Jennifer Lawrence is a wonderful anomaly, and her career has been an equally iconoclastic whirlwind. Vacationing in New York (from Indian Hills, Kentucky) at the age of 14, she was spotted by a talent scout on the city streets who later arranged an audition for her with different agents. Within three years, she had dropped out of school and was starring in a generic TBS sitcom (The Bill Engvall Show) before transitioning to dramatic features and receiving her first Oscar nomination by the age of 20.
Updated June 23rd, 2023: In honor of the release of No Hard Feelings, you'll be happy to know this article has been updated with additional content by Darren Gigool. You can watch our video list above.
Lawrence became one of the world's highest-paid actors thanks to the massive success of the X-Men and The Hunger Games franchises, earning $10 million a film in 2014. Her films over the next two years would gross $6 billion worldwide, and her creative collaboration with director David O. Russell would earn her three Academy Award nominations and one win before the age of 27.
She has remained seemingly down-to-earth throughout it all, having never studied acting professionally and remaining a funny person overall; she self-deprecatingly considers the profession "stupid" compared to the importance of life-saving careers, so she refuses to be "cocky" about it. It is this authenticity, along with her amazing natural affinity for acting, which has made her a household name. While her career is sure to shine through dozens of additional films, these are Jennifer Lawrence's best movies to date.
12 House at the End of the Street
Immaculately blending horror and thriller genres, the 2012 movie House at the End of the Street provides a suspense-filled narrative. A sense of dread permeates the plot as Elissa, embodied by Jennifer Lawrence, navigates an eerie haunted house scenario. Classic horror components, like jump scares, a haunting ambiance, and mentally stimulating narratives, are skillfully interwoven into the story, resulting in an engaging cinematic experience.
Commanding the screen, Lawrence delivers an intricately layered portrayal as Elissa, a teen in a world of spine-chilling oddities. She brings Elissa's inquisitiveness and susceptibility to the fore, lending realistic credibility to the horror-thriller atmosphere. Enriching the film's suspenseful climax, the understated depth of her performance amplifies the film's emotional strain. Despite its horror plotline, Lawrence's acting received widespread acclaim, viewers acknowledged her contribution to the film's tension. Her portrayal of Elissa emerged as one of the movie's redeeming qualities, demonstrating her capacity to excel across diverse roles.
11 Passengers
Set in the expanse of future interstellar travel, Passengers weaves a tale of two passengers, Jim and Aurora, who wake up nearly a century too early from their sleeper pods on the starship Avalon, heading for a remote colony planet. As Aurora, Lawrence plays a journalist trapped in a predicament of love and deceit, delivering a compelling performance. She effectively depicts her character's inner turmoil, torn between burgeoning feelings for Jim and the disquieting reality of her untimely awakening.
With a mix of thrill, fear, love, and indignation, her performance offers a complex exploration of Aurora's character. Visual aesthetics and performances were the cornerstones of the film's praise. Lawrence's depiction of Aurora earned critical acclaim. Her layered performance garnered attention and praise from audiences. Her portrayal of Aurora reaffirms her talent in handling varied roles across genres.
10 Serena
The tale of Serena is set amidst the backdrop of the Great Depression. The movie tells the story of a resilient and multifaceted woman, Serena Pemberton. Lawrence takes on the role of Serena, standing by her timber tycoon husband, George Pemberton, played by Bradley Cooper. She adeptly maneuvers through power plays, business disputes, and personal trials, bringing a high level of intensity to her character's emotional arc.
Demonstrating a range of emotions, Lawrence's portrayal of Serena oscillates between power and fragility, fearlessness, and despair. Her compelling portrayal of Serena etched a memorable character in the history of cinema. The film acted as a crucial springboard for Lawrence's career, showcasing her dramatic versatility. Even in the company of the charismatic Bradley Cooper, Lawrence stood her ground, infusing a multi-faceted depth into Serena. Her skill to embody such a complicated character accentuated her acting talent, earning her recognition and cementing her position as a Hollywood heavyweight.
9 Red Sparrow
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Jennifer Lawrence partnered with her frequent Hunger Games director Francis Lawrence (no relation) for the tense, often uncomfortable erotic thriller Red Sparrow. Lawrence has stated that she developed understandable insecurities and body issues after the disgusting 2014 celebrity photo hacks and that making this film empowered her to reclaim her own body and overcome her fears.
“The insecurity and fear of being judged for getting nude, what I went through, should that dictate decisions I make for the rest of my life?"
She has said: "This movie changed that, and I didn’t even realize how important changing that mentality was until it was done." There is a catharsis to the film, watching a Russian spy whose "body belongs to the state," as one character claims, take back control of herself after suffering greatly at the hands of powerful men around her. Her performance is so raw and vulnerable here and, while often painful, makes a good film much better.
