5) Jennifer Lawrence – Winter’s Bone
In 2007, a relatively unknown actress by the name of Jennifer Lawrence auditioned for the role of Bella in a series of vampire films that were going to a) at first take the world by storm and b) then suck it dry of all attention, enthusiasm and sense. She lost the role of course to Kristen Stewart, (definitive proof that that there might actually really be something in the phrase ‘gods of Hollywood’). During 2008 Lawrence appeared in American TV sitcom The Bill Engvall Show, and featured in only two minor films – Garden Party and The Burning Plain.
After that, it might seem sensible to leap forwards to 2011 in which she took up her role as Mystique in the X-Men film series, or the same year for her landing the role of Katniss in the blows-the-sorts-of-holes-through-Twilight-that-vampires-can-only-dream-of series The Hunger Games. But there was another film along the way, without which Lawrence might not have made it to these milestones at all (and the many more that were to follow). And the most wonderful thing about this early role is that there is only one word that can describe the reason for which she secured it: Irony.
Debra Granik’s 2010 independent drama Winter’s Bone was one of those bleak, gritty creations that slides quietly under the radar at the time of release, only to reappear with force come award season. It was nominated for four Academy awards in 2011, the most famous among these of course the nomination for best actress in a leading role for Lawrence, making her the second youngest person on record to receive that nomination.
But Lawrence had had to work hard at landing the role of Ree Dolly. She auditioned twice in L.A, and was turned down both times for being ‘too pretty.’ The actress they needed to portray the dogged, resolute 19 year old girl in charge of a poor and dysfunctional family struggling to exist in the grim cruelty of a mid-American states winter, needed to show the burden that this character was carrying. They couldn’t cast someone who looked like they’d just stepped out of the pages of Vogue magazine; it would be like the anti-Mary Poppins – as though Mary had shown up at the door, leaning against the wall wearing fingerless gloves and with a fag hanging out of her mouth.
But she did clearly have talent, and after some persuasion on her own part, she convinced them to allow her to audition one last time – this time in New York. At the time, Lawrence was 40 hours away filming in L.A., which meant that she had no choice but to catch the next red-eye flight to make it in time for the audition. When she arrived in New York she went straight from the airport to the audition, having hardly slept, without applying makeup, without cleaning her teeth, and not even brushing her hair. She was, she declared in her own words, ‘pretty gross.’ But this apparently was her golden ticket.
With the producers and director convinced that they could make her look as rough as they needed, Lawrence was given the role – and it was the role that saw her on the path to becoming recognized as one of the most beautiful, sexiest women on the planet. That is, just to make this wonderful fact as clear as possible – Jennifer Lawrence got her first major film role precisely because she looked unattractive.
But the most incredible thing about Lawrence’s appearance in Winter’s Bone is that she actually doesn’t look like Mystique, or like Silver Lining Playbook’s Tiffany, or American Hustle’s master-of-the-science-oven Rosalyn. She doesn’t even really look like Katniss, although the roles are far closer in nature. If we’re honest, there was no doubt really that the girl playing Ree in Winter’s Bone was very good-looking, but the real skill in Lawrence’s looks is her ability to infuse into them a character that exceeds what she naturally looks like. This is the real testament to her talent as an actress and to her beauty. Winter’s Bone was, against all odds, the role that proved that the two for her are inextricable.
Also, she falls over at almost every Oscars, throws up over people’s porches, photo bombs other celebrities, tries to steal people’s awards, spills sweets over everyone during press interviews, gets ridiculously star-struck, is an ambassador for the Special Olympics for children (among many other things), and is never ever afraid to laugh at herself. Thank you, Debra Granik, for casting that unattractive girl who clearly just didn’t give a flying f—k. What we got in the end, was an absolute legend.