Jennifer Lawrence Discusses Working With Veteran Actors in ‘The Hunger Games’

3/13/2012Jennifer LawrenceArianna

Comingsoon.net has a great new interview with Jennifer Lawrence. Jennifer discusses many things including how she learned from working with veteran actors like Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson, Stanley Tucci, and Donald Sutherland.

Check out a portion of the interview below:

Q: Do you have a favorite scene in the movie?
Lawrence: Yeah, the scene with Stanley Tucci before I go to the games. One, because it’s just hilarious to see that, but also that’s the moment that Katniss realizes it’s a game, and if she wants to win she has to play along.

Q: Is it a challenge to give a performance while giving a performance in the sense that Katniss is, at times, playing to the camera.
Lawrence: I think it was important for her to not look weak when she was on the run, or doing something. That was never a challenge in my mind. It was too complicated to think about. When she does find the camera, then yes, but otherwise it was running.

Q: There’s an interesting stylistic choice where the camera is all around you. Does that change your performance? Or do you have to ignore the camera at all times?
Lawrence: You can’t ever let yourself be thrown by a camera. That’s never good for an actor. So, no, that’s also trusting your director. When you’re reading the script, you want to work with someone you trust so there’s nothing to worry about.

Q: You’re working with veterans like Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson, Stanley Tucci, and Donald Sutherland here. Is there anything you have to be cognizant of, or is there anything you learn from going toe to toe with them?
Lawrence: I always try to be a sponge and soak up as much as possible when I’m working with them.

Q: Can I ask what your sponge soaked up from Woody Harrelson?
Lawrence: (laughs) Woody is the nicest person in the entire world, and you know he’d be the exact same person no matter what his job was. He’s just that guy from Texas. He can strike up a conversation with anybody. It’s just odd to see him on a movie set. He’s just one of the most incredible actors in the world and he almost doesn’t fit onto a set. He’s just too relaxed. He’s got no airs about him. You see him hanging out, like someone brought their really nice cousin from Texas and then all of a sudden he does backwards acting. One time we were doing this scene where I stab a knife through his fingers and, to do that, you have to do everything backwards and they put it forwards in post. And so we would start and everything would go backwards and Woody said, “I’m even doing backwards acting ’cause when I’m here, I start to feel my desire for the jam.” (laughs) So he would go back and then he’d see the jam and want in. He’s full of gems like that.

Q: Twenty years ago, we probably would have seen Katniss be a guy and the love interests women. I’m curious about your perspective on that shift, being the strong female character at the end of this story.
Lawrence: It’s great, because I feel like we’ve gotten to the place where we have a strong female lead. We’ve got Lara Croft as the female James Bond. We have someone who’s not even the female James Bond. We have a young girl being thrown in to this situation and not knowing if she’s going to survive it. It says a lot.

Read the rest of this fantastic interview at Comingsoon.net. Forewarning, this interview does contain a few spoilers at the bottom!