Actress Jennifer Lawrence recently opened up about her thoughts on retirement during breaks from her film career. In a candid appearance on The Graham Norton Show, she revealed that she considered stepping away from acting, expressing that she would have been “at peace” with such a decision. Lawrence, now 35, took significant breaks from the industry, first from 2019 to 2021 and again in 2023.
The initial hiatus followed a series of disappointing box office performances. “I took a little time,” Lawrence shared during the show. “I was working all of my 20s and then I was like … what’s out here? What’s going on?” Her break came at a pivotal moment, allowing her to reassess her career and personal life.
When asked by Norton if she worried about failing to revive her career after such a long absence, Lawrence reflected, “I was at peace with that possibility of happening. [Hollywood] is a lot. I think I would’ve been fine.” Yet, she quickly added, “Well, I mean, no — I would be really upset.”
After her first break, she returned to the screen with Don’t Look Up, a Netflix hit released in 2021, which also featured stars like Leonardo DiCaprio, Meryl Streep, and Timothée Chalamet. Following this, she took another hiatus after appearing in No Hard Feelings in 2023. This year, she will return with Die My Love, set to be released on November 7, 2023.
In her personal life, Lawrence welcomed her son, Cy, with her husband, Cooke Maroney, in 2022, and they had a second child earlier this year. Her journey in Hollywood began to soar when she portrayed Katniss Everdeen in the Hunger Games series, which debuted in 2012. Lawrence also found success with acclaimed films such as Silver Linings Playbook (2012), American Hustle (2013), and Joy (2015).
Despite her successes, the actress faced challenges with her films Mother! (2017) and Red Sparrow (2018), both of which underperformed at the box office. In a previous interview with Vanity Fair, Lawrence expressed her feelings of disillusionment: “I just think everybody had gotten sick of me. I’d gotten sick of me. It had just gotten to a point where I couldn’t do anything right. If I walked a red carpet, it was, ‘Why didn’t she run?’”
Lawrence’s reflections highlight the pressures of stardom and the impact of public perception on personal and professional decisions. As she embarks on her return to the screen, audiences will be eager to see how her experiences influence her upcoming projects.