Why Jennifer Lawrence Said No To The Hateful Eight

When it comes to casting, Quentin Tarantino often writes characters with particular actors in mind. This is why you tend to see many of the same performers popping up in his films time and time again. Even for the long-time Tarantino collaborators, however, there had to be a first time. A year ago it looked like one of the hottest stars in Hollywood was going to be the newest member of the Tarantino cast of characters, but ultimately Jennifer Lawrence said no. Now the director has opened up about what happened and why Lawrence didn’t join The Hateful Eight.

Generally speaking, Quentin Tarantino doesn’t bring established "movie stars" into his films, he’s more likely to make them stars by putting smaller names in his films. But Tarantino has put Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt in his movies before so the idea of Jennifer Lawrence being in a Tarantino movie is hardly a crazy one. The director counts himself among the actresses fans. It’s obvious he would have loved to have the actress in the film, but ultimately she was simply in too high demand.

She was just doing me a courtesy to see me, I think. She was doing Joy. She had to [do] all this publicity on the Hunger Games movies. There was just no fucking way in the world that she was available. Having said that, I’m glad I didn’t cast somebody that young. I think I absolutely positively made the right choice, as far as the ages of the characters.

The role of Daisy Domergue eventually went to Jennifer Jason Leigh instead. The ages of the character certainly changed. Jennifer Lawrence is all of 25. When Leigh was that age, Lawrence wasn’t even born yet. According to Entertainment Weekly, the role of Daisy was one of the few in the film that wasn’t written with a specific actor in mind. It appears Quentin Tarantino was looking to have the actor help create the role as well as read the lines. It certainly would have ended up being a much different part if Jennifer Lawrence had decided to do it.

While it may be true that there’s no way Lawrence would have been available to do the movie, her own movie, Joy, is opening on Christmas Day, the same day as The Hateful Eight and they likely had near-identical production schedules, we’d be curious to know if she wanted the role. Tarantino is one of those directors that actors seem to love to work with, thus all the repeat casting. Jennifer Lawrence seems to have the same relationship with David O. Russell that somebody like Samuel L. Jackson has with Tarantino, but if she would have done Hateful Eight, had she been able, it might mean that we could still see the two working together somewhere down the road when schedules work out better. We can only hope.

The Hateful Eight is the writer/director's eighth film, and he’s said he’s only going to make 10, though, so time is running out.

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.