Jennifer Lawrence Reveals Twilight Rejection Led to Hunger Games Success

Jennifer Lawrence Reveals Twilight Rejection Led to Hunger Games Success

Acclaimed actress Jennifer Lawrence has candidly shared her experience of auditioning for the iconic role of Bella Swan in the Twilight saga, only to be turned down “immediately.” During an engaging conversation on The Rewatchers podcast with Bill Simmons, the No Hard Feelings star opened up about the audition process and how it ultimately paved the way for her breakthrough in The Hunger Games a year later.

Lawrence disclosed that she didn’t even receive a callback for the role that eventually went to Kristen Stewart, but she expressed gratitude for the outcome. Reflecting on the situation, she emphasized, “My life would’ve been totally different. I mean, the work is still the same because I felt similar when I was doing Hunger Games. I have to churn out movies in between so that I’m not only known for this franchise. I was still in a franchise, so I was still trying to counteract the franchise-ness, and I would still be doing that if I was in Twilight.”

The Oscar-winning actress went on to reveal that she initially hesitated to accept the role of Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games due to concerns about the potential overwhelming fandom that might accompany it. Lawrence explained that she tried to convey her worries to people, but they struggled to grasp her perspective. Recounting her difficulty in explaining the situation, she shared, “It was so hard to explain to people. It was like I don’t think you understand this level of fame… I just assumed it was gonna be like Twilight, like the Twilight-level fame, and that was just never something I had in mind.”

Rather than aspiring for superstardom, Lawrence admitted that her primary goal was to work on quality projects. “I wanted to do Indies, and I wanted to do good films, but I didn’t want to be the most famous person on the planet,” she said. She further expressed that landing the role of Bella Swan in Twilight would have made her “miserable” as it would have led to a vastly different life than the one she had envisioned for herself.

While Lionsgate is currently rebooting The Hunger Games with The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, a prequel set before the events of the original franchise, Lawrence recently revealed that she wouldn’t decline the opportunity to return as Katniss Everdeen in the future. The upcoming film focuses on an 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow and District 12 tribute Lucy Gray Baird during the 10th annual Hunger Games, featuring an entirely new cast.