2006–2011: Early roles and breakthrough Lawrence began her acting career with a minor role in the
television pilot Company Town (2006), which was never sold. She followed it with guest roles in several television shows, including
Monk (2006) and
Medium (2007). She received her first part as a series regular on the
TBS sitcom
The Bill Engvall Show, in which she played
Lauren, the rebellious teenage daughter of a family living in suburban
Louisville, Colorado.
Tom Shales of
The Washington Post considered her a
scene stealer in her part, and David Hinckley of the
New York Daily News wrote that she was successful in "deliver[ing] the perpetual exasperation of teenage girls". In 2009 Lawrence won a
Young Artist Award for Outstanding Young Performer in a TV Series for the role. Lawrence made her film debut in the 2008 drama film
Garden Party, in which she played a troubled teenager named Tiff. She then appeared in director
Guillermo Arriaga's feature film debut
The Burning Plain (2008), a drama narrated in a
hyperlink format. She was cast as the teenage daughter of
Kim Basinger's character, who discovers her mother's extramarital affair. She shared the role with
Charlize Theron, who played the older version of her character. Mark Feeney of
The Boston Globe described her role as "a thankless task", but Derek Elley of
Variety praised her as the production's prime asset. Her performance earned her the
Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Emerging Actress at the
2008 Venice Film Festival. The same year, she appeared in the music video for the song "The Mess I Made" by
Parachute. In 2008, she starred in
Lori Petty's drama
The Poker House as the oldest of three sisters living with a drug-abusing mother. Stephen Farber of
The Hollywood Reporter opined that Lawrence "has a touching poise on camera that conveys the resilience of children". She won an Outstanding Performance Award at the
Los Angeles Film Festival for her performance in the film. Lawrence's
breakthrough role came in
Debra Granik's independent drama ''
Winter's Bone (2010), based on the novel of the same name by Daniel Woodrell. The film featured her as 17-year-old Ree Dolly, a poverty-stricken teenaged girl in the Ozark Mountains who cares for her mentally ill mother and younger siblings while searching for her missing father. She traveled to the Ozarks a week before filming began to live with the family on whom the story was based; in preparation for the role, she learned to fight, skin squirrels, and chop wood. David Denby of The New Yorker asserted that the film "would be unimaginable with anyone less charismatic", and Peter Travers of Rolling Stone'' wrote that "her performance is more than acting; it's a gathering storm. Lawrence's eyes are a roadmap to what's tearing Ree apart." The production won the Grand Jury Prize at the
Sundance Film Festival. The actress was awarded the
National Board of Review Award for Breakthrough Performance, and received her first nominations for the
Golden Globe Award,
SAG Award and
Academy Award for Best Actress, becoming the
second-youngest Best Actress Oscar nominee at the time. in 2011, where she received her first
Academy Award nomination for ''
Winter's Bone'' (2010) In 2011, Lawrence took on a supporting role in
Like Crazy, a romantic drama about long-distance relationships, starring
Anton Yelchin and
Felicity Jones.
Kenneth Turan of the
Los Angeles Times considered the film to be an "intensely wrought and immensely satisfying love story" and credited all three performers for "making their [characters'] yearning palpable". She then appeared again with Yelchin in
Jodie Foster's
The Beaver, alongside Foster and
Mel Gibson. Filmed in 2009, the production was delayed by controversy surrounding Gibson and earned less than half of its $21 million budget. After her dramatic role in ''Winter's Bone'', Lawrence looked for something less serious, and found it with her first high-profile release—
Matthew Vaughn's superhero film
X-Men: First Class (2011)—a prequel to the
X-Men film series. She portrayed the
shapeshifting mutant
Mystique, a role played by
Rebecca Romijn in the earlier films. Vaughn cast Lawrence, as he thought that she would be able to portray the weakness and strength involved in the character's transformation. For the part, Lawrence lost weight and practiced yoga. For Mystique's blue form, she had to undergo eight hours of
makeup, where latex pieces and body paint were applied to her otherwise nude body, as Romijn had done on the other films. This process required Lawrence to report to set at 2 a.m. She was intimidated by the role as she admired Romijn. Writing for
USA Today,
Claudia Puig considered the film to be a "classy re-boot" of the film series, and believed that her "high-spirited performance" empowered the film. With worldwide earnings of $350 million,
X-Men: First Class became Lawrence's highest-grossing film at that point.
2012–2015: Established actress In 2012, Lawrence starred as
Katniss Everdeen in
The Hunger Games, an adaptation of the
first book in author
Suzanne Collins'
trilogy of the same name. Set in a
post-apocalyptic future, the series follows the teenage heroine Everdeen as she joins rebel forces against a totalitarian government after winning a brutal, televised annual event. Despite being an admirer of the books, Lawrence was initially hesitant to accept the role because of the film's grand scale. She agreed to the project after her mother convinced her to take the part. She practiced archery, rock and tree climbing, and hand-to-hand combat techniques, and other physically demanding activities for the role. While training for the part, she injured herself running into a wall.