8 Don't Look Up
Adam McKay's climate change allegory Don't Look Up features an incredible cast, but Jennifer Lawrence got top-billing (though less pay) as a Ph.D. candidate who discovers a planet-killing comet on a six-month trajectory toward Earth. This was her first performance for a few years; the actress "didn't think [she] had a life" and "thought [she] should go get one," as she told Vanity Fair.
Her return is a renewal of everything which once made her famous: a certain cool detachment, a witty and biting sense of snark, a beautiful but indifferent way of carrying herself, and a certain vulnerability over existential angst. Her star doesn't shine so brightly when covered over the myriad celebrities of this ensemble picture, but it's her personality which keeps the narrative gears turning in this vitally important but flawed film.
7 X-Men Reboots
The first of two gargantuan franchises Lawrence would star in, the all-star X-Men reboots of the 2010s featured the actress in the iconic role of Raven (or the blue Mystique, her shapeshifting alter-ego). Beginning with X-Men: First Class and ending with Dark Phoenix, the decade saw Lawrence progress both as an actress and a character, to the point where many believe she played the definitive version of Mystique. The characterization and humanization of her role increased over time, adding depth and empathy to what used to be a one-note villain of sorts in the franchise's earlier trilogy.
6 Joy
The third film to bring together Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper under the direction of David O. Russell was Joy, a small but inspiring character study of a young woman with a good idea who gradually becomes the head of a business empire. Lawrence has often shined in ensembles, but here she dominates as the central character, the real-life single mother Joy Mangano, who made millions selling her Miracle Mop. A sly commentary on consumerism, sexism, and the American Dream, Joy finds Lawrence tapping into a character's quiet subtleties with her characteristically effortless poise.
5 The Hunger Games
The franchise which launched Lawrence's career into the proverbial stratosphere, The Hunger Games series casts the actor as the main protagonist Katniss Everdeen. Utilizing Lawrence's unique blend of ferocity and warmth, the incredibly profitable movies chronicled the battles and struggles of teenagers pitted against each other in Battle Royale-type games within a dystopic hellscape. As a resistance movement mounts throughout the course of the films, Lawrence aged in real-time, becoming more talented and capable each year. Her performance is empowering and strong, and has inspired and been a role model for countless young women.
4 American Hustle
Jennifer Lawrence is funny; her stints hosting Saturday Night Live and The Jimmy Kimmel Show easily attest to that, along with her quick wit in countless interviews. It's no wonder, then, that her supporting comedic role in David O. Russel's ramshackle American Hustle is utterly hilarious. She plays a wild card of sorts, a volatile and unpredictable Long Island wife who is perpetually peeved and smarter than everyone gives her credit for, stealing every scene she's in. Lawrence's energy and comedic timing certainly helped this sprawling, silly epic earn its 10 Oscar nominations.
3 Winter's Bone
Though Lawrence had appeared in small roles in a few films and television shows and co-starred in a by-the-books sitcom, it wasn't until Winter's Bone that she received any critical praise or popular attention. This small independent film, concerning a girl in the Ozarks of Missouri whose childhood has been ruptured by family tragedy, made eight times what it cost to produce and brought a teenage Lawrence an Oscar nomination. Lawrence's portrayal of a determined, resilient young woman seeking out her father to save her troubled family is utterly devastating and one of the best surprises to ever come out of the acting world. New Yorker critic David Denby has called it "one of the great feminist works in film," a title which still holds true today.
2 Mother!
Darren Aronofsky's critically divisive grotesquerie Mother! puts Lawrence front and center as the director's muse, and to great effect. Filmed and released during their brief romantic relationship (which had a 21-year age gap), the film has "a lot to like and a lot to dislike" according to Julian Roman, but it's difficult to argue that Lawrence isn't the most likable part of the film. The actor appears in nearly every claustrophobic shot, carrying this strange philosophical (and deeply theological) horror movie toward a truly anxiety-inducing intensity.
Playing a woman whose life and home are slowly and surreally invaded by strangers, Lawrence expertly captures the feeling of a panic attack, of losing control, and, perhaps, of being a woman in a world of dominant men. Whether one considers Mother! to be a masterpiece or a crackpot indulgence, it's undoubtedly clear that this is one of Lawrence's strongest and most unsettling performances.
1 Silver Linings Playbook
Jennifer Lawrence was the second-youngest person to win an Academy Award for Best Actress for her remarkable performance in David O. Russell's vastly entertaining Silver Linings Playbook. Bradley Cooper and her form yet another winning team as a pair of heartbroken loners with mental health issues who decide to enter a dancing competition, and Lawrence is specifically incredible for her nuanced portrayal of grief and desire.
She plays Tiffany Maxwell, a deeply misunderstood woman grieving the loss of her husband in what some may call destructive ways, and her ability to juggle humor with melancholy and vulnerability with snark is utterly magnetic. This crowd-pleaser launched Lawrence's wonderful run of films (and award nominations) with David O. Russell and is one of the best depictions of mental health in recent cinematic history.