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Having made $52 million in a year – a figure undeniably bumped up by The Hunger Games – Jennifer Lawrence has climbed her way to becoming the world’s highest paid actress. But even Lawrence cannot escape the gender pay gap; in David O’Russell’s American Hustle, her and co-actress Amy Poehler were paid 2 percentage points less than their male counterparts, despite the fact that she won an Oscar the previous year. Her inspiring speech at last year’s Oscars flagged up the need for female actors to receive the same amount of recognition and pay as male actors do for their talent. In support of J-Law, we take a look back at the roles she played in high-grossing films that have made her a Hollywood A-lister she is today.
Mystique in X-men (2011-2016)
J-Law became famous for her role as the fiendish blue mutant Mystique in X-men: First Class, a prequel to the previous X-Men films starring Rebecca Romijn. She starred alongside James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender and was nominated for an Oscar aged just 20.
Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games (2012-2015)
By the time she was picked to play Katniss in The Hunger Games (a young girl growing up in the impoverished District 12 of the country Panem, crippled by political corruption), J-Law was a girl on fire. She was called ‘the ideal screen actress’ by The Hollywood Reporter and is known as the highest-grossing action heroine in the 2015 edition of The Guinness Book of Records.
Tiffany Maxwell in Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
Earning an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for best actress, J-Law’s performance was yet again flawless as she took on the role of a young widow who trains Pat Solitano (Bradley Cooper), a history teacher with a bipolar disorder, as her partner for a dance competition.
Rosalyn Rosenfield in American Hustle (2015)
Rosalyn Rosenfield is con man Irving Rosenfield’s brash wife. He cheats on her with his cunning partner Sydney Prosser yet refuses to leave her as she is an unfit mother to her son, whom he has adopted. Lawrence puts on an explosive performance in the scandalous world of American Hustle, where each character is bent on getting their happy ending at the expense of someone else’s demise.
Joy in Joy (2016)
If J-Law wants to make a point about female power, her role as Joy is the perfect way to make it. Joy rises from betrayal, treachery and heartache to become the founder and matriarch of a business dynasty. Her bold courage and raging imagination sees her through all challenges as she becomes the boss of the family enterprise.
Words : Yashi Banymadhub
