Jennifer Lawrence has clarified a controversial comment she made last week that “nobody had ever put a woman in the lead of an action movie” before her role as Katniss Everdeen in the Hunger Games — admitting she made a “blunder”.
The Oscar-winning actor faced a backlash online after she made the comment during an Actors On Actors interview with Viola Davis.
While Jennifer attempted to assert that roles for women and men in Hollywood typically differ unfairly, she shared the inaccurate fact that she was the first female lead in an action film.
Many Twitter users quickly highlighted the likes of Pam Grier, Angelina Jolie, Sigourney Weaver, Uma Thurman, Halle Berry and Mila Jovovic had all played the lead in high-octane action films before her.
In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Jennifer addressed the backlash, insisting she had been misunderstood.
“That’s certainly not what I meant to say at all,” she said.
“I know that I am not the only woman who has ever led an action film. What I meant to emphasise was how good it feels. And I meant that with Viola — to blow past these old myths that you hear about … about the chatter that you would hear around that kind of thing.”
She added: “But it was my blunder and it came out wrong. I had nerves talking to a living legend.”
Jennifer went on to say that it was important to clarify her comments after she had previously hit the headlines after past comments had been misconstrued or taken out of context by the media.
“One time I was quoted saying that Donald Trump was responsible for hurricanes. I felt that one was ridiculous, that it was so stupid I didn’t need to comment. But this one, I was like, ’I think I want to clarify,” she told the publication.
As its lead star, Jennifer helped The Hunger Games franchise gross nearly $3 billion and made her an A-list star.
