Jennifer Lawrence is one of those celebrities that people just really like. Maybe it’s because she’s so down-to-earth and goofy that she seems relatable, or maybe it’s because she’s not afraid to share her thoughts on a number of topics, and she doesn't think twice about eating pizza in a custom-made Oscar de la Renta gown.
She’s an Oscar-winning actress, but she doesn’t take herself too seriously, which has made her America’s sweetheart, and one of the most quotable and hilarious women in the entertainment business. She has an unbeatable personality, but putting this aside for a hot minute, she also has an interesting life story. For example, she nearly got into an accident because she thought she saw a reality TV star walking in a parade, she’s destroyed some of her costumes because she likes junk food too much, and then there is the fact that instead of being The Hunger Games star we all know and love, she almost played the role of a fragile vampire lover.
Below are 20 things about Jennifer Lawrence that are both fascinating and eye-opening, and only add to her overall appeal as an actress and a person.
21 She Actually Wanted To Be In 'Twilight'
Jennifer Lawrence may have become a household name thanks to her role as Katniss Everdeen, but before she was the star of The Hunger Games, she wanted to be apart of another film franchise, Twilight.
She revealed in an interview with Howard Stern in 2018, that she auditioned for a role in the vampire/werewolf film franchise, but at the time she didn’t know what it was about. She said, "When you audition when you're a run-of-the-mill actor - we're all auditioning for all sorts of things - you just get like five pages and they're like 'act monkey!'" She didn’t get the role of Bella Swan, and in hindsight, she was probably lucky that she didn’t land it considering how difficult it has been for Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart to shed that image.
20 She’s The First Girl In Her Dad’s Family In 50 Years
Growing up, Jennifer Lawrence was not a girly girl, and she has spoken about being a tomboy, which is probably not surprising because she grew up with two brothers, Ben and Blaine. And according to her, this was, at times, pretty awful.
She opened up about this on an appearance of The Graham Norton Show, saying, "It was actually an offense in the house to be considered a female. They were terrible and would say things like, 'You are such a girl' or 'Don't do that, that's what a girl would do.' I'm only now getting used to being called a female."
But what’s interesting is that she is one of the only very few females in her family because according to Complex, she was the first girl born on her dad’s side for over 50 years! That’s a heck of a long time, but that is also something that makes Lawrence even more special.
19 Her Love Of Doritos Has Destroyed A Lot Of Dresses
One of the things that endear Jennifer Lawrence to her fans is how relatable she is. Unlike other actors and actresses, she doesn’t try to act or look a certain way, and she expresses her emotions (usually, excitement) much more openly. She also doesn’t care about ruining a dress or two if it interferes with her eating Doritos.
According to Vanity Fair, while filming American Hustle, designer Michael Wilkinson had a few problems to deal with because Lawrence would eat in her costumes. He said, “Jennifer Lawrence is a very...let’s say...raw and intuitive young lady, and she’s not against eating Doritos and snack food in her costume. So we were glad that we had a couple [backups].” The good thing is that these costumes didn’t cost much because the designer wanted the dresses to look cheap and stretchy.
18 She’s Had Fun With Tabloid Gossip
Apparently, Jennifer Lawrence had her say in a tabloid rumor. According to reports, the actress’ publicist got wind of an untrue romance story that a tabloid was going to print, and because they were unable to squash the story, they decided to have some fun with it. According to Buzzfeed, she said, "My publicist told me that a magazine was going to say I was having a thing with either [The Hunger Games: Catching Fire's] Sam Claflin or Bradley Cooper, and I got to choose.”
She picked Bradley Cooper, which many would say is a good choice since she’s starred with him so many times that it would be more believable, but according to Lawrence, it was a decision she made because she has so much respect for Laura Haddock, Claflin’s fiancée.
17 She Got Into An Accident Because She Thought She Saw Honey Boo Boo
Jennifer Lawrence is extremely popular and she has fans across the globe, so when you think of her fangirling you probably wouldn’t expect it to be over a reality TV star. But it turns out she’s a big fan of Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson!
