Director David O. Russell has stirred up plenty of controversy during his career relating to his behavior on set and relationships with his actors, but one collaborator with whom he really seems to click is Jennifer Lawrence. The actress had her big breakout in 2010 starring in Debra Granik's Winter's Bone, but some of her best work since has been in Russell's movies – resulting in three Oscar nominations and one win. The success is undeniable, and it apparently the relationship was kick started by a dead spider.
The New Yorker has published a Jennifer Lawrence profile in advance of her new film Die My Love arriving in theaters (her first project since the 2023 comedy No Hard Feelings), and one story included in the piece is about her audition for the film Silver Linings Playbook – the first movie that saw the actress and Russell working together. The filmmaker remembers that they met virtually instead of in person, and he recalls her both selling her own personality and her capacity to play the character simultaneously. Said the writer/director,
