Background

Ethnicity: Jennifer Lawrence's ancestry includes English, German, Irish, Scottish, Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, distant Welsh, and remote French and Swiss-German roots.

Jennifer Lawrence was born on August 15, 1990, in Indian Hills, Kentucky, the United States, and was the first girl born on her father's side of the family in 50 years. Her father, Gary was a construction worker and her mother, Karen was the manager at a summer camp. Jennifer grew up on a horse farm in Louisville, Kentucky, where her parents raised unbroken stallions because they were cheaper. She has two older brothers, Blaine and Ben.

Education

Jennifer Lawrence attended the Kammerer Middle School in Louisville. Lawrence was an athletic child, involved in cheerleading, field hockey, and softball, and thought she might be a doctor when she grew up. She did some modeling and community theater, but never dreamed that she’d become an actress. She hardly ever played with girls and was a tomboy. Not finding herself fitting in with the rest of her classmates, she developed anxiety.

While holidaying in New York, she was spotted by a photographer who made arrangements with ad and television agencies for her. She was only fourteen, hence her mother was skeptical and objected to a career in acting. Finally, with perseverance, she requested her mother to sign her on with the CESD Talent Agency. Her parents agreed but the condition placed before her was that she must first graduate from high school. She ended up graduating two years before the completion of high school to pursue her career.

Career

Lawrence’s big break came when she was discovered at 14 while on spring break in New York with her family. A stranger asked to take her picture and took her mother’s phone number, then called the next day to ask her to do a screen test. Things happened quickly after that: Lawrence stayed in New York City for the summer.

After leaving the agency, Jen was spotted by an agent in the midst of shooting an H&M ad and asked to take her picture. The next day, that agent followed up with her and invited her to the studio for a cold read audition. Again, the agents were highly impressed and strongly urged her mother to allow her to spend the summer in New York City. As fate would have it, she did and subsequently appeared in commercials such as MTV's My Super Sweet 16.

She got her breakthrough in 2006 when she appeared on the television show Company Town. Following her television debut, she starred in many sitcoms in minor guest roles. Her character Lauren in The Bill Engvall Show landed her a television series that ran for three seasons. She was critically acclaimed by prestigious magazines and received her first award for her performance in the show. In 2008, her debut film Garden Party was launched. The same year Guillermo Arriaga signed her own for The Burning Plain. Her portrayal of the eldest daughter of a drug addict mother in The Poker House sealed her fate in the industry.

She soon followed that with the role that proved to be her big break, the lead in the movie Winter’s Bone (2010). Lawrence went on to appear in the critically acclaimed Winter’s Bone in 2010, which earned her nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. For her portrayal of Ree, a poor rural teenager tracking down her missing criminal father in the Ozark Mountains, Lawrence, at the age of 20, received her first best actress Academy Award nomination.

Opportunities continued to pour in, and in 2011 Lawrence appeared in The Beaver with Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, and Anton Yelchin. Lawrence rose to greater fame in the role of the shape-shifting mutant Mystique in X-Men: First Class (2011), a role she reprised in X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), and Dark Phoenix (2019). She perfectly portrayed the limitations and prowess that the character required.

In 2012, Lawrence became a box-office sensation as Katniss Everdeen, the lead in The Hunger Games, the film adaptation of the bestselling novel by Suzanne Collins. Set in a post-apocalyptic state, Lawrence's character must participate in an event in which 24 teens fight to the death as televised entertainment. The film broke box-office records on opening weekend, and Lawrence reprised her role in 2013's The Hunger Games: Catching Fire as well as the two-part Mockingjay (2014 and 2015). As of late 2015, the franchise had earned more than $2.8 billion dollars at the global box office.

Lawrence also starred in another notable film in 2012, director David O. Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook. In that movie, she played Tiffany Maxwell, a young widow who befriends a man struggling with mental illness (played by Bradley Cooper). She won critical acclaim in the popular film and became the second-youngest woman to win the Academy Award for best actress (2013). Lawrence then appeared as the wife of a con artist (Christian Bale) in Russell’s cat-and-mouse romp American Hustle (2013); the role earned her an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress.

Lawrence again paired with Cooper in Serena (2014), a poorly received drama set in a lumber camp in 1929. Lawrence, Cooper, and Russell later signed on to bring the story of Miracle Mop inventor Joy Mangano to the big screen, with Lawrence taking on the title role. Joy had a Christmas Day 2015 United States release, and Lawrence soon won her third Golden Globe for her performance. Days later she received another Oscar nod. At 25, she became the youngest performer in history to have earned four Academy Award nominations.

