This Young Starlet Didn’t Use Sex to Get Her Role

Article found here: Sex Doesn’t Sell for THIS Young Hollywood Starlet

More than 100 attractive young actresses auditioned for the coveted role of Ree Dolly, a tough, courageous and wise-beyond-her-years teen living in an impoverished Ozark mountain region, where she is forced to care for her mother and younger siblings while desperately searching for her missing meth-dealer father.

Many of the young women showed up in sexy, low-cut dresses that showed plenty of skin. Jennifer Lawrence walked into the audition wearing no makeup and a plain dress.

Jennifer Lawrence was initially rejected for the starring role in “Winter’s Bone” because she was too pretty. “I forced myself back in.,” she says. “I told them I was flying to New York and they had to see me. I just showed up when they were auditioning other girls.”

The 19-year-old actress not only got the job, but she and the film (“Winter’s Bone”) have been collecting an armful of rave reviews and film-festival awards. Lawrence recently picked up a best actress nod at the Seattle Film Festival.

See photos of Jennifer Lawrence

“I think a lot of those young women showed up in skimpy outfits because they were taught that that is what gets noticed in Hollywood,” explained director Debra Granik, whose film won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. It opens Friday in Irvine.

“I loved that Jennifer felt strong enough about the character to show up without makeup,” the director added. “So many young women in this town are told that the only way to get ahead is to be sexy, but Jennifer, who is beautiful and sexy in real life, proved to me that her commitment and affection for this character was profound. She is in every scene in this movie, and I needed that commitment from the actress who was going to play her.

“And then there is her accent. She grew up in Kentucky, and her accent for this character is authentic. When she speaks, she discharges a bullet of emotion that implores you to listen to her.”

A critic says “Winter’s Bone” is a nearly perfect movie

When Lawrence showed up for this interview in a West Hollywood hotel room, she was dressed like a typical young Hollywood actress on a warm summer day, but once she began to speak, she was anything but typical. Her work ethic and her ideas on how a young actress in Hollywood should behave off-screen are refreshing and candid. This is not one of those out-of-control teen actresses you see nightly on “Extra” or “Access Hollywood.”

ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER: Your director said you walked into the audition without makeup. Does that mean you knew this audition was special?

JENNIFER LAWRENCE: Of course. It wasn’t just another audition. I felt like I had to get it. I wasn’t going to give up until I got it.

Q. Why?

A. Because I had to have it.

Q. But why?

A. Because I needed it (laughs). I thought it was the best role I’ve seen for a female in a long time. Sometimes, I see something and I’ve got to have it. And those turn out to be the only movies I book (her previous film roles include the “The Burning Plain,” for which she won the best young actress award at the Venice Film Festival, and “The Poker House”).

Q. To what lengths did you go to get this role, besides wearing no makeup?

A. I flew to New York on a red-eye and chased her down like a psycho. I would have done anything to get this role.

Q. Tell me why this role was so important to you?

A. It’s a young female protagonist that is not following around a man. She has a strength that I wish I possessed. I love playing characters I admire because it’s like Halloween. I get to dress up like them for six weeks. The action and dialogue is so real and so unrelenting. The movie doesn’t cater to anyone. That’s the kind of movie I like. My taste in movies is not the same as other people. The movies that usually make a lot of money in this town are not the movies I like. This movie was not made to make money.

Q. This movie takes place in Missouri, and you’re from neighboring Kentucky. Does the life depicted in this film have anything to do with your upbringing?

A. Not at all. I’ve seen that life, but never lived it.

Q. How many times did you have to go in and audition?

A. They turned me down twice in L.A., and that’s why I flew to New York.

Q. Why did they turn you down?

A. They said I was too pretty.

Q. So, how did you get another audition?

A. I forced myself back in. I told them I was flying to New York and they had to see me. I just showed up when they were auditioning other girls.

Q. Did you show up to all the auditions without makeup?

A. Of course. Ree would never wear makeup. That’s ridiculous. She’s not a makeup and tank top kind of girl.

Q. What was that final audition like?

A. It was the end of the day, and they were exhausted. I read some lines, did a lot of improv and then we talked for hours.

Q. How long after that did you get the news?

A. A few days later, I was back in L.A., and Debra called and told me.

Q. How did you prepare for the role?

A. Debra had me go back to Kentucky before we began filming. I learned how to chop wood, and I was supposed to learn how to skin squirrels, but that was tough. I tried, but I started crying like a little girl.

Q. That’s understandable. Most actresses don’t get a lot of training in skinning squirrels. When did you start acting?

A. I grew up in Louisville, where becoming a film actress is not really a possibility. So, I was going to be a doctor, a secretary, whatever. When you’re a bored 13-year-old, you think about being a lot of things. But when I turned 14, I started acting and eventually moved to New York. I had tunnel vision about acting. I knew what I wanted to do, and nothing was going to deter me.

Q. You seem like a serious and determined young woman. How have you managed to stay that way in Hollywood, and not given in to the temptations of a wild life that is offered to young actors and actresses?

A. Because I don’t live the life the tabloids want to document. I live a very boring life. I’m not against parties and clubs, but I don’t like it. I don’t like going out. I get exhausted when I’m around a lot of people, and I’m here to work. I’m not here to party. It’s a job; it’s not an excuse to get into a bar when I’m underage.

Q. How does that attitude fit into your ambitions as an actress?

A. I see a future, and you don’t get there by doing drugs and getting drunk every night. You get there by working your butt off, and that’s what I plan to do.

Q. So, there’s a plan?

A. You can’t really plan, but there is a big picture. The only thing I do know is that my plan does not include me throwing up outside Les Deux.

Q. It’s admirable that you have chosen nothing but low-budget films, but I was wondering if it’s possible to make a living as an actress from a steady diet of small films?

A. I don’t know. Luckily, I’m still living off the money I made on “The Bill Engvall Show” (she played Engvall’s daughter Lauren).

Q. Really? You’re still living off that?

A. Yeah. I’m really lucky. But I don’t need a lot of money. I live in a tiny condo in Santa Monica and drive a Volkswagen. I don’t need a bigger house.

Q. Will you ever appear in more commercial movies?

A. Probably. These smaller movies are what appeals to me now, but this is a business and I can see a time when I will have to do a bigger movie to be able to do the movies I love. I’ve already run into the problem of being turned down for a role I wanted because I’m not famous enough.

Q. Is that the lesson of Hollywood?

A. There are a lot of lessons to learn in this business, and I’m still learning something new every day.