Jennifer Lawrence was scared to take on sexy roles after her nude photos were hacked
Oscar winner and mother! star Jennifer Lawrence has earned a reputation for being bold, delightfully candid, and confident. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t struggle with feelings of fear and insecurity like the rest of us. Lawrence recently opened up to Oprah Winfrey about that, and the leading ladies covered a lot of thoughtful ground — including how the 2014 celebrity nude photo hack still haunts the 27-year-old talent.
It turns out Jennifer Lawrence and Oprah Winfrey have been building up quite the friendship in the last few months. Though they barely knew each other before, the Hollywood Reporter interview reveals the two shared rosé and bonded over lunch at Oprah’s place in October, and now regularly text and chat.
The Harvey Weinstein scandal actually broke the day the two first met, but it wasn’t until Winfrey interviewed Lawrence that they discussed the current flood of sexual misconduct allegations. Lawrence, of course, dealt with a very public sexual violation three years ago when a hacker distributed her personal nude photos (and the nude photos of several other celebrities) around the world.
In the September issue of Vogue, Lawrence said she still lives in fear that she’ll have to endure something like that again.
Now, we’re learning the hack is also the reason why Lawrence has largely steered clear of racy roles in the years since:
"I haven't done anything sexy or sexual," Lawrence told Oprah of how she chooses roles. "I've been afraid of that since 2014, when I got my pictures hacked. I just thought, 'I'll never do that again. I'll never share that part of myself ever since it got shared against my will.' And then when I said yes to Red Sparrow, I felt I was taking something back."
The women and men who’ve come forward in recent weeks to tell their stories of sexual harassment are taking something back too — their voice — the two women agreed.
And as upsetting as it’s been to learn about these allegations, it’s also been exciting, Lawrence said: “I don’t know a woman who hasn’t been touched by some sort of abuse. I’m sad by the women’s stories, but I’m excited by the change that’s going to come from it. The rule book is being rewritten right now.”
In addition to again recounting the story of a female producer forcing Jennifer Lawrence to participate in a naked line-up with several “thinner” actresses, Lawrence and Winfrey also discussed Lawrence’s social life, the person she’d want to contact in a séance (Abe Lincoln), and Lawrence’s fantasies of throwing a martini in Donald Trump’s face. The full interview is definitely worth a read, if only to experience two fierce AF women being refreshingly real.
