Jennifer Lawrence is reassessing her relationship with politics and the media, the actress told the New York Times in a lengthy interview published Saturday. Lawrence, who was outspoken about her disdain for Donald Trump during his first administration, admitted she’s experiencing a “complicated recalibration.”
“I don’t really know if I should [share political opinions],” Lawrence told the newspaper. “During the first Trump administration, I felt like I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off. But as we’ve learned, election after election, celebrities do not make a difference whatsoever on who people vote for. So then what am I doing? I’m just sharing my opinion on something that’s going to add fuel to a fire that’s ripping the country apart.”
“I think I’m in a complicated recalibration because I’m also an artist. I don’t want to start turning people off to films and to art that could change consciousness or change the world because they don’t like my political opinions,” she added. “I want to protect my craft so that you can still get lost in what I’m doing. And if I can’t say something that’s going to speak to some kind of peace or lowering the temperature or some sort of solution, I don’t want to be a part of the problem. I don’t want to make the problem worse.”
The admission touches on a lengthier examination of her past and present that courses throughout the interview.
“I regret everything I’ve ever done or said. I’m going to take the zip drives out of all of these cameras when I leave,” Lawrence added while still on the topic of Trump. “The second term feels different. Because he said what he was going to do. We knew what he did for four years. He was very clear. And that’s what we chose.”
In reference to past interviews in which she was freer with her words, Lawrence, who turned 35 in August and is the mother of two children she shares with her husband, art collector Cooke Maroney, pointed out the obvious (“I’ve also grown up”) and added, “And yeah, I’m a lot more nervous about whatever I say publicly. I don’t want to give an interview that’s a bunch of sound bites and a word salad. I don’t think that’s interesting and it would feel so inauthentic and not like what I’m here to do. So I’m trying to strike that balance.”
During a 2016 appearance on “The Graham Norton Show” in 2016, Lawrence infamously shared a story about finding out she was at the same concert as Trump.
“I had my full security, like, I was like, ‘Find Donald Trump.’ ‘Cause I was just, I was adamant on finding him and then making a video of me going, ‘Hey Trump, f— you!’” Lawrence explained.
The following year she came under fire for criticizing Trump’s travel ban. “My broken heart goes out to the innocent lives of Muslim refugees that are trying to escape terror and find safety for their families,” the actress wrote on Facebook. “I and millions of Americans understand that someone’s race or religion should never keep them in harm’s way.”
She added, “It should be every person’s duty to help and protect anyone no matter their nationality. I pray for sanity and compassion to return to the White House.”
The sentiment was met with mixed reactions from her fans and followers.
“My broken heart goes out to the naive, uninformed celebrities that think their opinion matters to people. I pray that intelligence and logic will one day win out in Hollywood, but I won’t hold my breath,” one person responded.
Read the interview with Jennifer Lawrence at the New York Times.