The Hunger Games garnered positive reviews, with Lawrence's portrayal of Everdeen being particularly praised;
Roger Ebert described the film as "an effective entertainment," and found Lawrence to be "strong and convincing in the central role." Similarly,
Todd McCarthy of
The Hollywood Reporter called her an "ideal screen actress", believing that she had embodied the Everdeen of the novel, and added that she "anchors [the film] with impressive gravity and presence". With worldwide revenues of over $690 million, making Lawrence the highest-grossing
action heroine of all time. The film's success established her as a global star. '' at the
2012 Toronto International Film Festival Later in 2012, Lawrence played Tiffany Maxwell, a troubled young widow, in
David O. Russell's romantic comedy-drama
Silver Linings Playbook. The film is an adaptation of
Matthew Quick's
novel of the same name, and follows her character as she finds companionship with Pat Solitano Jr. (played by
Bradley Cooper), a man with
bipolar disorder. Lawrence was drawn to her character's complex personality, explaining, "She was just kind of this mysterious enigma to me because she didn't really fit any basic kind of character profile. Somebody who is very forceful and bullheaded is normally very insecure, but she isn't." While Russell initially found her too young for the part, she convinced him to cast her via a
Skype audition. Peter Travers called her "some kind of miracle. She's rude, dirty, funny, foulmouthed, sloppy, sexy, vibrant, and vulnerable, sometimes all in the same scene, even in the same breath." Lawrence won the
Golden Globe, SAG Award and the Academy Award for Best Actress, becoming—at age 22—the
second-youngest Best Actress Oscar winner. Her final film of the year was alongside
Max Thieriot and
Elisabeth Shue in
Mark Tonderai's critically panned thriller
House at the End of the Street. In January 2013, she hosted an episode of the
NBC late-night sketch comedy
Saturday Night Live.
The Devil You Know, a small-scale production that Lawrence had filmed for in 2005, was her first release of 2013. She did little research for the role, and based her performance on knowledge of the era from films and television shows she had watched. '' at the 2015
San Diego Comic-Con Lawrence played Serena Pemberton in
Susanne Bier's depression-era drama
Serena (2014), based on the
novel of the same name by
Ron Rash. In the film, she and her husband, George (played by Bradley Cooper), become involved in criminal activities after realizing they cannot have children. The project was filmed in 2012, and was released in 2014 to poor reviews. Lawrence then reprised the role of Mystique in
X-Men: Days of Future Past, which served as a sequel to both
X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) and
X-Men: First Class (2011). The film received positive reviews and grossed $748.1 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film in the
X-Men series to that point.
Justin Chang of
Variety praised her look in the film but thought she had little to do but "glower, snarl and let the
f/x artists do their thing". Lawrence's next two releases were the final installments of
The Hunger Games film series,
Mockingjay – Part 1 (2014) and
Part 2 (2015). For the soundtrack of the former film, she recorded the song "
The Hanging Tree", which charted on multiple international
singles charts. While filming a scene in a tunnel for
Part 2, a fog machine malfunctioned and released an excessive amount of fog, nearly suffocating Lawrence. She was carried out by a rescue crew. In a review of the final installment in the series,
Manohla Dargis of
The New York Times drew similarities between Everdeen's journey as a rebel leader and Lawrence's rise to stardom, stating that the actress "now inhabits the role as effortlessly as breathing, partly because, like all great stars, she seems to be playing a version of her 'real' self." Both films grossed over $650 million worldwide. During production in Boston, the press reported on a disagreement between Lawrence and Russell that resulted in a "screaming match". She said their friendship made it easier for them to disagree, because people fight when they really love each other. The film was not as well-received as their previous collaborations, but Lawrence's performance was unanimously praised; critic
Richard Roeper found it to be her best work since ''Winter's Bone'', terming it "a wonderfully layered performance that carries the film through its rough spots and sometime dubious detours." She won her third Golden Globe for it, and was nominated for another Academy Award for Best Actress, becoming the youngest actor in history to accrue four Oscar nominations.
2016–2021: Fluctuations and expansion '' in 2016 Lawrence began 2016 by providing the narration for
A Beautiful Planet, a documentary film that explores Earth from the
International Space Station. She played Mystique for the third time in
X-Men: Apocalypse (2016). The film received mixed reviews, with a consensus that it was overfilled with action that detracted from the story's themes and the cast's performances. Helen O'Hara of
Empire deemed it a letdown from the previous installments of the series and criticized Lawrence for making her character too grim. Despite this, she was awarded Favorite Movie Actress at the
43rd People's Choice Awards. Lawrence was paid $20 million to star in the science fiction romance
Passengers (2016), and received top billing over co-star
Chris Pratt. The film featured Pratt and Lawrence as two individuals who wake up ninety years too soon from an
induced hibernation on a spaceship bound for a new planet. She felt nervous performing her first sex scene and kissing a married man (Pratt) onscreen; she drank alcohol to prepare herself for filming those scenes.