On an appearance on the Tonight Show, she confessed how she rear-ended someone because she thought she spotted Honey Boo Boo in a Georgia parade. She explained that she had misread what a sign was saying, and thought it said “Boo Boo," which made her very, very excited. She said, "And so I was like, well, does that mean there’s Honey Boo Boo? And so I started craning my neck, and then I saw a little girl, and I was like, ‘It’s Honey Boo Boo! And I’m still driving. And then I rear-ended the person in front of me and then had to get out of the car and explain what happened.” That must have made for an awkward situation, and also a disappointing one, because there was no Honey Boo Boo insight.
16 She Walked In The Snow For A 'Winter’s Bone' Audition
If you were told you were too pretty for a role, you may be tempted to just accept that feedback and move on, but not Jennifer Lawrence because when she wants something, she gets it. In 2010, Lawrence starred as the lead character Ree Dolly in the Indie film Winter’s Bone, but the writer and director of the film, Debra Granik, had told Lawrence she was too attractive for that role.
To prove her wrong, and to achieve a tougher image, Lawrence reportedly traveled to New York, walked 13 blocks in the snow, and then showed up at the auditioned with unwashed hair and a runny nose. Her appearance was unexpected, and obviously, she didn’t look her best, but her bold decision ended up winning her the role she wanted.
15 Growing Up She Didn’t Have Female Friends
Earlier we established that in Jennifer Lawrence’s house you basically had to be a tough, tomboy to survive with two brothers, and according to Rolling Stone, she was raised no different than her brothers. But because of this, Lawrence didn’t have any female friends in preschool.
The reason? She was apparently incredibly rough and the other little girls didn’t want to play with her in case they got hurt. Her mom, Karen Lawrence, told the publication, "She didn't mean to hurt them. They were just making cookies, and she wanted to play ball."
Karen's decision to raise her daughter in this way was made because she "didn't want her to be a diva." She added, "I didn't mind if she was girlie, as long as she was tough." Well, she is now!
14 She Can Really Ride And Grew Up Around Horses
Jennifer Lawrence was a sporty child but also a horse loving one. According to Vogue, she grew up on a horse farm in Louisville, Kentucky -- her mom owned a stable/horse camp called Camp Hi-Lo, which according to Horse Nation, teaches campers basic horsemanship skills from grooming to riding.
Lawrence is a skilled rider, but she apparently also has a lot of injuries from riding horses that were not trained beforehand. She told David Letterman in 2011, “My parents were cheap, so they never bought trained horses. I have a deformed tailbone, actually, from being thrown off a horse.”
Not that her injuries stopped her from riding because she also told Seventeen, that almost every day she would ride, adding, “My brothers were into fishing, but I was all about the horses.”
13 She Doesn't Keep Her Oscar In Her Home
In Hollywood, being awarded an Oscar is the most prestigious award that can be bestowed upon you, and for most stars, it’s a really big deal. Then again, Jennifer Lawrence is not like most stars, and you won’t find her polishing her trophy and displaying it in her home because she confessed at Comic-Con that she doesn’t even keep the award in her house.
Apparently, this is because she felt odd holding onto the little gold statue she earned for her role in the 2013 film, Silver Linings Playbook. She added, "If anybody's coming over to my house, I didn't want them to remember that. Just kind of puts a weird energy out."
But you can find it at her parents home in Kentucky, although there is no word as to whether they put the trophy on display or keep it hidden.
12 She Has A Tattoo To Remind Her To Drink Water
Many celebs have tattoos, so this is nothing out of the ordinary, what is interesting though is Jennifer Lawrence’s choice of tattoo, which is the chemical formula for water. The ink is located on her hand, and Lawrence told Vogue the reason she got an H2O tattoo is that she wanted it to remind her to drink more water.
