Jennifer Lawrence

Jennifer Lawrence reveals her job was threatened after standing up to a director

"I got called difficult and a nightmare"

16 November 2017

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Jennifer Lawrence joined Emma Stone, Mary J Blige, Jessica Chastain, Allison Janney and Saoirse Ronan for a roundtable discussion for The Hollywood Reporter. They spoke candidly about harassment in Hollywood and how the culture of abuse is deeply ingrained within the industry.

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Speaking from experience, Jennifer Lawrence revealed that she finally made the decision to stand up for herself and call out a director for making an inappropriate comment. "The director said something fucked up to me and I said, ‘That’s sick, you can’t talk to me like that,’ and then I was punished, and I got afraid that I wasn’t going to be hired again.”

The actresses around the roundtable provided their sympathy and Emma Stone added: "Then you were difficult?" Jennifer then replied: "Yeah then I was called difficult and a nightmare".

She added: "I went to the bathroom at work and one of the producers stopped me and was like, 'You know, we can hear you on the microphone, you've been really unruly.' Which was not true."

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She continued by saying that her job was threatened because she directly confronted the director about his rude comment, and that it's that kind of attitude that needs to change in Hollywood. "I think a lot of people aren't coming forward because they're afraid they're not going to work again."

Jennifer Lawrence goes onto explain that it's not only happening in Hollywood: "The big misconception, though, is that this is just in the entertainment industry."

"If a flight attendant comes forward about a pilot, it doesn't end up in the news because nobody knows about it. That doesn't mean that there's less sexual abuse going on anywhere else in the world, in any other place of work. But fortunately, we're starting the conversation now."

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On the internet
"You try being 22, having a period and staying away from Google. I once Googled ‘Jennifer Lawrence Ugly,’… Do I sound bitchy?”
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On what people say to her on the street
"Generally people are really nice. Sometimes someone will shout, 'You're a dirty whore!' But I think that would happen anyway. I guess I should probably dress better.”
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On Bradley Cooper
"He's fluent in French, very impressive. And he's hilarious. It's too bad he's so ugly."
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On red carpet hunger
"I'm seeing you talk, and all I'm thinking about is me pissed that I didn't get fries."

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On cruise ship haircuts
"My family went on a cruise, and I got a terrible haircut. FYI: Never get your hair cut on a cruise."
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On her “bouncing” assets
“I think people are fascinated with breasts that bounce. They are so used to seeing [fake ones]. People are confused [that mine bounce]! My breasts have a life of their own.”
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On her weight
"I’d rather look chubby on screen and like a person in real life."
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To Jack Nicholson when he said she looked like his old girlfriend
“Oh really, do I look like a new girlfriend?”

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On her style icon status
"I really would not call myself a fashion icon. I would call myself somebody who gets dressed by professionals. [It's like], 'Dance, monkey, dance' right on the red carpet.' I would call me more of a monkey."
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On being called fat
“If anybody even tries to whisper the word 'diet,' I'm like, 'You can go f– yourself."
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On her childhood crush
"Justin Timberlake. Early 90s Justin Timberlake. I remember buying the ‘N Sync CD. Remember how CDs had the pullout picture things? I got so overwhelmed with hormones I almost threw up!"
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Said to camera at the Oscars about Emma Stone
“Your ass is mine, Stone!"

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On actor John Stamos
"He was at a party, and I turned into a perverted guy. I was like following him into rooms and staring at his ass...He asked me if I was on mushrooms and I said, 'No. I'm dead sober. This is just me.'"
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Accepting her People’s Choice Award
“I wish this was like Mean Girls and I could just break this up and throw it at all of you!”
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On dancing
“I’m a horrible dancer! I’m like a dad at prom. I look like Gumby getting electrocuted.”
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Her advice for kids today
“Don’t worry about the bitches in school — that could be a good motto, because you come across people like that throughout your life.”

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On ‘the business’
“Not to sound rude, but [acting] is stupid. Everybody’s like, ‘How can you remain with a level head?’ And I’m like, ‘Why would I ever get cocky? I’m not saving anybody’s life. There are doctors who save lives and firemen who run into burning buildings. I’m making movies. It’s stupid.”
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On fame
“I tell my friends to slap me if they ever think I’m getting full of myself.”
On what Hunger Games character she would play, if not Katniss
“I would be Wes Bentley’s beard.”
Interrupting Josh Hutcherson’s red carpet interview
“Is your rash doing okay?”

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On getting a role she wants
“It’s like, ‘Please give me this part! I’ll boil a rabbit!’”
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On getting starstruck
“One time someone was introducing me to Bill Maher, and I saw Meryl Streep walk into the room, and I literally put my hand right in Bill Maher’s face and said, ‘Not now, Bill!’ and I just stared at Meryl Streep… I just creepily stared at her.”
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And getting starstruck some more
“Helena Bonham Carter and Jeff Bridges waved at me. And, of course, it would be absurd if they were waving at me, so I just stared at them. I stared at both of them. And they were like, ‘Alright, fine.’”
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On days off
“If I don’t have anything to do all day, I might not even put pants on.”

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After a coughing fit on a Stateside chat show David Letterman
“Sorry! That was phlegm. That was so powerful. I’m like a dragon!”
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On Stateside chat show Chelsea Lately
“Backstage, I just peed like every 3 seconds. I think your staff think I have diarrhoea.”
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On working out
“I hate saying, ‘I like exercising’ - I want to punch people who say that.”
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Woody Harrelson recalling his first meeting with J-Law
“I was on my bus, and on my bus I have a yoga swing. Jennifer comes on, and she goes, ‘Hi, Woody, I’m J– is that a sex swing?’ Her first sentence to me.”

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Her acceptance speech after tripping onstage at the Oscars
“You guys are just standing up because you feel bad that I fell and that’s really embarrassing, but thank you.”

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