Sometimes, it seems there is no role Jennifer Lawrence can’t handle. She dazzled the world in action films like The Hunger Games and the X-Men series, but she also excels in serious awards-winning cinema like Silver Linings Playbook.
Part of Lawrence’s charm is her reputation. The public quickly embraced her as the “girl next door,” and this reputation only increased as Lawrence made some memorably frank comments and clumsy moments (tripping over her dress while accepting her Oscar, anyone?)
These cute moments onscreen make it easy for people to relate to Lawrence. But her offscreen behavior may completely change how you view her life and career!
Here are shocking facts you never knew about Jennifer Lawrence.
Embarrassing ink
It’s pretty common for people to regret tattoos they got earlier in life. But for Lawrence, her tattoo is a constant reminder about a time she was really dumb about something very simple.
In a February 2018 interview with 60 Minutes, Lawrence revealed that she got a tattoo to remind herself to drink more water. To this end, she decided to get the chemical formula for water tattooed on her hand.
Just one problem: as Lawrence said in the interview, “I didn’t google H2O.” Instead, she ended up with a tattoo that says H²O, or in other words, “H squared O.”
A regretful Lawrence summed this mistake up pretty well during the interview:
“So I have ‘I’m an idiot,’ tattooed on my hand forever.”
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Middle school dropout
Some future stars figure out they want to pursue acting sooner than others do. Lawrence figured this out when she was quite young, and it resulted in a shocking decision!
The actress actually dropped out of middle school so that she could pursue acting at the tender age of 14. And unlike many others who dropped out, she never went back to get her GED or any other kind of diploma.
But Lawrence has a good sense of humor about the whole thing. She called herself “self-educated” in the 60 Minutes interview and jokingly explained her tattoo mistake by saying, “I’m a middle school drop out.”
Then again, given her amazing Hollywood success, it looks like her “self-education” is working out nicely.
At least, until her drunken alter ego comes out…
Drunken alter ego
Not all of Lawrence’s shocking stories come from her 60 Minutes interview. She actually saved some of the weirder revelations for her appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2018.
During that interview, Lawrence mentioned having a drunken alter ego by the name of Gail. According to Lawrence, Gail is “this masculine alter ego who jumps into shark-ridden waters just to make my friends laugh.”
But Gail only comes out for special occasions. Instead of coming out “every time I’m drunk,” Lawrence speculated that “it might be rum” that makes this alter ego emerge.
And even when Gail doesn’t come out, the actress admitted that “once I get rum in me, and I’m like, ‘Let’s arm wrestle!'”
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Reality TV junkie
In that same Ellen interview, Lawrence discussed her viewing habits. Despite starring in a bevy of Hollywood blockbusters, the actress prefers kicking back and relaxing with some reality television.
Some of what she enjoys includes Keeping Up With the Kardashians and the various Real Housewives programs on Bravo. But the reality series that holds a special place in her heart is Vanderpump Rules.
She declared that if she had to pick only one show to watch for the rest of her, she’d definitely pick Vanderpump Rules. And she had succinct praise for the stars of that show: “They’re killing it.”
High praise indeed from one of Hollywood’s biggest stars!
Wild nicknames
Childhood nicknames often give us a valuable glimpse of how a person would turn out as an adult. And when it comes to Lawrence, her childhood nicknames were pretty accurate!
In the 60 Minutes interview, Lawrence revealed that her older brothers called her “Nitro” for a simple reason: “because I was so hyper.” But this wasn’t the only nickname she had.
In a 2012 Rolling Stone profile, Lawrence revealed that her parents nicknamed her “plays with fire.” But this referred more to their own behavior than hers.
Her mother told the magazine, “We thought we were finished having kids.” And as Lawrence playfully noted, “My parents played with fire, and they got burned.”
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Controversial childhood role
Like many famous actresses, Lawrence acted on the stage before transiting into movies. But one of the roles she had at only nine years old raised quite a few eyebrows.
In that same Rolling Stone profile, Lawrence revealed that she performed in a play based on the Biblical book of Jonah. But the surprising part is that at this young age, Lawrence played a prostitute named Nineveh.
And according to Lawrence’s mother, the family got quite a bit of teasing due to the performance. “The other girls just stood there with lipstick on, but [Lawrence] came in swinging her booty and strutting her stuff.”
What did friends of the family think? “Our friends said, ‘We don’t know if we should congratulate you or not, because your kid’s a great prostitute.'”
And thus, a future Hollywood icon was born. Lawrence left that role behind, but as an adult, she’s caused her own share of controversy among her famous neighbors.
Exhibitionism
One surprising thing about Lawrence is that she has some fairly famous neighbors. She lives very close to fellow stars like Cameron Diaz and Zoe Saldana. And Lawrence gets along fairly well with the neighbors, telling Oprah in 2017 she has hiked with Diaz and gave Saldana an onion when the star knocked on her door.
Perhaps the wildest celeb story, though, comes from her famous friend Lenny Kravitz. In the 2012 Rolling Stone profile, Kravitz revealed that Lawrence shocked him the first time he visited.
“I go over to [Lawrence’s] apartment, and she opens the door in a towel. She’s like, ‘Come in, sorry, you’re early, I was about to shower.’ And she drops her towel and gets in the shower, and starts shaving her legs, totally naked.”
Perhaps noticing his expression, Lawrence asked Kravitz, “Are we here yet? Is this OK?'”
Kravitz put his embarrassment behind him and told her, “I guess we’re there!’
This might have been a lot of intimacy all at once, but it led to a very fun friendship. Kravitz told the publication they often have sleepovers.
When that happens, he said they “get really stupid — like Beavis and Butt-Head level.” Furthermore, “We’ll eat bad food and watch bad TV, and then [Lawrence] will just lie down on the bed and curl up like a little puppy.”
Going from naked shaving in front of a friend to silly sleepovers may sound pretty surprising. But with a firebrand like Lawrence, this is just one aspect of her unique “mystique.”
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Rude reputation
Despite her “girl next door” image, Jennifer Lawrence has developed a reputation for being rude to fans in person.
And a 2017 interview for Variety revealed that this rude demeanor has been cultivated by Lawrence on purpose.
“I just, generally, once I enter a public place, I become incredibly rude,” Lawrence said. “That’s kind of like my only way of defending myself.”
She even said that if fans try to come up to her while she’s eating at a restaurant, she will make a face and wag her finger at them to let them know not to approach.
And if a fan asks for a selfie they’re out of luck. Lawrence revealed that she simply says “No” to such requests, or even, “I’m not working today.”
While some might criticize her approach to fans, Lawrence is likely just protecting herself from burnout and exhaustion. But for someone who rose to fame as the “girl next door,” fans are surprised to find out she’s not so approachable!