Jennifer Lawrence Says Her ‘Annoying’ Personality Was a ‘Defense Mechanism’

The "Hunger Games" star reflected on the way her personality was perceived in her older interviews, and the rejection she felt from the public at the time.

Jennifer Lawrence is getting candid about her behavior during her past interviews at the height of her fame in the mid-2010s. At the time, the actress had come under scrutiny from fans who claimed her so-called "cool girl" persona was "fake."

During her most recent interview with The New Yorker, promoting her new film, "Die, My Love," she touched on that era. When her interviewer mentioned going through her old interviews, she replied, "Oh, no. So hyper. So embarrassing."

Fans had initially taken delight in her goofy antics, but their opinions eventually shifted in the opposite direction. Addressing whether her personality was indeed "fake," Lawrence said, "Well, it is, or it was, my genuine personality, but it was also a defense mechanism."

Because she was famous, Lawrence felt she had been put on a high pedestal, and her reaction was to push against it somehow. "And so it was a defense mechanism, to just be, like, 'I'm not like that! I poop my pants every day!'" she continued.

She also shared that she expected the turn of public opinion. "I was young, I lived alone, I was being chased," she said. She was constantly followed by paparazzi when she drove around Los Angeles, and at one point, she felt she had too many projects and was doing too much press.

The then–20-something-year-old was overwhelmed. "I look at those interviews, and that person is annoying. I get why seeing that person everywhere would be annoying," she noted.

"Ariana Grande's impression of me on 'S.N.L.' was spot-on," she added. Grande was part of the "Celebrity Family Feud" sketch in 2016, where she delivered a hilarious and compelling impersonation of Lawrence, constantly referring to herself as a "regular person."

"I'm just, like, a snackaholic. I mean, I love Pringles. If no one's looking, I'll eat, like, a whole can," Grande famously said. Reflecting on the backlash, Lawrence noted, "I felt—I didn't feel, I was, I think—rejected not for my movies, not for my politics, but for me, for my personality."

Lawrence's acting career began when she was a teen, and she has since done dozens of magazine profiles. While she's certainly no stranger to doing press, she has become more intentional with her interviews over the last few years.

"Can you imagine? After ten years of being, like, 'I used to be folksy, but everyone thought everything was a shtick,' then I show up for my first day of this, like," Lawrence said, pantomiming a clumsy person wearing a mouth guard.

She continued, "I was, like, I will do anything to prevent this from happening. It would be like if I tripped and fell on my way into the room."