She added, “I’ve never had a symbol or a quote that was so important to me that I wanted it tattooed on me. So I was like, I’m going to need to stay hydrated. Forever. It’s very practical.” Considering she leads such a busy life it makes sense to remind herself to slow down and hydrate, but the awkward part about her ink is that it’s actually incorrect. She explained that the “2” is high, adding, “and in H2O the ‘2’ is supposed to be low. I should have Googled it before I got it tattooed on my body.”
11 As A Teen She Played Basketball In A Boy’s Team
Jennifer Lawrence has previously revealed she was a tough child, who loved the outdoors and playing sports. At home, her brother’s would tease her because she was female, and she had no girlfriends in preschool because they wanted to do very different things to her. After knowing this about her, perhaps it’s not all that surprising that Lawrence didn’t play sports with other girls, instead, she was on the boy’s team. According to Complex, she played field hockey, softball, and basketball on an all-boys team.
Years later she joked to Rolling Stone that "little redneck things still come out" despite living a glamorous life in Hollywood. She may joke about these things, but it’s actually important that she didn’t let gender barriers stop her from doing what she wanted to do.
10 She Knew She Was Destined For Fame From A Young Age
Some people know exactly what they want to do from when they are young, and Jennifer Lawrence was one of these people. Apparently, she always knew she was destined for greatness, and she told former Paramount Studios CEO Sherry Lansing this secret.
When presenting Lawrence with an award at The Hollywood Reporter’s annual Power 100 Women in Entertainment breakfast, Lansing told the audience how ahead of the first The Hunger Games film release, studio executive Michael Burns reportedly told her he was worried about Lawrence. The reason was that the movie was going to be such big hit, and he was concerned the actress wasn’t prepared for how much her life would change. Burns asked Lansing to talk to Lawrence, but Lansing revealed that the actress’ response surprised her.
Lawrence told her, “I have a secret. I always knew I was going to be famous, so I am totally prepared for it.”
9 She Won An Award In Seventh Grade For Talking So Much
Jennifer Lawrence has won a lot of awards for her professional work, but she was winning other awards long before she was taking home gold trophies. During an appearance on The Graham Norton Show, the host decided to share throwback photos of celebrities, and when he got to Lawrence he showed a photo of her on a phone, which was printed in her Louisville, Kentucky yearbook. Along with the photo was the caption, "Most Talkative," a title her classmates obviously felt she was deserving of.
And it turns out this is a title Lawrence is pretty proud of because she told the host it was an award she got “two years in a row." Adding, "Two consecutive years. Yeah, it was hard to get." It appears not much has changed during this time, and now.
8 She Accidentally Dyed Her Bath Blue
Jennifer Lawrence has starred in X-Men, although you may not have recognized her since she was blue and scaly.; this was necessary for her role as the mutant Mystique, and although the body paint transformed her into a fantastic mutant, the landlord of her Notting Hill apartment found it less appealing.
Rolling Stone reported on how she had spent eight hours every day getting into makeup, and then she had to spend two hours getting out of it. You can imagine that being blue doesn’t exactly do wonders for your clothing, nor the state of your home, or in Lawrence’s case the bathtub, which turned blue. She apparently had to fight to get the security deposit back for the home she was staying in while filming in London because of her makeup!
7 She's Smart But Didn't Really Finish School Early
It is widely believed that Jennifer Lawrence is one smart cookie and that she finished school two years early. There are multiple reports about her graduating from high school early with a 3.9 GPA, and although there is no debating that Lawrence is smart, it seems these earlier reports are incorrect. In 2018, in her interview with CBS’ 60 Minutes (via Vulture), Lawrence revealed that, actually, she dropped out of school when she was 14, to pursue her acting dreams.
“I dropped out of middle school. I don’t technically have a GED or a diploma. I am self-educated,” she said. “I wanted to forge my own path. I found what I wanted to do and I didn’t want anything getting in the way of it … even friends, for many years, were not as important to me as my career.”
