Jennifer Lawrence Mops Up In Her New Movie ‘Joy’ [Videos]
Hunger Games heroine Jennifer Lawrence shows her skills as a character actor in her latest movie Joy, where she plays the role of the inventor of the Miracle Mop.
Starring with greats such as Robert de Niro, Bradley Cooper, Diane Ladd, Virginia Madsen and Isabella Rossellini among others, Jennifer Lawrence plays a new kind of role, totally different from those she has previously played and she does it well.
Based on the true story of the life of Joy Mangano, inventor of the Miracle Mop, the film Joy hit the theater screens at Christmas and Jennifer Lawrence was far away from the character of Katniss Everdeen in this new role, although she did get pretty tough towards the end of the movie.
As a teenager, Joy Mangano invented a brightly-colored flea collar for dogs and cats that would make them more visible to cars at night, with a special release to prevent animals from choking. However, someone else had the same idea and patented it and she made up her mind that her next invention would go onto the market and would sell.
Now a divorced mother of two children, struggling to get by and living with her ex-husband, her mother, father and grandmother, Joy, played by Jennifer Lawrence comes up with a new idea. An amazing self-wringing mop with a detachable head that can be thrown into the wash.
Joy goes on to attempt to sell the mop via the Home Shopping Network and even got to meet with Joan Rivers – played in the movie by her daughter Melissa Rivers.
Without giving away too many spoilers, an article by Time features an interview with Joy Mangano herself and points out that while some aspects of the film are fiction, it kept pretty close to her real-life story and she approved of the film completely.
Meet the mop millionairess behind Jennifer Lawrence’s Joy https://t.co/ZKOEDtl0EV pic.twitter.com/6d2NyKAyBB
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) December 28, 2015
When director David O. Russell spoke to inventor and entrepreneur Joy Mangano and told her he wanted to direct a film based on her life, she was reportedly fine with that. She told Time, “People will ask, ‘Were you worried to be the inspiration?'” Mangano said there was not a doubt in her mind that Russell would do everything just right and he reportedly pretty much did.
When Jennifer Lawrence herself spoke to Time, she said that the film is only fifty percent inspired by Mangano and that the other half comes “David’s imagination and different daring women that have inspired him.”
Russell said he spent around 100 hours on the phone with Mangano while he was working through the story but only met her towards the end of the process. He said working this way allowed him to develop the fictional character inspired by her life, rather than a carbon copy of Mangano herself.
Russell went on to say the fact that Mangano also approved the final product was not an endorsement of its accuracy, but rather of the inspiration message the movie conveys.
Time’s article then lists the various ways in which the film Joy reflects the true story and where it veers away from the truth. The New York Times features a video where director Russell shares insight into one of the scenes in the film, Joy, where Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper interact.
The video, included below, tells how Neil Walker (played by Cooper) shows Joy (played by Lawrence) around the Home Shopping Network studio where she will attempt to sell her new invention.
#JoyMovie w/#JenniferLawrence is David O. Russell’s second-best opening at box office https://t.co/04AtfZn0Zi pic.twitter.com/fHfRY2QQmO
— Pamela McClintock (@PamelaDayM) December 27, 2015
Comparing Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper’s roles in American Hustle to the new film, Joy, Russell stressed the differences, saying, “they were never really together in American Hustle, and they’re both playing quietly powerful, intense people in this picture.”
The video shows Joy’s first encounter with Joan Rivers, played by her real-life daughter Melissa and Lawrence’s stunned reaction to meeting her. In the video, Russell speaks about Melissa Rivers taking on the role of her mother so soon after Joan Rivers’ death.
Have any readers seen the film Joy yet and how did you enjoy seeing Jennifer Lawrence in this different role? Let us know below.
[Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP]
