Jennifer Lawrence has been slammed for comments suggesting she was the first woman lead in an action film.
During an interview with Variety, the actor said that "nobody" had put a woman as a leading role in an action movie until she was cast as Katniss Everdeen in the "Hunger Games."
"I remember when I was doing 'Hunger Games,' nobody had ever put a woman in the lead of an action movie because it wouldn't work — because we were told girls and boys can both identify with a male lead, but boys cannot identify with a female lead," she said.
"And it just makes me so happy every single time I see a movie come out that just blows through every one of those beliefs, and proves that it is just a lie to keep certain people out of the movies. To keep certain people in the same positions that they've always been in," Lawrence added.
Fans immediately took to Twitter to call out Lawrence, noting that she was far from the first female action hero, with many tweets referencing Sigourney Weaver in the "Alien" franchise, Linda Hamilton in the "Terminator" movies, Michelle Yeoh in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," Milla Jovovich and Michelle Rodriguez in the "Resident Evil" franchise, Uma Thurman in "Kill Bill" and Angelina Jolie in "Tomb Raider" — all films which predate "The Hunger Games" franchise. The first film was released in 2012 and the last in 2015.
"It is untrue that no one had ever put a woman in an action movie before Jennifer Lawrence in 'Hunger Games,' " added Twitter user Franklin Leonard. "It is absolutely true that Hollywood had and has a real bias against women driven action movies because of this ridiculous belief about who identifies with whom."
Elsewhere in the interview, Lawrence expressed concern about how her character in the "Hunger Games" may negatively impact how younger girls viewed themselves and their weight.
"I remember the biggest conversation was 'How much weight are you going to lose?' Along with me being young and growing and not able to be on a diet, I don't know if I want all of the girls who are going to dress up as Katniss to feel like they can't because they're not a certain weight. And I can't let that seep into my brain, either," Lawrence said.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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