.

02:44It earned her enough praise to keep the work coming, which eventually brought her to Debra

02:48Granik's Winter's Bone.

02:50What are we ever going to do with you, baby girl?

02:56Kill me, I guess.

03:04That idea's been said already.

03:08Got any others?

03:09Help me.

03:11Ain't nobody said that idea yet, have they?

03:13With a role she could really sink her teeth into, Jennifer Lawrence acted her heart out

03:18as Rhi, winning an Oscar nod.

03:20Blockbuster success followed when she morphed into Mystique in X-Men First Class.

03:25A new Hollywood star had been born.

03:27You're an exquisite creature, Raven.

03:30All your life, the world has tried to tame you.

03:34It's time for you to be free.

03:37By the time The Hunger Games rolled around in 2012, everyone, except for probably Jennifer

03:42herself, knew she was kind of a big deal.

03:45Thanks to that movie and its sequels, her character Katniss Everdeen became the most

03:49profitable action heroine in the history of cinema.

03:53Yet according to a 2013 interview with Vanity Fair, she found it all quote, stupid, at least

03:59compared to professions like being a doctor or a firefighter.

04:03Amazing.

04:04I don't feel amazing.

04:07Don't you know how beautiful you look?

04:09No.

04:10The first time she felt like there was a meaningful point to it all, besides getting to do what

04:14she loved, was when she met a young burn victim on set.

04:18The girl had been nicknamed The Girl on Fire, but she had embraced it, inspired by Lawrence's

04:23character Katniss Everdeen.

04:25But do you see that?

04:29Fire is catching.

04:30Jennifer Lawrence's career reached a significant milestone in 2013 when she won the Academy

04:35Award for Best Actress for her role in Silver Linings Playbook.

04:40At 22, she became the second youngest recipient in that category, after Marlee Matlin who

04:46won at 21.

04:47However, there was more where that came from.

04:50The power of intention, Irving.

04:52The power of intention.

04:56Okay.

04:57Okay.

04:58Shortly after her big win, American Hustle and Joy bagged her two more Oscar nominations,

05:03bringing her total to four by the age of 25.

05:07This made her one of the youngest actors to receive multiple Academy Award nominations

05:11within such a short span after her debut.

05:14Well, it's less scary because I did it before, but then it's also like I've done this twice.

05:19Right.

05:20So that's just an incredible feeling.

05:21I can't believe.

05:22Right.

05:23I can't believe this is happening.

05:24By the way, Jennifer Lawrence was scaling unimaginable heights until she fell, literally.

05:29Surprisingly, the internet laughed with her rather than at her when she tripped at the

05:3485th Academy Awards in 2013.

05:37Was that on purpose?

05:38Absolutely.

05:39It wasn't a fault?

05:40What happened?

05:41I don't know.

05:42What do you mean what happened?

05:43Look at my dress.

05:44I tried to walk upstairs in this dress.

05:47That's what happened.

05:48The viral moment shot her to even greater fame, solidifying her position as America's

05:53sweetheart.

05:54Losing balance in high heels and a designer dress was too relatable.

05:58She had become the embodiment of the girl next door.

06:01Awkward but funny, clumsy but charismatic.

06:05What do you think when you look in the mirror?

06:08Um, well, I just, I just, I'm just trying to figure out what to do with what I got.

06:18She didn't represent an unattainable ideal.

06:20Instead, she was entirely within reach.

06:23Like, you could bump into her at a local bar and she wouldn't immediately call security.

06:28Something about that approachability made her all the more endearing.

06:32And then I came to the Oscars.

06:33I'm sorry.

06:34I'm sorry.

06:35I did a shot before I.

06:36Sorry.

06:37Jesus.

06:38And it happened again.

06:39Jennifer Lawrence tripped at the Oscars for a second time in 2014.

06:50This time on the red carpet as she exited her car and stumbled over a traffic cone.

06:55You know I fell the next year too.

06:56What?

06:57So then it just looked like I 100% faked.

06:58I didn't see that.

06:59Edit that out.

07:00Oh, it was awful.

07:01Why did I just say that?

07:02Now everybody's gonna look it back up.

07:03While the moment was initially met with humor, it also sparked skepticism.

07:08Some online commentators accused her of faking the falls for attention.

