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Jennifer Shrader Lawrence (born August 15, 1990) is an American actress. She is known for starring in both action film franchises and independent dramas, and her films have grossed over $6 billion worldwide. The world's highest-paid actress in 2015 and 2016, she appeared in Time's 100 most influential people in the world list in 2013 and the Forbes Celebrity 100 list from 2013 to 2016. Lawrence began her career as a teenager with guest roles on television. Her first major role was as a main cast member on the sitcom The Bill Engvall Show (2007–2009). She made her film debut with a supporting role in the drama Garden Party (2008), and had her breakthrough playing a poverty-stricken teenager in the independent film Winter's Bone (2010). Lawrence gained stardom portraying the mutant Mystique in the X-Men film series (2011–2019) and Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games film series (2012–2015). The latter made her the highest-grossing action heroine. Lawrence collaborated with filmmaker David O. Russell on three films, which earned her various accolades. For portraying a troubled young widow in the romance Silver Linings Playbook (2012), she won the Academy Award for Best Actress, becoming the second-youngest winner in the category at age 22. Lawrence won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for playing an unpredictable wife in the black comedy American Hustle (2013). She also received Golden Globe Awards for both, and for portraying businesswoman Joy Mangano in the biopic Joy (2015). A series of mixed reviewed films and the media scrutiny of her role choices led to a small break from acting. Lawrence returned with the streaming film Don't Look Up (2021), after which she produced and starred in the drama Causeway (2022) and the comedy No Hard Feelings (2023). Lawrence is a feminist and advocates for women's reproductive rights. In 2015, she founded the Jennifer Lawrence Foundation, which advocates for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and the Special Olympics. Lawrence formed the production company Excellent Cadaver in 2018. She is an active member of the nonpartisan nonprofit anti-corruption organization RepresentUs and has served as a spokesperson in its videos about protecting democracy. Early life and education Jennifer Shrader Lawrence was born on August 15, 1990, in Indian Hills, Kentucky, to Gary, a construction company owner, and Karen (née Koch), a summer camp manager. She has two older brothers, Ben and Blaine. Her mother raised her to be "tough" like her brothers, and would not allow her to play with other girls in preschool, as she deemed her "too rough" with them. Lawrence was educated at the Kammerer Middle School in Louisville. She did not enjoy her childhood due to hyperactivity and social anxiety, and considered herself a misfit among her peers. Lawrence has said that her anxieties vanished when performing on stage and that acting gave her a sense of accomplishment. Her school activities included cheerleading, softball, field hockey and basketball, which she played on a boys' team coached by her father. Growing up, Lawrence was fond of horseback riding and frequently visited a local horse farm. She has an injured tailbone as a result of being thrown from a horse. When her father worked from home, she performed for him, often dressing up as a clown or ballerina. Lawrence had her first acting assignment at age nine, playing a prostitute in a church play based on the Book of Jonah. For the next few years, she continued taking parts in church plays and school musicals. Lawrence was 14 and on a family vacation in New York City when she was spotted on the street by a talent scout, who arranged for her to audition for talent agents. Her mother was not keen on her pursuing an acting career, but she briefly moved her family to New York to let Lawrence read for roles. After her first cold reading, the agents said that hers was the best they had heard from someone so young; however, her mother convinced her that they were lying. Lawrence said her early experiences were difficult because she felt lonely and friendless. She signed with CESD Talent Agency, which convinced her parents to let her audition for roles in Los Angeles. While her mother encouraged her to go into modeling, she insisted on pursuing acting, which she considered a "natural fit" for her abilities, and turned down several modeling offers. She dropped out of school at 14 without receiving a General Educational Development (GED) or diploma. Lawrence has described herself as "self-educated" and said that her career was her priority. Between her acting jobs in the city, she made regular visits to Louisville, where she was an assistant nurse at her mother's camp. Career 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. The series premiered in 2007 and ran for three seasons. 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 teenage girl .... Discover the Amy Maroney popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Amy Maroney books.