‘The Hunger Games’: Jennifer Lawrence Reveals the Movies ‘Permanently’ Changed Her Body
Jennifer Lawrence has quite the resume, especially for someone so young. The actor already boasts four Oscar nominations and has been in everything from small indie films to massive film franchises. But, for some fans, Lawrence will forever be Katniss Everdeen, the girl on fire. Prior to being cast in The Hunger Games and its subsequent sequels: Catching Fire, Mockingjay – Part 1, and Mockingjay – Part 2, Lawrence had developed a strong fan base. But, after she landed the role of Katniss, she exploded into superstardom.
The Hunger Games books had already picked up a massive audience prior to them being made into a movie series. The books were bestsellers amongst young adults and Lawrence herself was a huge fan of them even before she auditioned. The series follows Katniss Everdeen as she attempts to navigate her dystopian world. But, the most heinous things in Katniss’ world were The Hunger Games.
‘The Hunger Games’ required the cast to do extensive training
The Hunger Games consisted of a yearly competition where a male and female child from each of the 12 districts were required to fight to the death until there was a lone victor. Katniss volunteers in place of her sister and uses her innate archery skills, knowledge of the forest, and a few days of training to help her survive in the arena. Of course, Lawrence had to undergo some serious training of her own.
Because The Hunger Games movies were so action-packed, Lawrence was required to do all sorts of physical training to prepare her for the role of Katniss. Such training included running, free running, (which was utilized to improve agility), climbing, combat, yoga, and, of course, archery. Like her character, Lawrence really enjoyed her archery training. In fact, in an interview with NPR, the Joy actor revealed that she loved the sport despite the fact that she had a very strict teacher.
Jennifer Lawrence really enjoyed learning archery for the movies
“I really, really enjoyed archery,” Lawrence revealed about what it was like to learn the sport for the sake of The Hunger Games movies. “I had an amazing instructor, Khatuna [Lorig]. She was Georgian. She was an excellent instructor — very, very strict. If I had bad form, she would pinch my ear. She didn’t really put up with anything.”
Lawrence’s archery training was so intense that it actually changed the structure of her body. When she went to film the sequel to The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, she noted that the structural make up of her body had actually shifted. “It totally changed my body,” Lawrence revealed. “It was so crazy, when I went back for the fitting for the second movie for Catching Fire, my shoulders were 2 inches broader and my right arm is 1 inch longer than my left arm, permanently, I guess. But I really enjoy it.”
Where are ‘The Hunger Games’ movies currently streaming?
It seems that Lawrence had an affinity for archery just like her character in The Hunger Games movies. We suppose it’s great that she loved archery so much, especially since it altered her body forever. If you’re interested in watching the actor shoot some arrows, all four films are currently streaming on Amazon Prime.
