TV & Movies
Jennifer Lawrence Says She Lost This Major Role Over Looks
The Oscar winner claims she didn’t get the job because she was “not pretty enough.”
Jennifer Lawrence’s resume is an acclaimed medley of beloved YA, psychological drama, and beyond, but even with that bevy of lauded roles, she still thinks about the one that got away.
In a recent appearance on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, Lawrence revealed why she thinks she lost the chance to star in an Oscar-winning film.
Calling Out Criticism
In the chat posted on Jan. 12, Lawrence listed a few filmmakers she’s yet to work with. Horowitz noted that Quentin Tarantino has been “chasing” Lawrence for a collaboration. “He wants you,” he said.
“I don’t know about that,” Lawrence said, before acknowledging that she did, in fact, turn down a part in The Hateful Eight. She also confirmed Horowitz’s assertion that Tarantino wanted Lawrence to star in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. “He did, and then everybody was like, ‘She’s not pretty enough to play Sharon Tate,’” Lawrence said, adding to the audience’s surprised reaction: “I know!”
Horowitz said this couldn’t be true, but Lawrence stuck to her version of events. “I’m pretty sure it is true,” she said. “Or, it’s that thing where I’ve been telling this story this way for so long that I believe it. No, but I’m pretty sure that happened — or he just never was considering me for the part, and the internet just went out of their way to call me ugly.”
Indeed, one of Lawrence’s most vocal critics was Tate’s sister, Debra Tate, who told TMZ in 2017: “She’s not pretty enough to play Sharon. That’s a horrible thing to say! But, you know, I have my standards.”
Of course, Margot Robbie ultimately went on to portray Tate in the 2019 film. And Lawrence had, in fact, been considered for the project but not for that part. In 2021, Tarantino revealed on WTF with Marc Maron that Lawrence read for the role of Squeaky, but it simply “didn’t work out.”
The Roles That Might Have Been
This isn’t the first time Lawrence has opened up about career misses. In a 2023 appearance on The Rewatchables podcast, she said she’d been “immediately” turned down for the role of Bella Swan in Twilight.
She previously told Howard Stern that she was “devastated” to lose out on the lead role in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. But alas, both losses helped pave the way for Lawrence to become Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games.
