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Entertainment
Karina Babenok

Despite Sleeping With The Director, Jennifer Lawrence Didn’t Fully Get “Mother!”

If there’s one thing Jennifer Lawrence has been appreciated for, besides her incredible acting talents, it’s her adorably hilarious relatability.

Over time, the 33-year-old actress has not only helped amass $6 billion with her movies at the box office, but she has also gained popularity for her brutally honest and often comical interviews.

Earlier this year, Jennifer highlighted her signature candid personality in a conversation about the 2017 movie, Mother!, which happens to be one of her most poorly received films.

Jennifer Lawrence said she was rather confused about the 2017 movie Mother!’s plot despite sleeping with its director at the time

Image credits: Paramount Pictures

The psychological horror film was written and directed by Darren Aronofsky and featured Jennifer alongside her co-lead, Javier Bardem.

A synopsis written on IMDB reads: “Amidst a wild flat meadow encircled by an Edenic lush forest, a couple have cocooned themselves in a secluded mansion that was not so long ago burned to the ground, devotedly restored by the supportive wife.

Appearing on an episode of Watch What Happens Live, Jennifer rated her confusion a “4”

Image credits: Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen

“Within this safe environment, the once-famous middle-aged poet husband is desirous of creating his magnum opus; however, he seems unable to break out of the persistent creative rut that haunts him.

“Then, unexpectedly, a knock at the door, the sudden arrival of a cryptic late-night visitor and his intrusive wife will stimulate the writer’s stagnant imagination.

“Little by little, much to the perplexed wife’s surprise, the more chaos he lets in their haven, the better for his punctured male ego.

“In the end, will this incremental mess blemish, irreparably, the couple’s inviolable sanctuary?”

“Much to the perplexed wife’s surprise, the more chaos [her husband] lets in their haven, the better for his punctured male ego,” an IMDB summary for Mother! states

Image credits: Paramount Pictures

As intriguing as the movie may sound, critics were harsh upon its release, as many viewers were left confused.

Despite the film being rather positively reviewed on Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic, audiences polled by CinemaScore reportedly gave the film a rare average grade of “F” on an A+ to F scale, making it one of twenty-two films to receive the score.

Image credits: Paramount Pictures

Amongst the confused viewers, Jennifer stood out, despite sleeping with the director at the time.

Appearing on an episode of Watch What Happens Live, the Hunger Games star was asked by host Andy Cohen: “On a scale of one to totally confused, how much did you understand your film Mother!?”

As J-Law chortled in glee at the question, she said: “I’m going to be honest.

“Well, I was sleeping with the director, so I had the CliffNotes. So, five. Or four?”

Andy replied in disbelief: “Four?! Wow okay, that’s not high.”

The psychological horror film was written and directed by Darren Aronofsky

Image credits: Variety

Jennifer and director Darren formed a romantic connection while shooting Mother!, though they reportedly broke up two months after the film’s release.

In another interview, the actress admitted that the movie’s negative critics placed a burden on their relationship.

Image credits: Paramount Pictures

While speaking to Adam Sandler for Variety’s “Actors on Actors” series, Jennifer recalled: “Normally, I promote a movie, ask people to go see it, and then it’s just out of your hands.

“I normally just kind of let it go.

“Dating the director was different.

“We’d be on the [press] tour together, I’d come back to the hotel, and the last thing I want to talk about or think about is a movie.

“He comes back from the tour, and that’s all he wants to talk about and I get it. It’s his baby.

“He wrote it. He conceived it. He directed it.

“I was doing double duty trying to be a supportive partner, while also being like, ‘Can I please, for the love of God, not think about Mother! for one second?’

“I finally was just like, ‘It’s not healthy.

“Neither of us are doing it because if I read it, I start getting defensive.’

“Especially because it’s my man.

“It’s awesome, what we did — some people hate it and the people who hate it, really hate it.

“But it’s nothing that needs to be defended and if I read a negative review, I just feel defensive.”

You can watch Mother!’s trailer below:

Image credits: Paramount Pictures

The Kentucky native has since moved on from this romance, as she started dating New York City-based art gallerist Cooke Maroney back in 2018 before getting married a year later.

Cooke and Jennifer welcomed their first baby together in February 2022, a boy named Cy  “after the postwar American painter Cy Twombly, one of Maroney’s favorite artists,” Vogue wrote.

J-Law fans “didn’t blame her” for a movie they didn’t all enjoy

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