While Jennifer Lawrence has been under the radar in the recent past, the actress was the ‘it girl’ of Hollywood in the 2010s as she starred in multiple acclaimed films and blockbusters. Gaining global stardom due to her role as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games franchise. She was also the highest-paid actress in 2014.
In 2013, Lawrence reportedly achieved a rare feat. While she earned critical acclaim for her role in Silver Linings Playbook and won the Oscar for Best Actress, she also headlined the year’s highest-grossing domestic release The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. The only other actor to do this was reportedly Tom Hanks in 1995 with Toy Story and Forrest Gump.
Jennifer Lawrence Achieves A Rare Feat Previously Only Achieved By Tom Hanks
Jennifer Lawrence in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire | Credits: Lionsgate
The early 2010s were ruled by Jennifer Lawrence as the young actress shot to the mainstream with The Hunger Games franchise. Proving her mettle as an actress in multiple indie films and dramas, Lawrence became a global star when she headlined the young-adult fantasy adapted from the popular novels of the same name.
Lawrence not only fared well in the mainstream but also gained critical acclaim for her roles in films like The Poker House and Winter’s Bone, before taking on her most appreciated role in David O’Russel’s Silver Linings Playbook. The black comedy starred Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro and even won Lawrence the Oscar for Best Actress. She was only 22.
A still from Silver Linings Playbook | Credits: The Weinstein Company
In the same year, 2013, Lawrence starred in the second film of The Hunger Games franchise, Catching Fire. The film became North America’s highest-grossing film of the year, earning $424 million, and was also the fifth highest-grossing film of the year worldwide. The only other actor to reportedly achieve both feats in the same year was Tom Hanks (via Reddit).
In 2013, Jennifer Lawrence achieved something that seemingly happens very rarely – in her case, the first time since 1995 (and Tom Hanks) – Lawrence became the first actor in almost 18 years to win an Oscar (Silver Linings Playbook) and lead the highest grossing domestic release of the year (Catching Fire) – in the same year. This is one of those rare accomplishments that thrust actors into superstardom – true in the case of both Hanks and Lawrence.
Hanks achieved the feat in 1995 when he won the Oscar (his second consecutive one) for Best Actor for Forrest Gump. He also headlined Pixar’s feature film debut Toy Story, which at $191 million, became the highest-grossing domestic film of the year (via BO Mojo).
Will Jennifer Lawrence Regain Her Superstardom In the 2020s?
A still from X-Men: Apocalypse | Credits: 20th Century Fox
While Jennifer Lawrence had a dream run in the early to mid-2010s, the actress seemed to have a few failures in the latter part of the decade, with films like Mother! being polarizing and the big-scale film X-Men: Apocalypse not earning the expected amounts. The actress reportedly took a break and returned with 2021’s Netflix release Don’t Look Up.
She also turned producer with the films Causeway and No Hard Feelings which got positive reviews but did not make much at the box office, with the first one being an Apple TV+ release. Lawrence may be able to regain her box office success with blockbusters and the MCU’s X-Men is the perfect avenue for that.
While Hugh Jackman’s appearance in the top-grossing Deadpool & Wolverine is a good example, Lawrence may not get back into the role of Mystique. The actress played a young Mystique from X-Men: First Class and said that she hated putting on the blue paint every time. She said to EW,
I love these movies — it’s just the paint. I was 20 [when she starred in First Class] and I didn’t care about fumes and toxins, and now I’m almost 25 and I’m like, ‘I can’t even pronounce this and that’s going in my nose? I’m breathing that?’
The actress also reportedly returned for Dark Phoenix only because it was writer Simon Kinberg’s feature film debut.
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is currently available to rent on Apple TV.
