Jennifer Lawrence Talks About Being a Superstar: “I’m still scared, but it’s about different things”

Audiences will see Jennifer Lawrence major films in the last weeks of 2015 — the fourth and final Hunger Games movie and her third collaboration with director David O. Russell and co-stars Robert De Niro and Bradley Cooper, Joy. It’s a remarkable turnaround for a young actress who was barely known even four years ago. Speaking with the New York Times, Lawrence reveals how fame has changed her as a person and in how she chooses her projects.

Lawrence reveals that since achieving stardom in the first Hunger Games she feels more comfortable in her career. She says, “I don’t feel like I’m being dragged by anything anymore. I feel more in control. I’m calmer. I know that there’s no point to feeling anxious all day, so I try not to. I’m still scared, but it’s about different things.”

However, with her increased fame Lawrence realizes that what she does and says are now in a much brighter spotlight, which could in turn affect her work. She explains, “You want to know how I’ve changed? I’m so scared to say anything now. I can see every negative way that people can take it, and I don’t want to sound like I’m complaining. ‘Oh, she’s so conceited now. Oh, she’s so jaded now.’ It probably comes from Googling myself. If it were up to me, I would not talk. I would just act.”

Now that she’s an Oscar-winning superstar she also gets offered many more scripts. Choosing the right one is something she tries to do by her gut feeling. She says, “You know, I read scripts. I hire people for their opinions, and I listen. But ultimately the gamble is a part of your art. I do things that I respond to, and try not to overthink it.”

Lawrence isn’t known for rehearsing scenes over and over again, and when the interviewer suggests that is also part of her “not overthinking” strategy, she responds, “I’m happy that you have taken that to an intellectual level and made it complimentary, but it’s really just pure laziness. I memorize my lines in hair and makeup.”

Guess that “scared to say anything” thing didn’t last to the end of the interview!