Jennifer Lawrence To Reportedly Direct Next Film, Says It’s Like ‘An Acid Experiment Gone Wrong’

Jennifer Lawrence has already shown us her gift for drama, slapstick comedy, and singing over the course of her relatively new career, and now she’s taking on a new title: director.

Lawrence will reportedly direct her next project, a comedy about chemical warfare experiments during the Cold War. While that doesn’t sound like a knee-slapper, Lawrence says it’s like “an acid experiment” that’s based on a 2012 article from the New Yorker.

“I’ve signed on to direct something called ‘Project Delirium’ — it’s based on this article about mental warfare in the ’60s, like an acid experiment gone terribly wrong. It’s funny, I’ve wanted to direct since I was 16 and always thought I should start making steps towards that. If I had tried to do it earlier, I wouldn’t have been ready. Now I actually feel ready,” Jennifer told Entertainment Weekly.

Fans shouldn’t expect Jennifer to stay behind the camera, however; she’s got another project with David O. Russell — Joy — coming out at Christmas, which is already generating Oscar buzz, and next year she’ll get back in the blue makeup for X-Men: Apocalypse. She’s also working on a script with comedian Amy Schumer, and the duo will reportedly play sisters in the film. Lawrence said over the summer that she and Amy clicked so well creatively that the work went without a hitch.

“It just flowed out of us. Amy and I were creatively made for each other. We have different flavors. It’s been the most fun experience of my life,” Lawrence said. “We start the day off on the phone, laughing. And then we send each other pages. And we crack up.”

Jennifer Lawrence says the collaboration was a no-brainer after she saw Schumer’s film Trainwreck, and she just had to email the comedian to see if she would be interested in joining forces.

“I don’t know where to get started. I guess I should just say it: I’m in love with you,” Lawrence says she wrote to Schumer.

It’s no surprise that Jennifer Lawrence is ready to branch out and try something a little different; after coming out of the gate strong with the multiple-award winning and Oscar-nominated Winter’s Bone, she went on to star in two huge franchises — X-Men and The Hunger Games— and took the 2015 Guinness World Record for highest-grossing action heroine for the latter.

Jennifer Lawrence made headlines earlier this year when she wrote an essay for Lena Dunham’s newsletter, Lenny, about the pay gap in Hollywood. The American Hustle star was thrown into the spotlight on the topic when her salary was made public — along with those of her co-stars — after the Sony hack, and she said that when it came to making her voice heard in Hollywood, it was often a matter of choosing between speaking her mind and being liked.

“I’m over trying to find the ‘adorable’ way to state my opinion and still be likable! Fu** that. I don’t think I’ve ever worked for a man in charge who spent time contemplating what angle he should use to have his voice heard,” Lawrence wrote.

After the essay was published, Lawrence says, she got some backlash from some who misunderstood the point of her words.

“Some news show called my essay a ‘bratty display’ and I was like, thank you for proving my point. Would you have called a man a brat? I was very clear: My problems are not relatable. This is not about money. I don’t need money, I have plenty of money, I’m already overpaid. What I was trying to write about was how my own mentality was getting in my own way,” Jennifer Lawrence said.

[Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images]