Jennifer Lawrence wowed moviegoers worldwide as the athletic protagonist in 2012's The Hunger Games. But her recent comments have prompted some to remind the celeb that she is far from the first woman to lead an action flick.
The pushback comes after Variety published the latest edition of its "Actors on Actors" series, featuring Lawrence and Viola Davis. Both actresses starred in films this past year: Lawrence commands attention in Causeway and Davis impresses in The Woman King.
On Wednesday afternoon, Variety tweeted a snippet of the pair's conversation.
"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," Lawrence said in the short video.
She continued: "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."
Backlash quickly began to mount on social media over Lawrence's remarks. Her name started trending on Twitter Wednesday as critics rattled off other female A-listers to have starred in action films.
Multimedia journalist David Leavitt took aim at the actress's comments in a tweet.
"Jennifer Lawrence proclaiming she was the first woman to ever be the lead in an action movie...Clearly she never saw Sigourney Weaver's Alien franchise," he wrote.
Jennifer Lawrence proclaiming she was the first woman to ever be the lead in an action movie…
— David Leavitt (@David_Leavitt) December 7, 2022
Clearly she never saw Sigourney Weaver’s Alien franchise pic.twitter.com/mpAWydxnQT
Twitter user @StreamtheVote also weighed in, jokingly stating that the Hunger Games actress was indeed "the first female action star." The account then listed the following names: Linda Hamilton, Pam Grier, Michelle Yeoh, Sigourney Weaver, Milla Jovovich, Uma Thurman, Angelina Jolie, Michelle Rodriguez, Carrie-Anne Moss and Halle Berry.
"[These] women owe everything to Jennifer Lawrence's trailblazing," the tweet continued.
Jennifer Lawrence was the first female action star.
— Stream the Vote (@StreamtheVote) December 7, 2022
Linda Hamilton
Pam Grier
Michelle Yeoh
Sigourney Weaver
Milla Jovovich
Uma Thurman
Angelina Jolie
Michelle Rodriguez
Carrie-Anne Moss
Halle Berry
This women owe everything to Jennifer Lawrence’s trailblazing pic.twitter.com/tc2ToKidde
Still, some social media users appeared to defend Lawrence, including The Cut writer Olivia Truffaut-Wong.
"This controversy is stupid," she wrote on Wednesday. "Yes, Jennifer Lawrence is wrong about female led action movies, but her main thesis is correct. Engage with that, maybe you'll learn something."
This controversy is stupid. Yes, Jennifer Lawrence is wrong about female led action movies, but her main thesis is correct. Engage with that, maybe you'll learn something. https://t.co/34bnr4vAb7
— Olivia Truffaut-Wong (@iWatchiAm) December 7, 2022