6 She Turns Into A Fan Girl Around John Stamos
Jennifer Lawrence may be an A-list celebrity, but when it comes to John Stamos she turns into a complete fangirl. She recalled a hilarious story about an encounter between herself and Stamos while on Conan, saying, “He was at a party, and I turned into a p*****ted guy. I was like following him into rooms and staring at his a**."
She continued, "I lost my mind. And I got so upset—I didn't want to meet him because when I meet people it's never good, and I was avoiding him.” But despite being afraid to meet one of her teen crushes, her friends brought her over to Stamos, and according to Lawrence, she really freaked out, so much so that Stamos had to question whether she was sober. Awkward!
5 She Starred In A Promo For MTV’s 'My Super Sweet 16'
You may have watched MTV’s My Super Sweet 16 at some point, and if you didn’t, then you weren’t really missing out on much because all it was was a bunch of parties for spoiled rich kids, whose parents went over the top with their birthday celebrations. Lawrence was actually in a promo for this show and fans have Googled to find the episode thousands of times, wondering if she shared her birthday with the world? And if so, was she really so much of a diva?
Turns out she was never on My Super Sweet 16, but she did appear in the 2005 promo because it was an acting job. She explained to Chris Pratt for Wired that she was never on the show because “we weren't rich and my parents aren't awful. No offense! My first job was for My Super Sweet 16, so I was acting like one of the Sweet 16 girls, but I was not."
4 She Appeared In The Band Parachute’s Music Video In 2009
Parachute is an American pop rock band, and three years after they formed they were lucky enough to get Jennifer Lawrence to star in their music video for the song, “Mess I Made.” Although, at the time she was not the famous actress she is today.
The lead of the band, Will Anderson, is now actually really good friends with Lawrence, and in an interview with Teen Music, he reflected upon their friendship. He said, “I’m really lucky to call Jenn one of my good friends. Meeting on a video shoot is always a funny thing since you don’t really know each other and suddenly you’re hanging out and talking face to face…” He also gushed about how “amazing” she is and that when he met her he knew she was destined for greatness.
3 She Loves Food, And The World Loves Her For It
There are a lot of celebrity fad diets, and it seems as though more than half of the people in the entertainment industry don’t eat much, and when they do, it’s definitely not junk food. This is probably why everyone celebrates Lawrence for actually eating and not giving in to the pressure from Hollywood. She loves food, and it doesn’t matter where she is or what she’s wearing because she doesn’t mind getting her clothes dirty (see point 18).
This is something people really love about her, otherwise, there wouldn’t be so much attention surrounding it. The internet is filled with hilarious photos and memes of her eating between sets, and during red carpet events, despite wearing super fancy designer gowns. Lawrence has even admitted that eating is her favorite part of the day.
2 Her Nickname In School Was Nitro
Most people have nicknames that their friends or family give them, and Jennifer Lawrence was no exception because she was nicknamed “Nitro,” as in nitroglycerin when she was a child. The reason? She claimed it was because she “was hyperactive, curious about everything.”
But Lawrence revealed how things changed when she went to school, saying, “When my mother told me about my childhood, she always told me there was like a light in me, a spark that inspired me constantly. When I entered school, the light went out. We never knew what it was, a kind of social anxiety. But I had friends.”
It’s hard to imagine Lawrence being shy and anxious because she seems so incredibly confident now, and she actually credits acting for helping her work through these issues.
1 She Had No Plans To Act, She Wanted To Be A Doctor
Jennifer Lawrence may be one of the most celebrated actresses in the entertainment industry, but she never really wanted to be famous, rather it happened quite by chance. She told Vanity Fair how she was scouted in New York when she was a teenager, and when the agents called and said they wanted to meet her she agreed to give it a shot.
She added, “I was playing field hockey and cheerleading and wanted to be a doctor—but within 20 minutes, in the cab ride from the hotel room, I decided I didn’t want to be a model, that, in fact, I wanted to be an actress, and I would only sign with an agency if they would let me audition for commercials and act as well.” That one moment changed her life forever, and even though she was only aged 14 at the time, after reading her first script she knew acting was what she wanted to do forever.
