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Jennifer Lawrence: Talented From A Young Age, Lori Petty Reflects On Casting A Young Jen Who Is Now Sought After Star

By Jessica Dafoe
Published on: 02:03 PST, Jun 30, 2016

Jennifer Lawrence has reached the big time due to her talent and a fantastic selection of intriguing and varied roles in several hit film. The Oscar-winner has seemed to surge on the scene over the past five years and simply keeps impressing. But where did the blonde beauty get her start?

Orange Is the New Black star Lori Petty reflects on the time she first cast Lawrence for the star’s first ever film role. The actor, writer, and director shares how she saw something in the virtually unknown Lawrence early on and predicted big things for the young beauty.

Refinery 29 shares Petty’s words about a young Jen.

“I cast Jennifer Lawrence in her first film. I wrote and directed The Poker House with David Alan Grier. When I saw her tape, I was like, ‘Well, dammit, now I’ve gotta cast her. There’s our star.'”

Lori Petty knew then that success in the industry was a definite for Lawrence, who shone in the spotlight even then.

“Sexy, blond hair, camera loves her,” Petty said. “She has no fear of the camera whatsoever — she doesn’t even act like it’s there. The camera just eats her up. Her instincts are on point. I taught her a lot in three months. I’m not taking any credit, but I’m just saying that I had to give her a lot of things that people taught me.”

Petty also noted a moment she had to educate Lawrence when she least expected to, forgetting that Lawrence’s generation is not fully aware of past musical recording and playing devices. Lori had to go through the steps of putting a record on with Jen.

“I said, ‘Baby, put the record on,’ and she just kind of stood there like she didn’t want to look at me,” Petty recalled. “I said, ‘What’s the matter, honey?’ She said, ‘I don’t know what this is.’ I said, ‘Sh**, I’m so sorry.’ This is before records were cool again. She wasn’t an idiot — she was a teenager who never saw records before.”

The star has only risen faster and shone brighter since that first role in Petty’s film, and after a number of Oscar nominations and a win, Lawrence continues to push the boundaries of her career. Presently, Lawrence has made headlines for her initiative to tackle production and a lead role in the film which details the rise and downfall of Theranos. The billion dollar blood-testing company fell hard and fast when Elizabeth Holmes’ technology was found to be inaccurate.

Lawrence will be taking on the role of Holmes and will be on the production team for the sure-to-be hit. Vanity Fair relays the words of a studio source who shares about the subject of the film.

“They basically tell the story of how Elizabeth Holmes created these fraudulent blood-testing machines, raised $9 billion through venture capitalists in Silicon Valley, and refuses to admit they don’t work even when it is obvious the testing is inaccurate. They employ a big-time litigator and threaten to sue anyone who challenges her.”

Once the film was pitched by The Big Short writer, Peter McKay, there were a number of entertainment giants bidding to snap up the project. It ended up being Legendary Pictures who won the bid and will team up with Lawrence and McKay to transfer the true tale to the big screen.

An unnamed executive from another company that was outbid spoke about the strength of the Lawrence-McKay partnership and addressed reasons why he believed so many were aching to work with the team.

“They are two pieces of talent that you want to be in business with.They are both white hot. And there was a resonant pitch.”

[Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images]

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