The most trying shooting of Jennifer Lawrence is that of this film: “Mother” by Darren Aronofsky. Pushed to her physical and emotional limits, she even passed out on the set, a difficult experience she talks about below.
9 years ago, Jennifer Lawrence lived one of the most intense – and the most difficult – of her acting career. It was in 2017, on the set of the film Mother! Directed by Darren Aronofsky. This filming, physically and emotionally trying, has left deep traces in the actress, who does not hesitate to qualify him as a nightmare.
At the time, Lawrence was already an international star. Revealed in Winter's Bone, propelled by the Hunger Games saga and Oscarized for Happiness Therapy at only 23 years old, she continues ambitious projects. But Mother! is not a film like any other. It is a dark, oppressive, almost disturbing psychological thriller. And the role she played there – that of a devoted woman, lost in a spiral of chaotic events in her own house – pushed her in her entrenchments.
A descent into darkness
In an interview with Vogue in 2017 when the film was released, the actress confided in the subject.
“” “I had to go much further in darkness than throughout my life“, She said. Some scenes have indeed been so intense that she had anxiety attacks. At a particularly difficult moment, she even lost consciousness, injured in diaphragm and had trouble breathing for several days.
“” “There is a particular scene that has worked for me for a long time. I had to play a character of an incredible darkness, it was monstrously sad. Once the sequence is over, I passed out. I torn my diaphragm, and after that, I could no longer breathe normally.»
Paramount pictures
The shooting then had to be stopped. However, she said that after having passed out, she still wore oxygen tubes when Darren Aronofsky – who was also his companion at the time – wanted to return the scene: “I had oxygen tubes in the nostrils, and Darren said: 'It was blurred, we have to start again.' And I replied: 'will make you fuck!'”, She confessed with frankness. Despite her obsession with perfection, the director ended up agreeing to grant him a moment of respite.
A demanding director …
Darren Aronofsky is known for his ability to draw raw and extreme performance from his actors, as he did with Natalie Portman in Black Swan or Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler. He totally assumes this way of working, saying that it is not he who “breaks” the actors, but that they will seek this emotional intensity themselves.
“” “We gave him time to get back. The fact is that she thought of this scene far too long, and that it went up to her head. The emotions overwhelmed it and I saw what was going on – because I have experience – and I was able to place the camera in the right place”Said the filmmaker at The Guardian.
“” “Originally, the plan was on his back and returned everything, I let him recover and said: 'Put the camera on his face, right away', because it is the kind of emotion that we never see, never to big. She has such natural, raw talent. She is a very courageous and limitless actress“He added.
Paramount pictures
… And a heavy atmosphere
The shooting of Mother! was so intense that the team had to install a “happy place” for Jennifer Lawrence On the tray: a room with sweets and Kardashian emissions to allow it to relax between two trying scenes.
Indeed, a big fan of the Kardashian family, the actress said she asked the team to create this “Kardashian tent” so that they can take refuge there. She explained: “It was a tent with photos of the Kardashian and the incredible Kardashian family broadcast in a loop, and chewing gums… my corner of paradise.»
A professional breakdown … and in love
Despite pain and difficulties, Jennifer Lawrence does not regret his participation in Mother!as she declared to the Parisian in 2017.
“” “When I read the script, I was shocked, I threw the script on the ground, I told him that he was suffering from psychological problems! But the film is a masterpiece. The most amazing is that it can be understood in a million different ways.»
But this experience also marked the end of his relationship with Aronofsky. After filming, the world promotion of the film was another test. The director, obsessed with criticism, kept talking about it, which became heavy for the actress.
“” “When we met at the hotel, the last thing I wanted to talk about was the film. But he was constantly coming back on it, he kept talking about it. I understand, he wrote it, he designed it, he realized it”She said against Variety in November 2018.“ J'I wanted to be a listening partner but he was starting to read the opinions and I said to myself:' It is not healthy because I know that if I also start to read them, I will be on the defensive. ' Especially when it concerns my man.»
Darren Aronofsky returns to Mother! With Jennifer Lawrence: “We were nervous as to the controversy that was going to happen, but when we release a film and there are so many angry people, we wonder: 'What did I do?' I receive messages from the most hateful hatred, which is great. ”
A new start
Today, Jennifer Lawrence found a certain balance, favoring lighter or more nuanced roles. We have since seen in the Don't Look Up satire: Cosmic denial and the Comedy the Challenge. She presented Die, My Love in Cannes this year, a drama alongside Robert Pattinson, under the direction of Lynne Ramsay. An intense project, again, but in a different setting, where she explores her emotions without completely getting lost. The film does not yet have a planned release date in France.
If you want – and dare – (re) discover Mother!, Direction the VOD.
Discover more from Daily Hind News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
