Jennifer Lawrence: an unhappy childhood, an adolescence of lies, and the New York apartment where she lived with rats

The prohibition was clear: she couldn’t play with other girls. That rule that threatened the healthy development of his childhood, found a foundation in his two older brothers, who were several years apart: Jennifer Lawrence She was the youngest and, being used to more rough games, her mother feared for the integrity of her kindergarten classmates. And so Karen, with the approval of her husband, Gary, He found that alternative not recommended at all: that his daughter avoid contact with other girls so as not to hurt them with his abruptness.

It all happened in the mid-1990s in Indian Hills, Kentucky, a small town of just over 5,000 inhabitants, where Jennifer was born and raised. His was a family in financial distress, the daughter of a summer camp employee and a laborer. Already in primary school that order from her parents expired, but anyway the girl could not find someone to have fun with.

Lawrence was very hyperactive and that added to her anxiety. She lived all the time at an unusual rate, which caused that no one wanted to play with her. She was left out all the time, especially from the group of girls who, said by her, saw her as if she were just another baby. She became part of the men’s hockey teams – being the only woman – with whom she got along better.

At the same time, at home, before going to sleep, Jennifer – born on August 15, 1990 – always performed for her parents. He would disguise himself as a character and entertain them. When he was 9 years old, he acted for the first time in school and that was the kick to announce at home that he wanted to study acting. It continued to be part of whatever act was done in the school and even in the Church of the city.

Maybe that was a way out, a way to feel valued. As a grown-up, Lawrence said that her parents’ attitude when she was younger made her feel lonely: no one her age approached her. It was a stage that he remembers with a certain resentment and anguish. Feelings that intertwine. Even without belonging to a generation in which parenting was more archaic or structured, he grew up with these methods.

Already being one of the references, a Hollywood star, in a talk with Vogue she remarked: “My childhood was unhappy, I lived very anxious. In fact, I even had to go to a therapist because my parents no longer knew what to do with me. It was a very tough stage. I do not want to imply that I was always unhappy, but in my childhood I did not have a nice time ”.

Some time later his parents would come to confess that, when Karen became pregnant with her, it was not in their plans to look for a new child. Hence, there is such a difference in age with his male brothers. “They nicknamed me ‘Plays with fire’, because they had decided not to have more children, but I arrived.” The translation and explanation they gave you? Who played with fire, got burned … and she was born. Children’s pedagogy did not reign in that home.

Jennifer’s most complex period was in high school. She was changed schools several times because she did not adapt, she could not find a way to get involved and make friends. In that interview, he said: “Once, a classmate asked me to hand out the invitations for her birthday party. I delivered one by one and in the end there were none for me. I asked him and he replied: ‘You are not invited’ “.

In order not to break down emotionally, she put on a shell and began to play a game that brought her more complications. “I became a pathological liar. He always lied about everything, “he recalled. “If someone told me ‘my leg hurts’, I would say ‘they are going to amputate mine next week'”.

That anecdote was the last, the one that got his ruse discovered. All because her mother came across her teacher in the hallways of the school, who, saddened, told her that she was available and sorry about “her daughter’s leg.” Upon returning home, Jennifer had to confess everything to her parents.

“First I pretended not to be understood, I didn’t know what they were talking about. But then I wrapped myself in a blanket and had to spout my lies. I looked at my mother and started: ‘I said that Dad had a boat, that we were millionaires, that you were pregnant, that my legs were going to be amputated, that I sterilize dogs and cats on weekends …’ “.

On that subject, he tried to leave a message. She did it because she was not accepted, because they left her aside. Aware that this is a common situation in schools around the world, the actress remarked: “Don’t worry about those bitches. This could be a great motto, because throughout our lives we are going to meet people of this type ”.

Someone believed they saw that his passion for acting and the lies that sounded very credible were signs that he had a certain talent for acting. At 14 she was seen by a talent scout and got her an audition, but her mother got in the way, telling her that they were lying to her and that she wouldn’t get far.

In time, with a few savings, Lawrence moved to New York alone. Because her parents did not have the money to support her, added to the fact that they did not agree with that step, they did not give her what she needed to support herself. The young woman took what she had achieved working the last summer in the camp where her mother was, thanks to the fact that she made her enter as a nursing assistant, since she had taken a course.

Already in the new city, he rented an apartment in the suburbs of few square meters and without furniture. He lived – or survived – in a very precarious way. While looking to be an actress, she worked in other occupations that allowed her to pay rent and little more than that.

In an interview with The Sun gave chilling details of those years. “I was raised by rats and that makes you stronger. It got to a point where I literally shared my food with them. He had no money at all. They would eat my bread, the only thing I had, and I would arrive hungry, I would take the bit out of it, and I would eat the rest ”.

He commented that because of the silence, because the property was alone all day, the rodents would go from here to there. Such was the amount that Jennifer crossed them even when she went to the bathroom. When her parents traveled to visit her and saw the precarious conditions in which she lived, they decided to give her financial help. They understood that if their daughter was willing to suffer and face all that, it was because she was really chasing a dream, no matter what she found. They had no money to spare, but what they contributed made their daughter’s stay more enjoyable.

What came is known history. His debut was in 2008 in Garden party Y The Poker House, films in which he played minor roles. The hinge would arrive four years later, in The Hunger Games. It was his consecration.

From then on he grew to settle at the top as one of the great figures of the seventh art, owner of his own Oscar: won it in 2013 by The good side of things. And it could well be the title of the 31 years of her life: Jennifer Lawrence has always known that on the other side of the bad things that were happening to her, there was a reward.

KEEP READING: