Actress Jennifer Lawrence got her big break at 14 when she was discovered while vacationing in New York City with her family. She quickly landed a part in the TV series The Bill Engvall Show, followed by roles in films that included The Burning Plain, Winter’s Bone, X-Men: First Class and The Hunger Games. She later reprised her role of Katniss Everdeen in Catching Fire and the two-part Mockingjay. Lawrence won an Academy Award for her work in David O. Russell's Silver Linings Playbook (2012) and continued to work with the director on American Hustle and Joy, winning Golden Globes for all three projects as well.

Early Life

Jennifer Shrader Lawrence was born on August 15, 1990, in a suburb of Louisville, Kentucky. She has two older brothers, Blaine and Ben, and her parents, Karen and Gary, owned a farm just outside the city.

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.

Start of Acting 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, acting in commercials for MTV and filming the 2007 thriller Devil You Know with Lena Olin. (The film was shelved due to lack of distribution and was eventually released in 2013.)

Soon after, Lawrence and her family moved to Los Angeles, where she had small roles on the series Medium, Monk and Cold Case, before landing a part on the TV series The Bill Engvall Show. While working on the series, she also appeared in feature films including The Poker House and The Burning Plain alongside Charlize Theron and Kim Basinger.

After The Bill Engvall Show was canceled, 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. Opportunities continued to pour in, and in 2011 Lawrence appeared in The Beaver with Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster and Anton Yelchin. She also took on the role of Mystique in X-Men: First Class.

Jennifer Lawrence Movies

'The Hunger Games'

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.

'Silver Linings' Oscar

Other 2012 releases for Lawrence included the thriller House at the End of the Street, co-starring Elisabeth Shue, and two dramas with Bradley Cooper: The Falling and Silver Linings Playbook, which earned an array of award nominations and a Golden Globe win (best actress in a comedy or musical) for Lawrence. She took home the Oscar for best actress at the Academy Awards in February 2013. Lawrence seemed overcome with emotion as she accepted the honor.

Lawrence continued to work with Silver Linings Playbook director David O. Russell on 2013's American Hustle, playing the emotionally complex wife of a con artist (Christian Bale). The film co-starred Amy Adams and Cooper. Lawrence received her third Oscar nod for the part and won her second Golden Globe. In 2014, she co-starred again with Cooper in the little-seen drama Serena before once again captivating moviegoers as the mutant Mystique in X-Men: Days of Future Past.

'Joy,' 'Passengers' and 'Mother'

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 U.S. 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.
Continuing with her high-profile work, in 2016 Lawrence co-starred in X-Men: Apocalypse and the science-fiction film Passengers. She then made an impressive leap into the horror genre with the critically acclaimed Mother (2017), before starring as a Russian intelligence agent in the thriller Red Sparrow (2018).

The Wage Gap Essay

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.

"When the Sony hack happened and I found out how much less I was being paid than the lucky people with d*cks, I didn’t get mad at Sony. I got mad at myself. I failed as a negotiator because I gave up early. I didn’t want to keep fighting over millions of dollars that, frankly, due to two franchises, I don’t need," she explains.

However, Lawrence admitted she didn't fight for a better salary because she was afraid of how she'd be perceived. "I would be lying if I didn’t say there was an element of wanting to be liked that influenced my decision to close the deal without a real fight. I didn’t want to seem 'difficult' or 'spoiled,' " she confessed. "This is an element of my personality that I’ve been working against for years, and based on the statistics, I don’t think I’m the only woman with this issue. Are we socially conditioned to behave this way? ... Could there still be a lingering habit of trying to express our opinions in a certain way that doesn’t 'offend' or 'scare' men?"

In her own fiery way, 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.

Personal Life

She dated her X-Men co-star, Nicholas Hoult, from 2011 to 2013. 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.

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.

Artistry and public image

In 2012, the review website IndieWire described Lawrence's off-screen persona as "down-to-earth, self-deprecating, unaffected". Adam McKay, who directed Lawrence in Don't Look Up, considered her "a strong, funny truth-teller". "No one has more beautiful anger than Jen," McKay said. "When she unleashes, it is a sight to behold." An IGN writer described her as a "sharp", "funny" and "quirky" actress who liked to "stay grounded" despite her considerable success. Lawrence has said she finds acting "stupid" in comparison to life-saving professions like doctors, and therefore does not believe in being "cocky" about her accomplishments.

Lawrence appeared on Victoria's Secret's listing of the "Sexiest Up-and-Coming Bombshell" in 2011, People's Most Beautiful People in 2011 and 2013, Maxim's Hot 100 from 2011 to 2014, and was placed at number one on FHM's 100 Sexiest Women list in 2014. From 2013 to 2015, she was featured on Glamour's annual listing of the best dressed women, topping the list in 2014. During Raf Simons's tenure at Dior, Lawrence became a celebrity ambassador for the brand, appearing in advertisement campaigns for its fashion and perfumes. She frequently wears Dior to red carpet events such as film premieres and award ceremonies. She wore a custom Dior bridal gown on her wedding day.

Other ventures

Lawrence identifies as a feminist, a concept she argues should not intimidate people "because it just means equality". She has promoted body positivity among women. In 2015, she wrote an essay for Lenny Letter criticizing the gender pay gap in Hollywood, describing her own experiences in the industry, such as the lesser pay she received for her work on American Hustle in comparison to her male co-stars. In a 2015 interview with Vogue, she condemned Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis for her opposition to same-sex marriage. Lawrence was raised a Republican and voted for John McCain in the 2008 presidential election, but has since been critical of the party. Lawrence strongly opposed Donald Trump's presidency, stating in 2015 that his election would "be the end of the world". She endorsed Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.

Lawrence joined the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2011. She has lent her support to several charitable organizations, such as the World Food Programme, Feeding America, and the Thirst Project. Along with her The Hunger Games co-stars Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth, she partnered with the United Nations to publicize poverty and hunger. She organized an early screening of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013) to benefit Saint Mary's Center, a disabilities organization in Louisville, and raised more than $40,000 for the cause. She partnered with the charity broadcast network Chideo to raise funds for the 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games by screening her film Serena (2014). She also collaborated with Omaze to host a fundraising contest for the games as part of the premiere of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (2014).

Accolades

Lawrence won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Silver Linings Playbook (2012). She has won three Golden Globe Awards; Best Actress – Comedy or Musical for Silver Linings Playbook (2012) and Joy (2015), and Best Supporting Actress for American Hustle (2013). She also won a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for American Hustle. Her other accolades include seven MTV Movie Awards (five for The Hunger Games series, two for Silver Linings Playbook), six People's Choice Awards (three for The Hunger Games, three for the X-Men series), a Satellite Award for Silver Linings Playbook, and a Saturn Award for The Hunger Games.