Jennifer Lawrence made an interesting statement in a recent interview. Specifically, The Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence alluded to herself being the first “woman in the lead of an action movie.”
This statement was shared by Variety after Jennifer Lawrence participated in an interview alongside Viola Davis. The two spoke about their careers and their upcoming projects. However, Jennifer Lawrence took the time to reflect on The Hunger Games – and how “nobody had ever put a woman in the lead of an action movie because it wouldn’t work.”
Here’s what she specifically had to say:
“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.”
Obviously many social media users were baffled by this perspective. After all, there’s a vast number of action films featuring female leads that go back for decades. Foxy Brown, Red Sonja, Aliens, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Hardware, Death Machine, Tank Girl, Perdita Durango, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Resident Evil, Underworld, and Kill Bill are all just a few examples. As such, here’s what some social media users have had to say about her comment:
Lawrence is apparently so self-obsessed that she forgets a ton. of other women were cast as female leads in action films: Linda Hamilton, HELLO. Sigourney Weaver? Angelina Jolie? Halle Berry? Uma Thurman and the ladies of Kill Bill? “DEATH PROOF” CAST? Lawrence is annoying. https://t.co/KSOmx9MAVG
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) December 7, 2022
Variety just deleted this tweet, which contained a very stupid quote from Jennifer Lawrence, who apparently doesn’t actually watch movies. pic.twitter.com/7KWz0jX4Uv
— Jon Miltimore (@miltimore79) December 7, 2022
Jennifer Lawrence claims that before the Hunger Games there were no female protagonists. Really?pic.twitter.com/z5CQCpCHuY
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) December 7, 2022
Of course, it’s possible that Jennifer Lawrence meant to say The Hunger Games sparked a new subgenre of action films. Indeed, it seemed to rejuvenate the demand for adaptations of young adult novels. Perhaps her quote was taken out of context – which realistically could be the case. Nevertheless, there are plenty of great action films with female leads to choose from. Whether you want something classic or a more modern take.