What did Jennifer Lawrence say about her leading role in ‘The Hunger Games’ and female action heroes?
Star of ‘The Hunger Games’, Jennifer Lawrence, has drawn backlash over comments she recently made in a “Actors on Actors” conversation for Variety.
Jennifer Lawrence is receiving blowback for comments she made during a conversation with Viola Davis for Variety’s “Actors on Actors” series. The 32-year-old actress claimed that she was the first woman to lead an action hero movie.
People have taken to social media to point out to the actress who played Katniss Everdeen in ‘The Hunger Games’ that there have been several female actors that have been the protagonist of well-known action film franchises.
What did Jennifer Lawrence say female action heroes?
Davis, who stars in the new action movie ‘The Woman King’, and Lawrence discussed several topics including inequities within the film industry. ‘The Hunger Games’ star on this topic said “I remember when I was doing ‘Hunger Games,’ nobody had ever put a woman in the lead of an action movie because it wouldn’t work — because we were told girls and boys can both identify with a male lead, but boys cannot identify with a female lead.”
“And it just makes me so happy every single time I see a movie come out that just blows through every one of those beliefs, and proves that it is just a lie to keep certain people out of the movies. To keep certain people in the same positions that they’ve always been in,” she continued.
Netizens set the record straight for ‘The Hunger Games’ star
The online reaction and commentary was swift pointing out numerous movies that were led by women that predate the action film franchise based on the popular books by Suzanne Collins by the same name which Lawrence led between 2012 and 2015. Netizens pointed to the ‘Alien’ movies starring Sigourney Weaver, the first of which came out in 1979. Another common reference was Linda Hamilton in the ‘Terminator’ franchise.
Others pointed to Pam Grier who led a number of action films well before ‘The Hunger Games’ as well as Kate Beckinsale, Halle Berry, Angelina Jolie, Milla Jovovich, Demi Moore, Natalie Portman, Michelle Rodriguez, Charlize Theron, Uma Thurman and Michelle Yeoh.