Jennifer Lawrence is walking back a comment she made about female action heroes during a Variety Actors on Actors interview.
Speaking to Viola Davis, Jennifer 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—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 single 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 position they've always been in, and it's just amazing to watch it happen."
The comment immediately caused some backlash, including from Star Trek: The Next Generation star Denise Crosby who tweeted, “Hey Jennifer Lawrence, thank you for allowing me the opportunity to thank the many boys/men who were allowed to completely identify with a strong female character long before you were even born. There are a couple of us…”
Jennifer ended up clarifying her comments during a chat with The Hollywood Reporter, saying “That’s certainly not what I meant to say at all. I know that I am not the only woman who has ever led an action film. What I meant to emphasise was how good it feels. And I meant that with Viola — to blow past these old myths that you hear about … about the chatter that you would hear around that kind of thing. But it was my blunder and it came out wrong. I had nerves talking to a living legend.”
Fair enough!
Mehera Bonner is a celebrity and entertainment news writer who enjoys Bravo and Antiques Roadshow with equal enthusiasm, She was previously entertainment editor at Marie Claire and has covered pop culture for over a decade.