Passengers was met with underwhelming reviews, much to the surprise of its cast and crew, but Lawrence initially defended the film by calling it a "tainted, complicated love story." She later expressed regret over starring in the film.
Darren Aronofsky's psychological horror film
Mother! was Lawrence's sole release of 2017. She played a young wife who experiences trauma when her home is invaded by unexpected guests. Lawrence spent three months rehearsing the film in a warehouse in Brooklyn, despite her reluctance to rehearsals in her previous assignments. The intense role proved grueling for her; she was put on supplemental oxygen when she hyperventilated one day, and also dislocated a rib. The film was better received by critics; Walter Addiego of the
San Francisco Chronicle labeled it "assaultive" and a "deliberate test of audience endurance", and credited Lawrence for "never allow[ing] herself to be reduced simply to a howling victim." The following year, she starred as Dominika Egorova, a Russian spy who makes contact with a mysterious
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agent (played by
Joel Edgerton), in Francis Lawrence's espionage thriller
Red Sparrow, based on Jason Matthews'
novel of the same name. In preparation for the part, she learned to speak in a Russian accent and trained in ballet for four months. Having been the victim of a nude photo hack, the actress found herself challenged by the sexuality in her role but said that performing the nude scenes made her feel empowered. Eric Kohn of
IndieWire disliked the film's denouement, but praised the performances of Lawrence and
Charlotte Rampling, remarking that "the considerable talent on display is [the film's] constant saving grace." In 2019, Lawrence made her fourth and final appearance as Mystique, in the superhero film
Dark Phoenix, which emerged as a critical and box-office failure. Following roles in a series of mixed-reviewed films, Lawrence took a small break from acting. She felt unsatisfied with her films, wanted to avoid media scrutiny, and focused on domestic activities during this period. Wanting to work with director
Adam McKay since she was 19, Lawrence returned in 2021 in his
Netflix film ''
Don't Look Up for a reported fee of $25 million. A "slapstick apocalypse", the film had her and costar Leonardo DiCaprio play two astronomers attempting to warn humanity about an extinction-level asteroid. For the role, Lawrence received a red dye job and an undercut. In an interview with Vogue'', she said that she extensively researched the typical look of aspiring astrophysicists. Reviews for the film were mixed, but critics mostly praised the performances of Lawrence and DiCaprio, who were described as "powerhouse" by Ian Sandwell of
Digital Spy and "a delight to watch" by Saibal Chatterjee of
NDTV. Lawrence earned a fifth Golden Globe nomination for the film. It broke the record for the most views, 152 million hours in a single week in Netflix history, and ranks as the platform's second most-watched film within 28 days of release.
2022–present: Critical resurgence Lawrence starred in
Lila Neugebauer's independent drama
Causeway (2022), playing a soldier suffering from a brain injury. She also produced the film under her company,
Excellent Cadaver, which she had formed in 2018. After starring in several big-budget films, she was drawn to the "slow melody of a character-driven story". Under Excellent Cadaver, Lawrence produced
Bread and Roses (2023), a documentary film from director Sahra Mani about Afghan women under
Taliban rule. Keen to work in a comedy, Lawrence accepted her friend
Gene Stupnitsky's offer to star in his sex comedy
No Hard Feelings (2023), which she also produced. She played a young woman facing bankruptcy who accepts a
Craigslist posting from wealthy parents to date their introverted 19-year-old son (played by
Andrew Barth Feldman). Reviewers had favorable opinions on the film and appreciated Lawrence's comic timing. She received another Golden Globe nomination for her performance. After executive producing the documentary
Zurawski v Texas (2024), Lawrence next produced and starred in
Die My Love (2025), a thriller directed by
Lynne Ramsay, which premiered at the
Cannes Film Festival. Her performance garnered acclaim from critics, some of whom declared it was a return to form. Tim Grierson of
Screen International considered Lawrence to be "the match that lights Lynne Ramsay's gripping, slow-burn fifth feature," and praised her ability to give "a volcanic performance that is nonetheless very controlled, avoiding melodramatic theatrics." That same year, Lawrence was honored for her contributions to cinema with the
Donostia Award at the
San Sebastián International Film Festival, becoming the youngest recipient in the award's history. She will reprise her role as Katniss Everdeen in
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, set to release in November 2026. She will portray the mafia informant
Arlyne Brickman and Hollywood talent agent
Sue Mengers in
Paolo Sorrentino's film adaptation of
Teresa Carpenter's book
Mob Girl and an untitled biopic, respectively. Lawrence will additionally star in and produce
Luca Guadagnino's film adaptation of the novel
Burial Rites, about the last woman to be executed for murder in
Iceland. She is attached to star in the upcoming
Apple Studios and
A24 mystery film
The Wives. ==Artistry and public image==