Jennifer Lawrence read for Manson family member, Squeaky Fromme, in Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, a role that ultimately went to Dakota Fanning. Lawrence had been talked about early on to star in the film alongside Brad Pitt, with many supposing she'd been gunning for the role of Sharon Tate, which went to Margot Robbie. Instead, Lawrence would star in X-Men: Dark Phoenix while Brad Pitt would win an Oscar for his turn as Cliff Booth in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood -- an accolade some viewers disagreed with.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is an installment in a trilogy of Tarantino movies that reimagine historic tragedies in fantastic and victorious rewrites. In Inglourious Basterds, Hitler is successfully assassinated alongside every prominent member of the Nazi party. In Django Unchained, an enslaved person is able to get revenge on every white person who attempted to own him. In Hollywood, the Manson family cult members who killed Sharon Tate are instead killed by Leonardo DiCaprio's prima donna actor character, Rick Dalton, and Sharon Tate lives. In one of the most intense scenes in the film, Pitt's Booth visits Spahn Ranch -- a home to Manson's cult -- where he encounters Fanning's Fromme and is nearly a victim of the Manson Murders.
Jennifer Lawrence read for Squeaky Fromme, according to Quentin Tarantino during an appearance on the podcast WTF with Marc Maron. Tarantino was only allowing interested parties to see a physical copy of the script at his house in order to avoid any leaks about the story. After Lawrence read it at his house, it was decided she wouldn't have been the right fit for the role. Tarantino remarks how much he respects Lawrence as an actress, but still considers Fanning's performance to be "one of the best performances in the movie." Fromme's appearance is short in the theatrical cut of the film, though was likely longer in the alleged 20-hour director's cut.
Fanning expressed her joy at the casting -- more so at being able to perform in a Tarantino film, but as well to have the opportunity to do so while playing such a complicated character. In real life, Squeaky Fromme would go on to be convicted for an attempted assassination of President Ford. For Tarantino, while the actions of the Manson Family were on some level of par with Nazis and white plantation owners in the antebellum South, his clear interest in exploring these characters on a layered and contemplative level drove his casting choices.
As being cast in a Tarantino film is now seen as a legendary accomplishment for actors, Lawrence has only one more chance to do so before Tarantino retires. The director has stood by an oath to only direct ten films in his career, with Once Upon a Time in Hollywood being the ninth. Lawrence's newest project, Don't Look Up, has her to star alongside DiCaprio, the pair playing astronomers trying to warn the world about an incoming comet, a dark comedy from The Big Short and Vice's Adam McKay.
Source: WTF with Marc Maron