Jennifer Lawrence

Jennifer Lawrence is an American actor whose career moved from independent films to major franchises and award-winning dramas. Born in Indian Hills, Kentucky, in 1990, she was discovered by a talent scout while visiting New York City with her family. Before her film career took off, she appeared in the television comedy The Bill Engvall Show, playing Lauren Pearson from 2007 to 2009.

Her early film roles included Lori in the drama The Poker House (2008) and Ree Dolly in Debra Granik’s Winter’s Bone (2010). The latter follows a teenager searching the Ozarks for her missing father so her family can keep their home. Lawrence’s performance earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress at age 20, bringing her wide attention for a role grounded in the film’s rural setting and difficult family circumstances.

In 2011, Lawrence played the shapeshifting mutant Mystique in X-Men: First Class, beginning a role she reprised in later X-Men films. The following year, she became internationally known as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games, adapted from Suzanne Collins’s novels. Katniss volunteers for the televised competition in place of her younger sister, Prim. Lawrence returned for all four films in the series, released between 2012 and 2015.

Also in 2012, Lawrence starred opposite Bradley Cooper in David O. Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook. She played Tiffany Maxwell, a young widow who forms a complicated bond with Cooper’s character, Pat. Her performance won the Academy Award for Best Actress, making her one of the youngest recipients of the award. She later worked with Russell on American Hustle (2013), portraying Rosalyn Rosenfeld, and Joy (2015), in which she played inventor and entrepreneur Joy Mangano. American Hustle earned her a second Oscar nomination, this time for supporting actress; Joy brought another lead-actress nomination.

Lawrence’s other notable films include the science-fiction drama Passengers (2016), the spy thriller Red Sparrow (2018), and Don’t Look Up (2021), Adam McKay’s satirical film about scientists trying to warn the public about a planet-threatening comet. She returned to independent comedy with Causeway (2022), playing a soldier recovering from a traumatic brain injury, and starred in the 2023 comedy No Hard Feelings.

Alongside acting, Lawrence has spoken publicly about pay equity and founded the Jennifer Lawrence Foundation, which supports charitable causes in her home state and elsewhere. She married art dealer Cooke Maroney in 2019. Her career is notable for the range between intimate character dramas, studio franchises, and comic roles, as well as for the rapid rise from Winter’s Bone to leading one of Hollywood’s most successful film series.