Jennifer Lawrence Says It’s ‘Bizarre’ To Say Goodbye To Film Franchise

Jennifer Lawrence has found huge success with The Hunger Games franchise. As a young actress, the films have taken up a large chunk of her career due to the length of shooting and the demands required of her. Lawrence says it will definitely be strange to see the end of it when the final movie premieres later this month.

Lawrence and her co-stars are gearing up for the release of the film by making promotional appearances all around the country; and, recently Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, and Liam Hemsworth were honored at the TCL Chinese Theatre with a handprint ceremony. Jennifer Lawrence kept things light with jokes at the ceremony, while Liam Hemsworth turned to his co-stars and got a bit sentimental.

“I’m going to say to you guys that I’m honored to share it with you. Let’s just be friends forever,” Hemsworth said.

Lawrence — who has made lifelong friends during her time with the franchise and saw her first Oscar win (for Silver Linings Playbook) — told reporters in a press interview recently that she feels like she hasn’t really said goodbye to Katniss Everdeen, the character she brought to life for the films, inspiring a generation of young girls.

“I think it will be pretty bizarre when the movie is finally out and…everything is officially done. This movie has been my life for so many years…I didn’t really feel that I said goodbye to her,” Jennifer Lawrence said.

When the first film — based on the series of books by Suzanne Collins — came out in 2012, Jennifer Lawrence was already being talked-about in Hollywood for her performance in Winter’s Bone, which got her an Oscar nod. But, the success of The Hunger Games catapulted her career into the stratosphere and she says there was no preparing her for what it entailed.

“There were a few years of getting used to it, your entire world changes. I have a new normal now, I feel very stable and normal and happy. But the pressure… you just can’t think about it.”

Jennifer Lawrence made headlines earlier this year when she wrote a piece for Lena Dunham’s newsletter, Lenny, to talk about the wage gap between men and women, particularly because she acknowledged that her situation is very different from that of people outside of Hollywood and therefore not relatable.

“It’s hard for me to speak about my experience as a working woman because I can safely say my problems aren’t exactly relatable. I didn’t get mad at Sony. I got mad at myself. I failed as a negotiator because I gave up early. I didn’t want to seem ‘difficult’ or ‘spoiled’. At the time, that seemed like a fine idea, until I saw the payroll on the Internet and realized every man I was working with definitely didn’t worry about being ‘difficult’ or ‘spoiled’,” Lawrence wrote.

Jennifer Lawrence’s essay garnered a lot of attention, both good and bad. While many of her Hollywood contemporaries applauded her thoughts on the matter, Redstate.com called it a “bratty display from a wealthy youngster.”

“Even after I wrote it, I don’t remember the website, but they called it ‘Jennifer Lawrence’s bratty display.’ And I was like, ‘Thank you for completely making my point.’ If a woman speaks up, is assertive and has a voice, she’s going to be called ‘a brat.’ I don’t see a man being called ‘a brat’,” Jennifer Lawrence said.

The Hunger Games producer Nina Jacobson agrees, saying it’s a difficult thing for a woman to speak up.

“What Jen spoke to, I found really powerful. You don’t want or feel entitled to be a spokesperson as a woman. As girls we don’t always have the confidence to feel like we won’t be judged if we speak up. That’s at the heart of that essay. It’s a really important thing to speak up,” she said.

[Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images]