Jennifer Lawrence actually got injured because her best movie ‘Mother!’ went “too far”

Jennifer Lawrence’s involvement in Darren Aronofsky’s Mother! marked a significant departure from her previous roles, and the film itself became one of the most controversial and divisive in her career. Aronofsky, known for his intense and boundary-pushing films such as Black Swan and Requiem for a Dream, directed Mother!, creating an experience that had a profound impact on Lawrence.

In an interview with Variety during the release of Mother!, Lawrence revealed the physical toll the intense filming process took on her. She described the challenge of returning to a calm state after the director called cut, saying, “I had trouble calming down and coming back after he called cut. Sometimes it’s hard, when you summon all of these feelings, to just kind of snap out of it. I’ve always been fine snapping out of it, but I’ve never had to go this dark before.”

Lawrence’s commitment to her role led to an injury on set as she lost control of herself, tearing her diaphragm and popping a chest rib out. Reflecting on the intensity of the experience, Lawrence humorously mentioned that she wasn’t sure if she would work with Aronofsky again. Aronofsky acknowledged the extremity of their approach, stating, “I think we definitely went really, really intense,” to which Lawrence interjected, “too far, too far.” Aronofsky responded, “Well, we always go a little too far sometimes.”

Following her prolific years between 2011 and 2016, during which Lawrence starred in blockbuster franchises like X-Men and The Hunger Games and earned multiple Oscar nominations, she began to slow down. Since 2016, Lawrence has appeared in a limited number of films, including Mother!, Red Sparrow, X-Men: Dark Phoenix, Don’t Look Up, and Causeway.

Aronofsky’s The Whale, released after Mother!, received critical acclaim and was nominated for three Oscars, winning two, including Best Actor for Brendan Fraser. The collaboration between Lawrence and Aronofsky in Mother! showcased the actor’s willingness to explore darker and more intense roles, even at the cost of physical strain.