Why Jennifer Lawrence Almost Turned Down Starring In The Hunger Games
It's hard to imagine anyone other than Jennifer Lawrence in the role of Katniss Everdeen in "The Hunger Games" films. The eventual Academy Award and BAFTA winner absolutely crushed the role.
If you haven't read the Suzanne Collins books the film series is based on, or seen the films themselves, the story takes place in a world where the country of Panem is divided into Districts after a war. They're all ruled by the wealthy and cruel Capital. Each year a boy and a girl from every District are sent to fight each other to the death in a televised event. When Katniss' sister is chosen to fight, Katniss volunteers as the tribute for District 12 and fights in her sister's place.
When Lawrence was cast, there were many complaints saying she was wrong for the role. (One of the funniest was that she didn't have the right hair color, as though Hollywood has never heard of wigs or hair dye. Some book readers were mad that Lawrence didn't look as underfed as the books say her character is, and that she seemed too "nice" to be as brutal as she is in the film.
Lawrence, who is currently promoting her comedy "No Hard Feelings," explained in an interview on the "Rewatchables" podcast with Bill Simmons that she almost turned down the role in the first place, and the reason she gives is certainly understandable.
It's hard to break free from typecasting
In the interview, Lawrence said she auditioned for the role of Bella in "Twilight," but didn't get a callback and mused over the fact that getting that role would have changed her life. She compared the idea of it to doing "The Hunger Games" and said that even with that, she felt like she had to "churn out movies in between so that I'm not only known for this franchise." Lawrence has clearly broken away from "Hunger Games" as the thing people know her for, but it was a legitimate worry at the time — so much so that she nearly turned down the role of Katniss. She continued:
"It was so hard to explain to people. It was like, I don't think you understand this level of fame ... I just assumed it was gonna be like 'Twilight,' like the 'Twilight'-level fame, and that was just never something I had in mind ... I wanted to do indies, and I wanted to do good films, but I didn't want to be the most famous person on the planet."
Thankfully, her fame came from a combination of franchise roles and award-worthy projects like "Silver Linings Playbook," for which she won the Best Actress Oscar. As a franchise veteran, she's in good company. Kristen Stewart, who did land the role of Bella in "Twilight," has managed to become known for far more than just that character by doing a lot of indie film work. Similarly, Daniel Radcliffe has made some wild choices regarding roles, and though everyone knows him as Harry Potter, he's also regarded as a brilliant actor. Lawrence probably would have done just as well if she had been cast as Bella.
If you want to do a rewatch, "The Hunger Games" is currently streaming on Hulu.