Jennifer Lawrence explains why she took acting hiatus before filming X-rated movie

As an actor at the height of her career, Jennifer Lawrence explained why she decided to take a break from acting before making an epic - and explicit - return to the big screen.

Over the past 15 years or so, it feels like Lawrence hasn't slowed down for a second.

Now 33 years old, the actor was only a teenager when she earned her first acting credit in Monk, before she burst into the spotlight thanks to her roles X-Men: First Class and The Hunger Games.

She's since gone on to appear in Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle, and Passengers alongside some massively famous faces - but while it might not seem like it, the actor did take some time away from the screen amid all that.

Lawrence decided to go on hiatus following the release of Dark Phoenix in 2019, and a couple of years later she spoke to Vanity Fair about her decision.

Jennifer Lawrence criticised the 'quality' of her work. (20th Century Studios)

"I was not pumping out the quality that I should have," she said at the time. "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 went on to explain how she felt she had been 'people-pleasing' for the majority of her life, saying: "Working made me feel like nobody could be mad at me: 'Okay, I said yes, we're doing it. Nobody's mad.'

"And then I felt like I reached a point where people were not pleased just by my existence.

"So that kind of shook me out of thinking that work or your career can bring any kind of peace to your soul."

Lawrence later appeared in No Hard Feelings. (Song Pictures Releasing)

After some well-earned time off, Lawrence went on to release Don't Look Up for Netflix, as well as her explicit title No Hard Feelings.

Released in 2023, the comedy movie focuses on Lawrence's character, a woman who is financially hard up, and comes across an interesting opportunity when she's offered money to date a wealthy couple's 19-year-old son.

Learning the teenager is introverted and has struggled with dating in the past, Lawrence's character has her work cut out for her, and what follows is a raunchy comedy which sees her character trying to bring the young man out of his shell.

The actor appears in the movie totally nude at one point, so it's safe to say she didn't hold back when she made her return to the screen!

Topics: Jennifer Lawrence, Hollywood, Celebrity, Film and TV

Emily Brown

Emily Brown is UNILAD Editorial Lead at LADbible Group. She first began delivering news when she was just 11 years old - with a paper route - before graduating with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University. Emily joined UNILAD in 2018 to cover breaking news, trending stories and longer form features. She went on to become Community Desk Lead, commissioning and writing human interest stories from across the globe, before moving to the role of Editorial Lead. Emily now works alongside the UNILAD Editor to ensure the page delivers accurate, interesting and high quality content.