Jennifer Lawrence has been the talk of the town recently as she was slammed for claiming that no women have led an action flick before her casting in the Hunger Games.
Lawrence made this controversial remark during the latest edition of Variety’s “Actors on Actors.” In the video, Lawrence was seen having a sit-down discussion with Woman King star Viola Davis, where they candidly talked about their craft, motherhood, and an industry filled and ruled by men.
At one point in their conversation, Lawrence looked back and recalled the time when she was cast in Hunger Games. Speaking with Davis, the Hunger Games actress implied that the science fiction dystopian film has been the first flick that had a female action lead.
Lawrence portrayed the role of Katniss Everdeen in the Hunger Games. The 2012 film is based on Suzanne Collins’ 2008 novel of the same name, which follows the journey of the tributes who will compete in the Hunger Games.
“I remember when I was doing Hunger Games, nobody had ever put a woman in the lead of an action movie because it wouldn’t work,” said Lawrence. “We were told girls and boys can both identify with a male lead, but boys cannot identify with a female lead.”
Lawrence went on to say that she’s glad that the industry has been changing and more films are now shattering glass ceilings. “It just makes me so happy every single time I see a movie come out that just blows through every one of those beliefs, and proves that it is just a lie to keep certain people out of the movies. To keep certain people in the same positions that they’ve always been in.”
Soon after the snippet of the video dropped on social media, Lawrence’s remark went viral and drew flak and criticism on Twitter. Some users even listed down actresses who starred in action films way before Hunger Games existed.
Jennifer Lawrence saying that she was the first woman to ever lead an action movie is so disrespectful to these icons. pic.twitter.com/9sIlFTA5lC
— Daniel Kwan 🔜@ Anime North (@danielhkwan) December 7, 2022
Jennifer Lawrence: "I remember when I was doing Hunger Games, nobody had ever put a woman as the lead in an action movie, because it wouldn't work." pic.twitter.com/36sbCrvgQH
— ARTPOP’s Revenge (@DeanGagaKennedy) December 11, 2022
Jennifer Lawrence: "I remember when I was doing Hunger Games, nobody had ever put a woman as the lead in an action movie, because it wouldn't work."
lolwut pic.twitter.com/SBPmwQ4iG4
— Kung Fu Man (@KungFuMan316) December 8, 2022
With the upmost respect to Jennifer Lawrence, these women (and more) have pioneered female representation in action cinema.
Can we be doing more? Absolutely. A lot more.
But we have to acknowledge film history and how these actors have paved the way for film heroines today. https://t.co/ElzJoEuJhz pic.twitter.com/XiBK4pGlp6
— Yoko Higuchi (@theYokoHiguchi) December 7, 2022
Following the backlash she received, Lawrence went on to clarify that she didn’t mean to discredit her fellow actresses’ works.
“That’s certainly not what I meant to say at all,” she told Hollywood Reporter. “I know that I am not the only woman who has ever led an action film. What I meant to emphasize was how good it feels.”
Lawrence added: “I meant that with Viola – to blow past these old myths that you hear about… about the chatter that you would hear around that kind of thing.”
She also explained that the statement came out wrong. “It was my blunder, and it came out wrong. I had nerves talking to a living legend,” she said.
With that said, female action stars have been around for many years now. It is only recently that we’ve seen the increase and emergence of strong female-fronted action flicks that are not afraid to kick butts.
Now, we’re taking a look at some of the actresses who snatch the lead roles and no strangers in action flicks.
Sigourney Weaver
One of the most famous female action stars to ever grace the silver screen is Sigourney Weaver. Weaver has been a notable figure in the film industry as she’s one of the trailblazers who broke glass ceilings and paved the way for other actresses to lead in action films.
While Weaver made her film debut in 1977, it was only in 1979 that the American actress quickly rose to stardom when she starred in Alien, where she played Ellen Ripley, a warrant officer aboard a commercial spaceship who finds herself up against a deadly extraterrestrial.
Weaver’s character in the film has received critical acclaim, even earning a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer for Alien.
Praise started to pour once again when Weaver reprised her role in Aliens (1986), where she earned her first Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. She even starred in two more sequels from the franchise: Alien³ (1992) and Alien Resurrection (1997).
Other than the Alien franchise, Weaver went on to star in numerous films, including Death and the Maiden (1994), Copycat (1995), Galaxy Quest (1999), The Village (2004), and Avatar (2009), among others.
Pam Grier
American actress Pam Grier is known for starring in action and blaxploitation movies, a genre of independently produced films that were popular in the early 1970s.
Grier had her breakthrough in the film industry after starring in the 1973 blaxploitation film, Coffy, which sees Grier starred as a vigilante who’s out to violently avenge her sister. While the film had initially received negative reviews, over time, it garnered positive reception and was deemed as “groundbreaking” for its portrayal of a Black female character. Film director Quentin Tarantino also ranked it high in his top 20 favorite films.
Grier went on to star in prolific films, such as Black Mama, White Mama (1973), The Arena (1974), Foxy Brown (1974), Sheba Baby (1975), Bucktown (1975), Escape from L.A. (1996), and Jackie Brown (1997).
While Grier never received an Academy Award nomination, the American actress and singer was still recognized by many esteemed institutions and garnered nominations for her outstanding performance in many films, including Golden Globe Award for Best Actress and Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role.
Cheng Pei-Pei
If Bruce Lee is the king of kung fu, Cheng Pei-Pei is his female counterpart.
Known as the first female action hero and the first female martial arts star, the Chinese actress rose to prominence in the early 1960s, starring in many wuxia films. Cheng is most notably popular for her portrayal of Golden Swallow in the 1966 Hong Kong film Come Drink With Me, which follows Golden Swallow’s journey to rescue her brother from the hands of bandits. The film has been considered the standard of many martial arts films, with Cheng setting the precedent for other female martial arts stars.
