Fangirl Fridays – Girl On Fire

We’ve been fangirling every Friday over book characters, writers, singers, actors, etc. for several weeks now, so our regular readers know that our fangirling days aren’t about making, as Urban Dictionary describes it:

“loud high pitched noises (this includes squealing, yelling, or talking so quickly that it doesn’t sound like they are actual [sic] speaking a real language) or show their excitement for the object of their obsession through movement (this includes jumping glomping, running in circles, etc.).”

Don’t get me wrong — we fan ourselves, squee, and sigh often when we fangirl, but we do try to put it into actual words, so our readers can see that we speak “a real language” and can read about our many reasons why we love our favorites so much. It’s sometimes really hard to put it into words, but we’d do anything for you, Saucy Readers!!

Today is yet another Friday, so it’s time for a little more fangirling. And the “girl on fire,” the young-but-brilliantly-talented actress Jennifer Lawrence, brings out the fangirl in me. Not only because of her acting talents — there’s much, much more to her that impresses the hell out of me. So after the jump, I want to share with you a few of the reasons why I love Jennifer so much.

 

The Talented Actress

Jennifer Lawrence is only 22 years old, but already she’s the talk of the town. She has performed in numerous movies, received many award nominations for her acting, and often won (e.g., the Oscar, Golden Globe, and Critics Choice Award as the best actress for her role as Tiffany in the movie Silver Linings Playbook, where she was phenomenal).



One of the things that impresses me so much about her is that she has never done theater or taken acting classes, she’s one of those actors who just “got it.” Many of the characters she plays are intense, serious, dark, and experiencing a lot of emotions. But when she is acting, she doesn’t use her real emotions, and for a pretty simple reason: she hasn’t gone through any of the things that her characters have been through. When I first saw a couple of her movies, I had no idea about that fact, so I was really curious to find out how she pulled it off, acting in such a believable, convincing, and awe-inspiring way, and this is what she says:

She cracks me up!

Even though that’s the funniest explanation, I found out her real “tricks” are using her imagination and going with her instincts, and boy, she sure has a lot of imagination and spot-on instincts! Also, according to her, she’s a good listener and appreciates directors telling her when she’s wrong. She once said this in an interview in the globeandmail.com about Jodie Foster and her:

“We’re both perfectly fine with technical directions: ‘Hunch your shoulders more, lift your head up higher.’ And we both hate b.s. directing, like, ‘Imagine your puppy just died.’ If you want me to cry, just say cry.”

Everybody loves Jennifer. Directors and critics are always so impressed by her and highly praise her performances. After seeing her performance in 2010, when she played the 17-year-old Ree Dolly in the movie Winter’s Bone, a critic from The New Yorker had this to say about Lawrence:

"The movie would be unimaginable with anyone less charismatic playing Ree."

Actress/director Jodie Foster directed the movie The Beaver, and told HollywoodLife.com how much of an impression Jennifer made on her when she was casting for the role of Norah, which Lawrence plays:

“She’s amazing and I saw lots of actresses play this role and none of them were quite right – and then I saw her audition, and obviously little bits and pieces of Winter’s Bone before it was finished, and I just said this is who I want…now I’m going to re-write the role for her! So we went back and re-wrote the whole role for her!”

I can’t remember her in any movie or TV show where she doesn’t give a 100% performance, she’s just THAT good. She’s also very determined when she really wants a part in a movie, and is willing to do just about anything to make that happen. When she gets a part, she is utterly devoted. Even though she was a fan of The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins, it took her three days to accept the role of Katniss when it was offered, because she was intimidated by the size of the movie and what it might mean for her fame. She ended up talking to her mother about it, as she said in an interview at fabulousmag.co.uk:

“I finally talked to my mom. I’d only really done indie films before that, and she said: ‘Every time people ask you why you don’t do studio movies, you always say that it’s because you don’t care about the size of the movie, you care about the story and the character. But you’re a hypocrite, because now you have a story and a character that you love, but you’re not saying yes to it because of the size of it.’ So, I said yes, and I haven’t regretted it.”

After she accepted the role, she went through extensive training to get in shape, including archery, combat, stunt training, yoga, pilates, and parkour.

Not Just An Amazing Performer

Her devotion and determination when it comes to acting and her amazing performances aren’t the only reasons why I love her so much. She’s also intelligent, lovely, funny, and she’s just such a beautiful woman, inside and outside. She never pretends to be something she isn’t. She always stays true to who she is and how she was brought up, and wherever she goes, she makes quite an impression on people.

She is hilarious, and I just love her humor! She doesn’t take herself too seriously and, as a result, says the funniest things all the time:

She once said this about herself:

“I have no control over what comes out of my mouth.”

“I would probably turn into a mute if I read what I said!”

Thank the gods she doesn’t read what she says!!

She has a GREAT relationship with her family:

She loves food, and she has a really healthy attitude toward eating and the never-ending questions about why she isn’t a stereotypically thin actress. This is what she said in an interview in Elle magazine:

"I’m never going to starve myself for a part," Lawrence said, a view out of step with many in diet-obsessed Hollywood.

“I don’t want little girls to be like, ‘Oh, I want to look like Katniss, so I’m going to skip dinner,’” Lawrence said. “That’s something I was really conscious of during training ... I was trying to get my body to look fit and strong — not thin and underfed.”

She is SO down-to-earth and genuine.

She once said this in an interview on Fabulousmag.co.uk:

“I don’t ever walk around feeling famous. I walk around feeling the exact same way I have walked around my entire life, but it’s not until I talk to somebody and see in their eyes that I’m different. It makes me feel weird.”

Early this year Jennifer received yet another award, but this time not for her brilliant acting. She was honored with the Down Syndrome of Louisville’s Friendship Award.

“Lawrence’s family has a long history with Down Syndrome of Louisville. Her grandfather and uncle throw an annual Christmas party for the organization, which she has attended and even volunteered at.”

A spokesperson said this to E! News:

“Jennifer and Andy Strunk (a member of Down Syndrome of Louisville) have been friends and neighbors since their middle school days.”

“Jennifer and Andy enjoy a loyal friendship of mutual encouragement and enjoy each other’s company and humor. They text and speak on the phone quite frequently. Their families stay in close contact and continue a friendship too.”

Here you can see an adorable interview with her good friend and number-one fan, Andy Stark:

And how sweet is Jennifer when she describes Andy:

“He has the kindest heart of anybody I’ve ever met”

“He’s always in a good mood. And he’s one of the funniest people I’ve ever been around.”

How can you not love her!

I wasn’t surprised in the least when I found out that she is featured in TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in The World this year, and Jodie Foster had some very sweet things to say about her that describe her quite well. So even though I could go on and on about Jennifer, I’m going to let Jodie’s words close out this fangirling session:

“You’ll remember where you were when you first felt it, how you were stuck to one spot like a small animal considering its end. The Jennifer Lawrence Stare. It cuts a searing swath in your gut. A reckoning. I remember going to the cutting rooms of Winter’s Bone. I thought, Sure, this girl can act. But, man, this girl can also just be. All of those painful secrets in her face, the feeling that there’s some terrible past that’s left impossibly angled bone and weariness in its wake. She’s worn from the pain of living — something none of her characters would ever have the energy to articulate. It’s just part of her, like skin and muscle. The good news is that Jen, her good-humored, ballsy, free-spirited alter ego with the husky voice and a propensity for junk food ... Jen, the spritely tomboy from Kentucky — that Jen’s got it together. A hoot. A gem. A gem with a killer stare.”