07:12I was already paranoid.

07:14Like Anderson Cooper was like, she obviously faked it, which I actually reamed him out

07:17at a Christmas party about that.

07:18Right.

07:20You don't, you have no way of knowing it.

07:21I don't have that platform.

07:22But anyway.

07:23Why would you fake that?

07:24He's a very nice guy.

07:25This backlash reflected a growing fatigue with her quirky down-to-earth personality.

07:29Lawrence herself has admitted to cringing at some of her past interviews.

07:33Still, the shift was striking.

07:36She was receiving hate for the very traits that had previously endeared her to millions.

07:41The way people feel changes all the time.

07:44You know, sometimes they're cheering and they're screaming and then other times they see me

07:47get out of my car and they're like, God, I don't know why, but I just hate her.

07:51That same year, Lawrence faced more unwanted attention when she was a victim of the infamous

07:562014 celebrity nude photo leak.

07:58It was a cruel and humiliating crime that resulted in jail time for the culprits.

08:03We know that those celebrities were taking pictures and videos with their phones, with

08:07their iPhones, and they were using iCloud to back up that data to Apple's servers.

08:12And what we now know is that someone was able to breach those iCloud accounts and download

08:16all the intimate photos and other information that was stored on those accounts.

08:21Lawrence was outspoken about the gross violation it represented.

08:25However, other controversies were also brewing.

08:29One concerned her friendly rapport with Harvey Weinstein, whom she once jokingly referred

08:34to as a big teddy bear.

08:36Remarks that were closely scrutinized after revelations of his criminal actions.

08:41Another was her anecdote about using sacred Hawaiian rocks to scratch an itch during the

08:46filming of The Hunger Games.

09:07Then there were the rumors that she had an affair with Chris Pratt while filming Passengers.

09:13The film also made much of her relationship with mother director Darren Aronofsky 21 years

09:18her senior.

09:19These events marked a turning point in public perception, a recipe for PR disaster.

09:25So in an incredibly smart move, she disappeared.

09:44When she returned, the Oscar-winning actress was a changed woman, at least for the cameras.

09:50Exuding a restrained poise we hadn't seen from her before, she had her guard up high.

10:13Speaking to Vanity Fair in 2021, she got candid about feeling disappointed in the quality

10:19of her pre-hiatus work.

10:21However, she also opened up about being on the receiving end of a seemingly endless wave

10:26of criticism.

10:27You know, it's like, it's hard to just kind of like shake it off and go home, but because

10:34it is so personal.

10:36She had needed to get away to prioritize her own mental health.

10:39In the meantime, she got married to art gallery director Cooke Ferroni.

10:44In early 2022, she gave birth to their son.

10:48Although she continued to make the headlines during her break, it was often for her anti-corruption

10:53activism as a member of the organization Represent Us.

10:56We must build a movement, a big movement, comprised of all kinds of people from all

11:02across America fighting to pass anti-corruption laws, and then make sure they are implemented

11:08and protected.

11:09Before we knew it, Jennifer Lawrence was the queen of hearts again, but a more mature version.

11:14She didn't feed into tabloid gossip, treasured her privacy, and ventured into production

11:19with her company Excellent Cadaver.

11:21Obviously, the first thing that we wanted to do was what the Taliban did not want us

11:25to do, which was get a camera into Kabul and into the hands of these women, so that we

11:31can see what is happening, what they're doing.

11:34But no longer just the cool girl, Jen came into her identity as a serious artist, using

11:40her platform to make the world a better place.

11:43Now, she wants the spotlight on her work, her activism, and philanthropy, rather than

11:48her personal life.

11:50It's just a responsibility of anybody that I feel like has an opportunity to be in the

11:54spotlight or who people are listening to, to just shine light where the focus actually

12:02really needs to be to benefit our future, hopefully.

12:06What is your favorite Jennifer Lawrence movie?

12:08Tell us in the comments.

12:09How do you make people like you?

12:11Well, you made me like you.

12:12That's different.

12:13I wasn't trying.

12:14Exactly.

12:15Do you agree with our picks?

12:17Check out this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo, and be sure to subscribe and ring the

12:20bell to be notified about our latest videos.

12:32Thanks for watching.

12:33Bye.

12:34Bye.

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