Cheng’s film credits include Princess Iron Fan (1966), Golden Swallow (1968), Brothers Five (1970), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), and Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (2009), among others.
Michelle Yeoh
Having been in the film industry since the 1980s, Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh has become one of the most prominent figures.
Yeoh catapulted to fame after starring in several action and martial arts films, where she did most of her stunts. Even before moving to Hollywood, Yeoh’s had prolific films under her belt, starring in Hong Kong action films such as Yes, Madam (1985), Magnificent Warriors (1987), Police Story 3: Super Cop (1992), Executioners (1993), and Wing Chun (1994).
Yeoh made waves in the international scene when she portrayed Wai Lin in the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), as Yu Shu Lien in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), as Mameha in Memoirs of a Geisha (2005), and as Zeng Jing in Reign of Assassins (2010).
Linda Hamilton
Linda Hamilton is an American actress known for portraying Sarah Connor in The Terminator (1984). While her character starts as your average girl in the first film, where she was being rescued after a cyborg assassin wanted to assassin her, Hamilton’s character became “a kind of feminist icon” in the second film, Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991).
The film franchise’s director, James Cameron, even described Hamilton’s dedication as one of the factors that shaped not only her character to become the warrior that she is, but the film itself.
Due to this, she reprised her role in the sequels of The Terminator, including T2-3D: Battle Across Time (1996), Terminator Salvation (2009), and Terminator: Dark Fate (2019).
Hamilton also starred in some action and thriller films, such as Black Moon Rising (1986), Separate Lives (1995), Dante’s Peak (1997), Shadow Conspiracy (1997), and Curvature (2017), among others.
Uma Thurman
She made her debut on the silver screen with the 1987 neo-noir psychological thriller film Kiss Daddy Goodnight, where she portrayed Laura, a woman who allows herself to be picked up by men and eventually drug and rob them.
While she subsequently starred in many films, Thurman became popular for her role as Mia Wallace in the Tarantino-directed film, Pulp Fiction (1994), which follows the tales of several criminals whose stories are interrelated. The film received critical acclaim, and Thurman herself has also earned several nominations for her role in the film, including the Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress.
Another film Thurman is known for is the two-part martial arts film Kill Bill, where she starred as Beatrix Kiddo or the Bride, who’s out to seek revenge on Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, her former group that tried to kill her. Thurman was also recognized for her role in both films, where she received nominations at the 9th Empire Awards, 61st Golden Globe Awards, and 2004 MTV Movie Awards.
Thurman’s film credits also include Jennifer 8 (1992), Batman & Robin (1997), The Avengers (1998), The Life Before Her Eyes (2007), and Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010), among others.
Charlize Theron
Having been in the film industry for over two decades now, Charlize Theron has sterling and impressive filmography. But there’s one genre that the South African-American actress really shines in: the action genre.
Theron has starred in several action films, including Reindeer Games (2000), Trapped (2002), The Italian Job (2003), Æon Flux (2005), Battle in the Seattle (2007), Hancock (2008), and Snow White and the Huntsman (2012).
In recent years, she continued to portray badass female characters and established herself as one of the prominent female leads in action movies, starring in films like Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), Atomic Blonde (2017), The Fate of the Furious (2017), Gringo (2018), The Old Guard (2020), and F9 (2021).
Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie has been no stranger to the action genre films.
Jolie had her international breakthrough in the 2001 film, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. Based on the video game series Tomb Raider, Jolie portrayed the titular character whose mission is to recover powerful ancient artifacts and prevent them from getting into the wrong hands.
Jolie also starred in the 2005 film Mr. and Mrs. Smith, alongside Brad Pitt, where they played a couple who are both assassins and are assigned to kill each other. This film not only became a box office hit, but also turned Jolie and Pitt’s on-screen romance into real life.
Jolie went on to have an action-packed career as she starred in several action films, including Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life (2003), Wanted (2008), Changeling (2008), Salt (2010), The Tourist (2010), and Those Who Wish Me Dead (2021).
Scarlett Johansson
Scarlett Johansson has portrayed many badass physical action roles in the entirety of her career.
Johansson is popularly known for her portrayal of Natasha Romanoff or Black Widow in Marvel Cinematic Universe. The actress was first introduced as the badass character in Iron Man 2 (2010). Johansson shared in an interview that she went to great lengths, such as dying her hair red and undergoing stunt and physical training, to secure the role.
Johansson eventually reprised her role as the Black Widow in later MCU films, appearing in The Avengers (2012), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), and Black Widow (2021).
Besides starring in the MCU films, Johansson also portrayed Sarah Jordan/Jordan Two-Delta in The Island (2005), Silken Floss in The Spirit (2008), the titular character in the sci-fi action film, Lucy (2014), and Motoko Kusanagi in Ghost in the Shell (2017).
Lucy Liu
One of the biggest Hollywood icons today, Lucy Liu rose to prominence after starring in Charlie’s Angels (2000), where she portrayed Alex Munday, one of the three Angels whose mission is to bring down the bad guys and keep their boss’ life out of danger.
Since her role in Charlie’s Angels, Liu continued to thrive in action films. In 2000, she showcased her stunts as Princess Pei-Pei in Shanghai Noon (2000), alongside Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson. The actress also appeared in the sci-fi thriller film Cypher (2002), Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever (2002), and Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle (2003).
She then played O-Ren Ishii (Cottonmouth), one of the antagonists in Tarantino’s Kill Bill (2003), Lindsey in Lucky Number Slevin (2006), Gina in Code Name: The Cleaner (2007), and Madame Blossom in The Man with the Iron Fists (2012).
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