She narrated A Beautiful Planet (2016), a documentary featuring footage of Earth taken from the International Space Station. Her other 2016 credit was the sci-fi romance Passengers, in which she played a writer who was among 5,000 hibernating intergalactic travelers heading to another planet. In 2017 Lawrence starred in the psychological thriller Mother! as the second wife of a famous poet, whose peaceful life in a secluded mansion is disrupted by the arrival of strangers. She then played a former ballerina who becomes a Russian spy in the thriller Red Sparrow (2018). Lawrence will next star in and produce Red, White, and Water.

Achievements

• 

  Jennifer Lawrence is one of Hollywood’s most versatile and talented actresses. Lawrence's roles in Silver Linings Playbook, Hunger Games, and Joy have left a lasting impression on the world of cinema. She won the most distinguished award as an actress by earning herself an Oscar for her role in Silver Linings Playbook, critics all over the globe acclaimed her acting skills naming her the best performer of the current generation.
  
  She received the Golden Globe Award in two categories. In 2012 and 2015 she won Best Actress for Silver Linings Playbook and Joy respectively. 2013 saw her receiving Best Actress in Supporting Role for the film, American Hustle. In 2010, she was named one of the New York Times 50 People to Watch, and she also appeared in Time's 100 most influential people in the world list in 2013.

Works

More photos

• movie

  • The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1

    (The worldwide phenomenon of The Hunger Games continues to...)

    2014
  • The Beaver

    (A toy company CEO having a mid-life crisis begins communi...)

    2011
  • The Burning Plain

    (From writer/director Guillermo Arriaga comes The Burning ...)

    2008
  • mother!

    (When a poet and his young wife open their doors to a pair...)

    2017
  • X-Men: Days of Future Past

    (The heroic characters from the original X-Men film trilog...)

    2014
  • Like Crazy

    (A British college student falls for an American student, ...)

    2011
  • American Hustle

    (From the director of Silver Linings Playbook and The Figh...)

    2013
  • Silver Linings Playbook

    (An unexpected bond forms between a formerly institutional...)

    2012
  • Passengers

    (Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt star in an adventure ab...)

    2016
  • Red Sparrow

    (A ballerina is recruited to a Russian intelligence servic...)

    2018
  • Garden Party

    (15-year-old April is running from one bad situation to an...)

    2008
  • X-men: First Class

    (The uncanny comic book mutants come together for the firs...)

    2011
  • Joy

    (Jennifer Lawrence stars with Bradley Cooper and Robert De...)

    2015
  • Winter's Bone

    (Jennifer Lawrence plays a teenage girl from the rural Oza...)

    2010
  • Devil You Know

    (When a reclusive ex-movie star attempts to make a career ...)

    2013
  • X-Men: Dark Phoenix

    (The X-Men face their greatest threat - their own Jean Gre...)

    2019
  • The Hunger Games

    (16-year-old Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) volunteers to tak...)

    2012
  • House at the End of the Street

    (Newly divorced Sarah and her daughter Elissa seek a fresh...)

    2012
  • The Poker House

    (A dramatization of Lori Petty's teenage years spent in a ...)

    2008
  • The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2

    (One of the most celebrated movie series of all time comes...)

    2014
  • The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

    (Jennifer Lawrence returns in this thrilling sequel to The...)

    2013
  • X-Men: Apocalypse 2016

Religion

Jennifer Lawrence admits that while she does not believe in God, she still prays and specifically to Him when her life is in danger. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Lawrence stated: "I guess I am spiritual. I'm not religious. I grew up very religious. I have a religious family, but I don't believe in anything."

Politics

Jennifer Lawrence was raised a Republican, but she stated that she "can't imagine supporting a party that doesn't support women's basic rights." Lawrence admitted that it was the country’s election of Donald Trump in 2016 "that just changed everything" for her moving forward. In October 2020, Lawrence said that she is voting for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris during the 2020 presidential elections.

Views

Jennifer Lawrence is a supporter of Planned Parenthood for its support in contraception and female health care, namely to teenagers. The actress has also established the Jennifer Lawrence Foundation, which leverages independent philanthropy initiatives, community events, and donations and auctions to assist other organizations that service abused youth, people with intellectual disabilities, and those in need of medical care.

In October 2015 Lawrence wrote an essay, which was featured in Lena Dunham's feminist newsletter, Lenny, entitled "Why Do I Make Less Than My Male Co‑Stars?" Discovering she was paid less than her American Hustle male co-stars via the Sony hacking scandal, Lawrence ultimately blamed herself for not negotiating for more pay. Lawrence admitted she didn't fight for a better salary because she was afraid of how she'd be perceived. Lawrence concluded she would no longer tolerate inequitable pay for fear of being less liked. Her essay caused a great deal of buzz in the media about ongoing gender wage gap issues.

Quotations: "There are actresses who build themselves, and then there are actresses who are built by others. I want to build myself."

