Jennifer Lawrence

Jennifer Shrader Lawrence born August 15, 1990 is an American actress. Her first major role was as a lead cast member on the TBS sitcom The Bill Engvall Show (2007–09). She subsequently appeared in the independent films The Burning Plain (2008) and Winter's Bone (2010), for which she received her first Academy Award for Best Actress nomination; at the time, she was the second youngest person to receive a nomination in the category.

At age 22, Lawrence's performance as Tiffany Maxwell in the David O. Russell-directed romantic comedy Silver Linings Playbook (2012) earned her several awards, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress (Musical or Comedy) and the Academy Award for Best Actress, making her the second-youngest Best Actress winner at the Oscars. For her supporting role in Russell's comedy-drama American Hustle (2013), she was awarded the Golden Globe Award, the BAFTA Award and received a third Academy Award nomination, all for Best Supporting Actress.

Lawrence is also known for playing Raven Darkhölme / Mystique in the superhero film X-Men: First Class (2011) and its sequel X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014). Beginning in 2012, she gained international fame for playing the leading heroine, Katniss Everdeen, in the popular The Hunger Games film series, which established her as the highest-grossing action heroine of all time.

Early life

Lawrence was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky. She is the daughter of Karen (Koch) Lawrence, a children's camp manager, and Gary Lawrence, a construction worker. She has two older brothers, Ben and Blaine. By the age of 14, she had decided to pursue an acting career, persuading her parents to take her to New York City to find a talent agent. Prior to finding success in Hollywood, Lawrence attended Kammerer Middle School in Louisville. She graduated from high school two years early with a 3.9 average, aiming at a career in acting. While growing up and in between acting, Lawrence served as an assistant nurse at the children's summer day camp that her mother ran.

In July 2007, Lawrence started her acting career as a teenager in the TBS comedy series The Bill Engvall Show, playing Lauren Pearson, the oldest daughter. The series premiered in September 2007 and was canceled in 2009 after three seasons. Lawrence was nominated for and won a Young Artist Award for Outstanding Young Performer in a TV Series in their 2009 award show for her role, and was nominated for Best Performance in a TV Series (Comedy or Drama).

Also in 2007, Lawrence auditioned for the role of Bella Swan in Twilight, but the role went to Kristen Stewart. Later, Lawrence stated that she was "glad" that she had not received the role because of the massive media attention that Stewart received. The following year, she appeared in a small role in the film Garden Party as Tiff. Lawrence had the lead role in another film director's debut, Lori Petty's family drama The Poker House, opposite Selma Blair and Chloë Grace Moretz, where she starred as Agnes, a young girl who is a victim of abuse. She was awarded the Los Angeles Film Festival Award for Best Performance in the Narrative Competition in 2008 for her role in the film. It was followed by an appearance on the big screen in Guillermo Arriaga's film directorial debut The Burning Plain, opposite Charlize Theron and Kim Basinger. Her performance in the film earned her the Marcello Mastroianni Award for best emerging actor/actress at the Venice Film Festival in 2008. She appeared in the music video for the song "The Mess I Made", from the band Parachute's 2009 album Losing Sleep.

Lawrence has received many awards and nominations for her work as an actress. For her performance in Silver Linings Playbook, she earned an Academy Award for best actress. She also has received four Critics' Choice Movie Awards for her work in Silver Linings Playbook, The Hunger Games, and American Hustle. She earned a Golden Globe Award for her performance in Silver Linings Playbook and another for American Hustle. She also has won two Screen Actors Guild Awards for her performances in Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle. In 2014, Lawrence won her first BAFTA Award for her performance in American Hustle.