Jennifer Lawrence’s Toughest Shoot Ever: ‘I Threw the Script on the Ground’ 9 Years Ago!

Nine years ago, Jennifer Lawrence endured one of the most intense—and challenging—experiences of her acting career. It occurred in 2017, during the filming of Mother! directed by Darren Aronofsky. The physically and emotionally taxing production left a deep mark on the actress, who does not hesitate to describe it as a nightmare.

By that time, Lawrence was already an international star. Known from Winter’s Bone, propelled by the Hunger Games saga, and having won an Oscar for Silver Linings Playbook at just 23, she continued to pursue ambitious projects. However, Mother! was no ordinary film. It was a dark, oppressive psychological thriller that was almost unsettling. In it, she played the role of a devoted woman lost in a spiral of chaotic events within her own home, pushing her to her limits.

A Descent into Darkness

In a 2017 interview with Vogue upon the film’s release, the actress opened up about the subject.

“I had to delve much deeper into darkness than ever before in my life,” she said. Some scenes were indeed so intense that she suffered from panic attacks. During one particularly tough moment, she even lost consciousness, injured her diaphragm, and struggled to breathe for several days.

“There was one scene that had been worrying me for a long time. I had to portray a character of incredible darkness; it was monstrously sad. Once that sequence was over, I fainted. I tore my diaphragm, and afterward, I couldn’t breathe normally.”

The filming had to be paused. She recounted that even after fainting, she was still on oxygen tubes when Darren Aronofsky – who was also her partner at the time – wanted to reshoot the scene: “I had oxygen tubes in my nostrils, and Darren says, ‘It was blurry, we need to go again.’ And I told him, ‘Go screw yourself!’,” she admitted candidly. Despite his obsession with perfection, the director eventually agreed to give her a break.

A Demanding Director…

Darren Aronofsky is known for eliciting raw and extreme performances from his actors, as he did with Natalie Portman in Black Swan and Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler. He fully embraces this approach, claiming that it’s not him “breaking” the actors, but rather that they are reaching for that emotional intensity themselves.

“We gave her time to recover. The fact is she had thought about this scene far too long, and it got into her head. The emotions overwhelmed her, and I saw what was happening – because I have experience – and I was able to position the camera correctly,” explained the filmmaker to The Guardian.

“Originally, the shot was on her back, and I flipped everything, let her recover, and said, ‘Put the camera on her face, right now,’ because that’s the kind of emotion you almost never see. She has such raw, natural talent. She’s an exceedingly brave actress with no limits,” he added.

…and a Heavy Atmosphere

The shooting of Mother! was so intense that the team had to set up a “happy place” for Jennifer Lawrence on the set: a room with candies and continuous episodes of the Kardashians to help her unwind between demanding scenes.

Indeed, as a big fan of the Kardashian family, the actress shared that she had asked the crew to create this “Kardashian tent” where she could take refuge. She explained: “It was a tent with pictures of the Kardashians and Keeping Up with the Kardashians playing on loop, and chewing gums… My slice of heaven.”

A Professional and Romantic Breakup

Despite the pain and difficulties, Jennifer Lawrence does not regret her participation in Mother!, as she told Le Parisien in 2017.

“When I read the script, I was shocked; I threw the script on the floor, I told him he had psychological issues! But the film is a masterpiece. The most amazing thing is that it can be understood in a million different ways.”

However, this experience also marked the end of her relationship with Aronofsky. After the shoot, the global promotion of the film was another ordeal. The director, obsessed with the reviews, kept bringing them up, which became burdensome for the actress.

“When we were at the hotel, the last thing I wanted to talk about was the film. But he kept coming back to it, he couldn’t stop talking about it. I understand, he wrote it, he conceived it, he directed it,” she shared with Variety in November 2018. “I wanted to be a supportive partner but he started reading me the reviews and I thought, ‘This isn’t healthy because I know if I start reading them too, I’ll get defensive.’ Especially when it concerns my man.”

A New Beginning

Today, Jennifer Lawrence has found a certain balance, choosing lighter or more nuanced roles. She has since appeared in the satire Don’t Look Up and the comedy No Hard Feelings. She presented Die, My Love at Cannes this year, a drama alongside Robert Pattinson, directed by Lynne Ramsay. An intense project, yet in a different setting, where she explores her emotions without getting completely lost in them. The film does not yet have a release date scheduled in France.

If you wish—and dare—to (re)discover Mother!, head to VOD.