"I've always studied people and been fascinated by their reactions and feelings. And I think that's the best acting class you can take - watching real people, listening to them and studying them."

"I like when things are hard; I'm very competitive. If something seems difficult or impossible, it interests me."

Membership

Jennifer Lawrence became a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in 2011.

• 

  Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

  2011 - present

Personality

Jennifer Lawrence was among the people affected by the hack of private pictures of various celebrities, mostly women, and with many containing nudity, which were posted on the website 4chan and were later distributed by other Internet networks. The event was nicknamed "The Fappening" by the media. The hack started whole new discussions about privacy in the Internet age as well as people unfairly and unnecessarily criticizing the victims for taking the pictures in the first place and putting them on their computer devices.

Quotes from others about the person

• "I've worked with some amazing actors, and I've never seen anyone with more raw talent. There's a reservoir of emotional power in her that's sort of stunning." - Gary Ross
  
  "I believe that people do their best work when they're loose - and she's very loose. She'd be on the set telling jokes and horsing around, and then she'd go into a scene and blow the roof off it. She truly inhabits every moment." - David O. Russell

Interests

• Painting, playing the guitar

• Politicians

  Joe Biden, Kamala Harris

• Writers

  The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory, Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters & Seymour by J. D. Salinger, We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver, Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, The Rum Diary by Hunter S. Thompson

• Artists

  Marion Cotillard, Jeff Bridges

• Sport & Clubs

  Field hockey, softball, basketball

• Music & Bands

  Queen, Hank Williams, The Black Keys, Paramore, Mumford & Sons, The Beatles, Spice Girls, Jake Bugg

Connections

Jennifer Lawrence dated her X-Men co-star, Nicholas Hoult, from 2010 to 2014. A year later, she was involved in an on-and-off-again relationship with Coldplay's Chris Martin, which reportedly ended in the summer of 2015. The actress went on to date Mother director Darren Aronofsky, before admitting in a November 2017 appearance with Adam Sandler on the Actors on Actors series that the pressures of professional obligations led to their split. In February 2019, Lawrence confirmed her engagement to New York art gallery director Cooke Maroney. The two tied the knot in Newport, Rhode Island, that October.

Father:

Gary Lawrence

Mother:

Karen Lawrence

Spouse:

Cooke Maroney

In the summer of 2018, Jennifer started dating New York-based art gallerist, Cooke Maroney. They were first linked in June 2018. Later in November 2018, the couple was seen kissing during New York Rangers game in New York City, and in February 2019, the couple got engaged. They married in October 2019 in Rhode Island.

Friend:

Bradley Cooper

Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper first appeared on screen together in the 2012 film Silver Linings Playbook, the dark romantic comedy that won Lawrence an Academy Award for Best Actress. But the duo actually first worked together in the much-delayed film Serena, released in 2014, portraying a newlywed couple during the Depression. Lawrence and Cooper also starred together in the black comedy American Hustle.

Friend:

James McAvoy

colleague:

Jessica Chastain

Brother:

Blaine Lawrence

Brother:

Ben Lawrence

ex-boyfriend:

Nicholas Hoult

Nicholas first met Jennifer on the set of X-Men: First Class. They started dating from that time in 2010. After that, they were seen at a SAG Awards after-party in late January 2011. In January 2013, she called it quits with him. But, they reconciled back in July 2013. They finally separated in July 2014.

ex-boyfriend:

Chris Martin

From June 2014 to June 2015, Lawrence dated British singer Chris Martin, who is about 13 years her senior.

ex-boyfriend:

Darren Aronofsky

In October 2016, Lawrence started dating film director Darren Aronofsky. They were spotted kissing in New York street as confirmed by Daily Mail. He is about 21 years her senior. They allegedly split in December 2016 after she made the wet sponges comment to Vanity Fair. They reconciled later and split for the final time in November 2017.

Fifth cousin:

Jeremy Renner

Lawrence and Jeremy Renner are fifth cousins, once removed. In 2015, the research team at Ancestry discovered that they share an ancestor in Kentucky, farmer Robert Tague, who is Lawrence's fifth great-grandfather, while he's Renner's fourth.

Friend:

Liam Hemsworth

Liam Hemsworth and Jennifer Lawrence became friends during the filming of The Hunger Games.

colleague:

Elizabeth Banks

colleague:

Woody Harrelson

Friend:

Kim Kardashian

Friend:

Christopher Pratt

colleague:

Sophie Turner

colleague:

Charlize Theron

References

• Jennifer Lawrence Readers will learn how Jennifer got her start as an actor and what makes her such a success on the silver screen. They will also find out what she likes to do in her free time, what her favorite things are, and much more.
  2015