Fans know Jennifer Lawrence from The Hunger Games films. But did you know that she starred in another teen movie blockbuster franchise that could have kickstarted her career? The actress revealed that originally had her eyes set on another huge film franchise. Sadly, it wasn’t meant to be.
Lawrence recently revealed that she had auditioned for a role in the film adaptation of Twilight. The actress appeared on The Rewatchables podcast and revealed that she had auditioned for an undisclosed role in the supernatural teen drama but didn’t hear back. The actress claims that her life could have been different if she had ended up in the film, which could well be true.
“I auditioned for Twilight. They turned me down immediately. I didn’t even get a callback. But my life would’ve been totally different. I got Hunger Games I think, like, a year later. It was probably after ‘Winter’s Bone.’”
In the middle of Lawrence’s commitments to The Hunger Games films, the actress also sought after other projects in between in order to be more than just the face of a franchise. An example was her role in The Silver Linings Playbook, which led to Lawrence winning the “Best Actress” award at the 85th Academy Awards. The actress claims that she would have done the same thing if she had been in Twilight.
At the same time, Lawrence said that she almost didn’t audition for The Hunger Games since she was “still in a franchise” via the X-Men films. She wanted to do something more than just being in franchise films. She also revealed that she never wanted to be the “most famous person on the planet” and what she received from The Hunger Games was different from what she had pictured.
“I was still in a franchise, so I was still trying to counteract the franchise-ness. I’d still be doing that if I was in Twilight. But I almost didn’t do Hunger Games because Twilight had come out and that fandom had happened.”
“When I was trying to talk to people about making this decision after [Hunger Games] got offered to me, it was hard to explain to people… this level of fame. I assumed it was going to be the Twilight level of fame and that was never something I had in mind. I never wanted to be the most famous person on the planet. That’s a very different life than I pictured for me.”
The Twilight Saga became a huge phenomenon when it landed. When the first film was released in 2008, it earned over $69 million during its domestic opening and $408 million at the worldwide box office. However, it didn’t sit well with critics as it received an average score of 49 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
In comparison, The Hunger Games earned over $152 million during its domestic opening and $694 million worldwide. It also received a “Certified Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes from critics, with an average score of 84 percent. It came out at just the right time since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ended the year before it. Not to mention, its success sparked the rise of the YA dystopian genre.
So Lawrence may have a point when she claimed that her life would have been different if she ended up in the Twilight Saga instead of The Hunger Games. But even if she didn’t expect the amount of fame it earned her, The Hunger Games still has a place in the actress’ heart since she revealed that she would consider reprising her role of Katniss Everdeen in an interview with Variety.
Lawrence stars in No Hard Feelings with Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical‘s Andrew Barth Feldman and 2021’s Gossip Girl‘s Laura Benanti. The film is now out in theaters. Meanwhile, you can still stream both The Hunger Games and Twilight Saga on Hulu.
