Jennifer Lawrence Reveals Which of Her Films Was the Hardest to Prepare for — and, No, It’s Not a Hunger Games Movie

Jennifer Lawrence prepared rigorously for her role in Red Sparrow.

During an onstage Q&A at the 92NY Kaufmann Concert Hall in New York City on Jan. 7, the Die My Love actress picked the 2018 movie from her eclectic filmography as being the hardest one for her to prepare for. 

“Well, I mean, technically speaking, Red Sparrow, because I had to learn a Russian accent,” Lawrence, 35, told moderator and journalist Josh Horowitz.

In the thriller, Lawrence plays a former Russian ballerina turned lethal spy.

Aside from working on her Russian accent ahead of filming, the Hunger Games star spent months training her body for the ballerina scenes.

“Part of preparing for Dominika was the physical training with the ballet,” Lawrence shared in a featurette that was included in the movie’s home release. “It was something that was on my mind constantly throughout the entire script.”

Associate choreographer Kurt Froman also explained in the featurette that “I worked with Jen six days a week, three hours a day.”

Lawrence also reluctantly dieted to portray Dominika — the former ballerina forced to enter Sparrow School, a government program that trains her to be a deadly agent for espionage.

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“Red Sparrow was the first time that I was really hungry, and disciplined,” she told Vanity Fair at the time. “I can’t be in character as an ex-ballerina and not feel like an ex-ballerina.”

The Oscar winner added that she filmed Red Sparrow’s dancing scenes first in order to eat like she normally does for the rest of the filming. “I can’t work on a diet. I’m hungry. I’m standing on my feet. I need more energy,” Lawrence explained.