In the film, of course, Lawrence plays the younger version of Mystique, a role she genuinely had to consider before agreeing to sign on to play her.
“Before I read the script,“ says Lawrence, “all I knew was that two of my favorite actors were in it — Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy. The director was new to me, but I was a huge fan of those actors. So I was intrigued, but when you don’t have a script, there’s nothing to really go by. Then there’s the fact that the X-Men movies are so huge and there are sequels, and it’s hard to talk about doing a movie when there are sequels and you haven’t even read the script for the first one. What if I hated it? And then I have to make it three times! So I think the sequels were the biggest issues for me, because I was thinking I have no idea where I’m going to be in my life when these new movies come out; don’t know what kind of things I’m going to be doing. Am I going to regret this decision I made impulsively when I was 20? So I wanted to really think it through. And then, reading the script and — and really picturing James and Michael and the fact that they were really different — I loved it. I loved where it was coming from, I loved the idea of it, I love the idea of an origin story. And when I started to watch the X-Men movies and checked out the comics, I realized that they’re all so cool. They’re historic and they’ve got a cool following. So became an easy decision to make.”
One has to wonder if there was any trepidation over the fact that the online community would be talking about her and the project from the moment she was signed.
“I think the quick fame is scarier,” she admits, “because I don’t really work a computer, so I don’t ever read comments. What people think doesn’t scare me, though if I read it, it would scare the hell out of me. What I do worry about is how important these comic books are to people, and how important these movies are. I don’t want to offend anyone or disappoint anyone — and THAT’S scary when you think of this huge fan base behind it and you’re playing this character that a lot of people are going to put a lot of weight in to.”
As to the character itself, Lawrence relates, “I thought it was interesting in that she was a normal young girl in the sense that she was insecure and just discovering her sexuality and her power as a woman. But one of my favorite things about comic books —and I’m a new comic book fan — is they have these unrealistic powers that happen to realistic people. I liked the idea that it was a young girl dealing with an insecurity like so many of us are, discovering her sexuality and her womanhood, and she finally forms an opinion of her own at the end. I kind of liked watching her evolution as a character.”
This interview with Jennifer Lawrence is an excerpt from Superhero Spectacular, the magazine special from Bauer Publishing that has just hit stores, and is a comprehensive look at the summer of the superhero. The 100 page special features the following contents:
* X-MEN: FIRST CLASS: Interviews with Bryan Singer, Jane Goldman, John Dykstra, James McAvoy, Rose Byrne, Jennifer Lawrence, Zoe Kravitz, Michael Fassbender and more.
* GREEN LANTERN: Interviews with Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively and Martin Campbell on the film; behind the scenes of the Rise of the Manhunters video game; Nathan Fillion on Green Lantern: Emerald Knights.
* CAPTAIN AMERICA: We speak to Chris Evans, Joe Johnston and screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeeley.
* THOR: A look at the first hit of the summer with Chris Hemsworth and Kennth Branagh.
* YOUNG JUSTICE EPISODE GUIDE: Executive producers Greg Weisman and Brandon Vietti go episode-by-episode on Cartoon Network's newest hit.
* THE AVENGERS - EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES SEASON ONE EPISODE GUIDE: Supervising producer Josh Fine and story editor Chris Yost take readers behind the scenes of every episode of the animated series' first season.
* PREVIEW OF THE HEROES OF 2012: A look ahead to the Dark Knight Rises, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Avengers and Superman: Man of Steel
All of this and more.