This film is two hours.
And 66 minutes of it is just a close-up of your face
And you're very stressed for the entire thing.
Was this, like, the most grueling role that you've ever had?
Yeah, definitely.
Brand-new stuff to get used to, like having the camera that close
on my face all the time.
Sorry. I thought I saw a ghost in that window.
But we're good.
Are you sure you're feeling okay after this film?
Jennifer Lawrence
stars in Darren Aronofsky's new divisive film: "Mother!"
The disturbing psychological horror centers around a woman
competing for the love and attention of her husband,
a self-important older male artist who's struggling for inspiration.
What brings you to us?
Well, they told me I could find a room here.
He thought that we were a bed-and-breakfast.
He's a stranger.
Hello!
What are you doing? You're insane!
Murderer!
God help you.
So I've heard that you don't like lying.
- So with that in mind... - Oh, God...!
What's your worst 'junk it' question?
"What drew you to the script?"
- Oh, shit! - It's the best question.
It's just the most asked.
- That is on my list. - On your list?
I'll take it off.
What made you want to work with Darren Aronofsky?
I just think he's such an original.
There's no one really like him. His ideas are so unique.
So when I heard he had something, I wanted to meet with him right away.
And he didn't have a script. He just had these ideas floating in his head,
and then, you know, in five days he wrote it
and I read the script, I threw it across the room.
I told him he had severe psychological problems
But it's a masterpiece.
I said, "Yes" before I read the script.
How did he pitch it to you?
There wasn't really a pitch. He just started describing these ideas,
and that ended up shaping itself
into a relationship in a house.
Why don't you want kids?
Excuse me?
You know? You're not going to be so young forever.
Have kids.
Then you'll be creating something together.
That's what keeps the marriage going. This this is all just...
setting.
Oh! You do want them.
Did you have the kind of Black Swan
Natalie Portman idea in your mind
that you were going to have to prep that kind of hard for something?
No, it was...You know, for me, my preparation was really just...
I didn't know who this person was.
I just didn't recognize any of myself and this character,
so it was kind of just, "Who is she? What does she sound like?"
Every time I'd say a line out loud, it just didn't sound like me.
So it was really just kind of creating this character from scratch,
which I've never done before, and it was challenging and exciting.
I was gonna say it because we don't really get, as an audience,
any backstory, and you don't have that much dialogue,
so how did you go about the process of developing that character?
It's just kind of feeling.
Weirdly, costumes have a lot to do with it.
You know, you start feeling...
What she wears, that kind of starts giving you an idea of who she is
And she just kind of like arrived one day.
Too late. We'd already rehearsed for three months.
I think Darren was like, "This is not gonna work."
And right before we started shooting, it was like she just arrived.
And I knew what she sounded like, I knew what she walks like.
And off we went.
Were you panicking before you got to that point?
Oh, yes.
Yeah, because everything I'd say out loud just sounded wrong and just...
We were just so different, you know?
I was just afraid I was miscast.
Did you try talking to your friends and family?
No, normally, when I go into panic, I pull it really deep inside and bury it
and then have nightly anxiety attacks.
- Healthy. - Yeah, yeah.
I don't want to burden someone with an anxious phone call.
So, what did you do to kind of chill out
and keep yourself in like a good emotional...?
I had no choice but to make a Kardashian tent on set
and make a place with Gumballs
and where "Kardashians" were playing 24/7.
I ended up never going into the tent
because the first take I passed out and then I tore my diaphragm and...
I was just on oxygen, so the Kardashian tent ended up
not being strong-enough.
Oh, my God!
I think I needed the actual Kardashians to be there.
Yeah. What's on set...
Next time I do a movie.
You want to direct as well?
Yeah, one day.
I think so.
But right now, I'm kind of absorbing.
I'm just learning. I'm also still exploring
I think I when I said that,
it was a couple years ago, and it was before Mother!,
and I think that I must have been at this place where I was like,
"Okay, I've done this. I think I get it, you know..."
And it wasn't until Mother! came along that I was like,
"Oh, my God!" I've so much, so much more to do with it,
like so many more places to go, and so many more directors to learn from
and characters to explore and...
What would a Jennifer Lawrence movie look like if you were directing it?
I have no idea. "Candy Land", " The Kardashians"
- That sounds pretty. - I'm totally kidding
- Well, thanks so much for chatting. - Thank you.