Jennifer Lawrence Revealed Which Of Her Films Was The Hardest To Prep For, (And It’s Shockingly Not The Hunger Games)

Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen in Mockingjay Part 1 Hunger Games
(Image credit: Murray Close/Lionsgate)

Jennifer Lawrence is an Oscar winner and a star of major blockbuster films. She’s literally done it all in Hollywood at this point. Considering the physical work that she had to do for movies in the past, we might expect one of those films to be the hardest for her to prepare for. But the actress says it was actually her spy drama Red Sparrow.

In a conversation with the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Lawrence was asked about which rile was the hardest to get ready for. While me might expect most to pick a role that required a great deal of physical preparation, like an X-Men movies, or something with the incredible action of The Hunger Games the actress said that it was actually learning the proper accent for Red Sparrow that was hardest. She explained…

Well, I mean, technically speaking, Red Sparrow, because I had to learn a Russian accent.

Red Sparrow certainly had its share of physical demands as well. The character Jennifer Lawrence played was a spy who was an ex-ballerina, so the movie required plenty of physical work. It also kept her on a strict diet that had Lawrence craving fast food. While she said she was never starving, she clearly suffered a bit since she couldn’t eat whatever she wanted.

And yet, here, she specifically mentions the accent as being the thing that was especially difficult for her. And honestly, we don’t give actors nearly enough credit when it comes to perfecting accents. If Dick Van Dyke’s accent in Mary Poppins has taught us anything, it’s that sometimes you can get it really wrong.

Accents are important, and we probably don’t give actors enough credit for the work they do to get their ride. Actors are often given dialect coaching in order to learn accents, but it’s not always easy. There are cases when actors have ultimately left roles because they couldn’t get the accent right.

This isn't the first time the actress has talked about the accent. Before Red Sparrow was released, she mentioned that the film was the first time she had put on an accent, so it's understandable why the whole process might have been especially difficult.

While I’m certainly no expert on the Russian accent, Jennifer Lawrence seems to have done quite a good job with hers. It may not be perfect, but it certainly wasn’t an issue for the people who helped the movie gross $150 million worldwide.

Red Sparrow | Official Trailer [HD] | 20th Century FOX - YouTube Red Sparrow | Official Trailer [HD] | 20th Century FOX - YouTube
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Red Sparrow could have been the beginning of a franchise, as it was based on a book that had sequels, but years later it does not appear that’s likely. It’s too bad. Lawrence could have reused the accent that was the hardest movie prep she’d ever done.

Dirk Libbey
Content Producer/Theme Park Beat

CinemaBlend’s resident theme park junkie and amateur Disney historian, Dirk began writing for CinemaBlend as a freelancer in 2015 before joining the site full-time in 2018. He has previously held positions as a Staff Writer and Games Editor, but has more recently transformed his true passion into his job as the head of the site's Theme Park section. He has previously done freelance work for various gaming and technology sites. Prior to starting his second career as a writer he worked for 12 years in sales for various companies within the consumer electronics industry. He has a degree in political science from the University of California, Davis.  Is an armchair Imagineer, Epcot Stan, Future Club 33 Member.

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