Why Jennifer Lawrence Liked Being Turned Down for “Twilight”

Twilight was one of the most successful films of the 2000s. Released in 2008, the feature film directed by Catherine Hardwicke materialized the first book of the homonymous saga written by Stephanie Meyer. In the list, names like Kristen Stewart (Isabella Swan) Robert Pattinson (Edward Cullen) and Taylor Lautner (Jacob “Jake” Black) proved to be right choices for the fantasy novel proposal.

No wonder, the film adaptation brought in a box office of almost US$ 400 million, about ten times more than the initial investment of US$ 37 million. A scenario was also created where other books would be adapted, also forming a fifthology.

This story could have been very different if other actors were chosen for the job. For the role of protagonist Isabella Swan, for example, Jennifer Lawrence she was even tested – and, curiously, immediately rejected, something she ended up enjoying in the end.

In an interview with the podcast The Rewatchers(via Far Out), j-law recalled that shortly afterwards he would take on a leading role in another heavyweight franchise: Hunger Games. The first film in the saga was released in 2012 and grossed almost US$ 700 million against an investment of US$ 78 million, also enabling a series of sequels. Initially, she stated:

“If I had passed that test, my life would have been totally different.”

Shortly thereafter, Lawrence reflected that, in fact, his trajectory would not have been so different. As The Hunger Games also became a huge franchise, the dilemma faced by her in the career sequence was similar to that of Kristen Stewart.

“I mean, the work is still the same, because I felt similar when I was doing The Hunger Games. I have to produce intermediate films to not be known only for this franchise.”

What is perhaps a consensus is that your work to get rid of a character would have been much greater if she had been linked to Twilight. Perhaps because, in the case of the novel, the plot was very much tied to Isabella Swan.

“I was still in a franchise, so I was still trying to neutralize the franchise. And I would have to do that by today if I was in Twilight.”

Jennifer Lawrence almost turned down the Hunger Games

During the same interview, Jennifer Lawrence made another curious revelation about her work in Hunger Games. The actress said that she almost turned down the proposal to act in the first film.

The reason? The obsessive levels of idolization fans could exert on her acting.

“It was so hard to explain to people. It was like, ‘I don’t think you understand this level of fame.’ I just assumed it would be like Twilight, like the level of fame gained with Twilight. IThat was never something I had in mind in my work.”

Finally, the artist said that her priority was to make good films, often independent, without big studios behind them. The priority was not the achievement of fame and superstardom, which, ironically, ended up happening to her.

“I wanted to make independent films and good movies, but I didn’t want to be the most famous person on the planet. This is a very different life than what I imagined for myself.”