An Oscar winner at age 22, Jennifer Lawrence's career achieved stratospheric levels thanks to her work in the Hunger Games franchise. Playing lead character Katniss Everdeen, Lawrence earned critical and commercial success, establishing her as one of Hollywood's most promising and talented A-listers.
Lawrence successfully mixed her work in The Hunger Games with critically acclaimed turns in other movies, some of which earned her further recognition from the Academy. She also played another pivotal role in a second franchise, X-Men, cementing her popularity and bankability. And while some people might still see her as Katniss, it's clear that Lawrence's resume has enough diversity to prove she's one of the best and most versatile actresses of her generation.
Katniss Is Best: It's A Classic Hollywood Tale
Many actors dream of making it big in Hollywood. Indeed, there's a popular saying that implies that success is only a role away. For Jennifer Lawrence, this was actually the case. Katniss brought her critical and commercial acclaim and took her from promising young starlet to bonafide star almost overnight.
Lawrence became a classic Hollywood success story, which made her all the more likable. Everyone loves an ingénue and Lawrence certainly embodied the concept. To top it all off, she proved to be a genuinely skilled and capable actress, cementing her place as a talent to be reckoned with.
Rosalyn Is Better: She Displayed Her Comedic Chops
In her second collaboration with David O. Russell, Lawrence got to display her comedic talent. For her performance as the self-absorbed, chaotic Rosalyn Rosenfeld in 2013's American Hustle, Lawrence scored her third Oscar nomination and won her second consecutive Golden Globe.
The character doesn't get much to do in the story, yet Lawrence's presence is vital for the film's success. Furthermore, the actress takes a role that could easily seem obnoxious or over-the-top, and injects it with dynamism and vulnerability, creating a unique take on the bored and selfish housewife.
Katniss Is Best: Every Hero Wanted To Be Her
Soon after the premiere of the first Hunger Games, dystopian films became a favorite of both studios and audiences. Divergent, The Maze Runner, Ender's Game, and The Giver are just some of the movies that came out after The Hunger Games, wanting a piece of that dystopian money.
Katniss soon became the standard against which all dystopian characters were measured. Not only that, but the actors themselves have been compared to Lawrence, in a slightly unfair battle of status and talent. Hardly any of these films achieved The Hunger Games' success, though.
Dominika Is Better: It Showed Her More Mature Side
Red Sparrow was a bold choice for Lawrence. Equal parts action film and psychosexual thriller, the story centers on Dominika Egorova, a former ballerina who uses sexpionage to make contact with a CIA officer in the hopes of discovering the identity of a mole.
The film isn't entirely successful in offering a sleek, action-packed adventure. Instead, it was criticized for being overly convoluted and thinly written. Still, Lawrence adopts a more mature and elegant persona and delivers a committed performance that almost saves the film, proving once more that she's capable of carrying a movie all by herself.
Katniss Is Best: She Delivered At The Box-Office
Far too many people in Hollywood still believe that women are incapable of carrying a franchise. In her 2014 Oscar speech, Cate Blanchett challenged this notion, famously declaring that films starring women aren't niche experiences and that people in fact want to see them.
Lawrence herself proved this when Catching Fire became the first female-led film to top the domestic box-office since The Exorcist back in 1973. Catching Fire is also the highest-grossing film distributed by Lionsgate, and the highest-grossing entry in The Hunger Games franchise.
Tiffany Is Better: Oscar!
For her role as the troubled, grieving widow, Tiffany Maxwell, in David O. Russell's 2012 romantic comedy, Silver Linings Playbook, Lawrence won the 2013 Academy Award for Best Actress. At 22, she was the second-youngest actress to win the Oscar, placing her in an even more select group.
Silver Linings Playbook allowed Lawrence to show an impressive collection of emotions. She goes from tranquility to restlessness with surprising ease, never once reducing Tiffany to just a concept. She makes her flawed character sympathetic and endearing, all the while showing maturity well beyond her years.
Katniss Is Best: She Proved The Naysayers Wrong
Lawrence's casting was initially met with some criticism from people who argued her weight didn't accurately represent a character who supposedly experienced near-starvation for most of her life. In their reviews of the first film, critics for The New York Times and The Hollywood Reporter doubled down on these sentiments, with the latter even pointing that Lawrence exhibits "lingering baby fat" in certain shots.
Because neither Josh Hutcherson nor Liam Hemsworth ever receive similar criticism, many believed the attacks on Lawrence's appearance were sexist, and it would be difficult to argue otherwise. Lawrence didn't allow any of this to affect her performance, though, and delivered an excellent take on a strong-minded and inspiring leader.
Mystique Is Better: Consolidating The Character
Mystique is a consistent presence in the first three X-Men films. Played with an icy detachment by model-turned-actress Rebecca Romijn, Mystique is very much a femme fatale, a deathly and silent figure who barely gets any backstory or development.
Lawrence gives new depth and complexity to the character, starting with 2011's X-Men: First Class. It's in Days of Future Past, however, that the character truly reaches her full potential. Lawrence's Mystique is just as dangerous as Romijn but far more engaging. And while Apocalypse and Dark Phoenix don't do the character any favors, Days of Future Past remains Mystique's finest hour.
Katniss Is Best: She's An Actual Icon
Like Harry Potter, Aragorn, Ellen Ripley, and Rick Deckard, Katniss now belongs to a select group of characters who have transcended both page and screen, becoming actual parts of pop culture. She is logically seen as a feminist icon, a woman who refuses to bow down and literally strikes an arrow at the heart of the patriarchy.
Furthermore, her rebellious and warrior persona even took a life of its own. The three-fingered salute Katniss famously uses as a rallying cry was adopted by pro-democracy groups in Thailand and Hong Kong, proving once more that reality will always be stranger than fiction.
Mother Is Better: It Shows Her Depth, Range, And Talent
Darren Aranofsky is a director with a unique vision. Raw, disturbing, and generally lacking in subtlety, Aronofsky is fascinated by themes of solitude, desperation, dependence, and redemption. All of these are present in his ambitious and divisive psychological horror film, mother!
Whether it's seen as a religious metaphor or an elaborate depiction of the nature and dangers of the male ego, mother! is a true gem. Polarizing and thought-provoking, the film rests squarely on Lawrence's shoulders. The actress takes on the challenge with impressive bravado, achieving her finest turn to date, and proving once and for all that she's not only a star, but a truly gifted and unique actress with talent to spare.