By Kayleigh Donaldson | Celebrity | February 19, 2018 |
By Kayleigh Donaldson | Celebrity | February 19, 2018 |
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Red Sparrow star Jennifer Lawrence said she is ready to take a year off from acting to focus on political activism. During her press tour for her latest film, she said:
‘I’m going to take the next year off. I’m going to be working with this organization as a part of Represent.Us … trying to get young people engaged politically on a local level… It doesn’t have anything to do with partisan [politics]. It’s just anti-corruption and stuff trying to pass state by state laws that can help prevent corruption, fix our democracy.’
Represent.Us is a non-partisan organisation whose aim is to ‘pass powerful anti-corruption laws that stop political bribery, end secret money, and fix our broken elections.’ Lawrence sits on the board of the group, alongside director Adam McKay and noted awful person David O. Russell.
The actress previously talked about taking a break following the press tour for mother!, which may have been spurred on by having to listen to her now ex Darren Aronfsky talk about the movie constantly until she had enough. We don’t blame you!
Her reps later clarified her statement and said she was only taking time off until her many in-development projects were ready to enter production. On her slate, as of the writing of this piece, are an adaptation of Burial Rites directed by Call Me By Your Name’s Luca Guadagnino, Adam McKay’s biopic of disgraced health care Silicon Valley wunderkind Elizabeth Holmes, a Zelda Fitzgerald movie, and a comedy with Amy Schumer. It’s not unusual for an actress as high profile and in-demand as Lawrence to have several things on the go, but even someone as famous as she is can’t force mid-budget dramas into shooting under the current Hollywood system.
Lawrence is in a tough position as a celebrity. She’s wildly famous, hugely beloved, making millions and earning critical acclaim, and constantly on the precipice of backlash. The persona that made her so adored by fans and critics alike is one that’s easy to sour on, and this industry is notoriously shitty to young women in the public eye. For a while, Lawrence was inescapable, and everything she said or did was wonderful, until it wasn’t. She isn’t on social media - she has a Facebook page that’s used only occasionally - but that would do little to quash the sheer glut of fury and noise she faces. Add to that a break-up with Aronofsky, a highly divisive movie she went through tough times to make, and the fact that hey, maybe it would be cool to do something more politically focused for a while, and you can’t blame her for wanting to get away from it for a bit. Use that fame for something that could use it.
(Header photograph from Getty Images)