Jennifer Lawrence's 30th birthday plans include Greece, two parties - and Adele
The gorgeous actress turns 30 next week, and will celebrate with childhood pals in Kentucky, and later with famous pals at her Los Angeles mansion
Jennifer Lawrence has always been a mass of contradictions.
The Oscar-winning actress appears elegant and poised in ad campaigns for Dior, yet she has a habit of tripping over on the red carpet.
She is worth a reported £100million and travels by private jet – yet her favourite shop is Ikea.
But one thing that remains consistent as she approaches her 30th birthday on Saturday is her self-deprecating style.
“I’m the same person I’ve always been,” she says. “It disturbs me if I feel people don’t treat me normally.
“I tell my friends to slap me if they ever think I’m getting full of myself.”
Jennifer had hoped to be celebrating her milestone birthday in Greece with her husband Cooke Maroney, 35, who she married last October.
That has been scaled down to a family affair in her home town in Kentucky with friends she has known all her life, followed by a more intimate gathering with showbiz pals at her mansion in Los Angeles.
Guests will include singer Adele, 32, and actresses Emma Stone, 31, and Amy Schumer, 39.
A source said: “On her actual birthday Jen will be in Kentucky with Cooke and her family.
“She’s a massive fan of Italian food, it will be catered by one of her favourite Italian restaurants.
“Some of her childhood best friends have gathered a few surprises, with an appearance from Kris Jenner expected.”
Despite her inevitable celebrity connections, Jennifer is very clear she did not take up acting out of a desire for fame, but because of how it made her feel.
She says: “I didn’t feel good about myself until I discovered acting and how happy it made me.
“Some things about fame are difficult. I love going on walks or shopping and I’d also like to be able to go out for dinner with my friends.
“But it’s very hard to do unless you want to get surrounded by paparazzi. At times it feels like you’re under house arrest.”
As her Hollywood career took off, Jennifer quickly became known for her relatable personality and girl-next- door charm.
At the same time – and perhaps raising another contradiction – she is never afraid to say what she really thinks. She admits: “I like to be spontaneous and it’s hard to hold back how I feel or what I think.
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“I want to fly under the radar, but my mouth has just made it impossible.”
With her busy schedule, she is glad to leave the spotlight when she can.
One of her first big-screen breakthrough roles was as a teen raped by her mother’s pimp in 2008’s The Poker House. Two years later, in Winter’s Bone, she got her first Oscar nomination as a teenager forced to play surrogate parent in a grim, drug-fuelled world.
Scripts quickly began to pour in – in 2011 she joined the X-Men franchise as Raven in X-Men: First Class.
And in 2012 she landed the role of warrior girl Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games trilogy. That catapulted her into the Hollywood big league, and drew a huge following of teenage girls.
Silver Linings Playbook, released the same year, won her an Oscar and put her on the same bill as Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro. So it was little surprise when, in 2017 – after what she described as “seven years of back-to-back films” – she told fans: “I’m taking a break. I don’t know [what I’ll do]… start making pots?”
It was a short hiatus – she was soon to spend four months training three hours a day with a ballet instructor for 2018 spy film Red Sparrow.
She announced her second career break after X-Men: Dark Phoenix hit screens a year ago. And she has clearly used her time off well, doing charity work, carousing in drag bars with best pal Adele – and getting married.
Jennifer says of her changed priorities: “I used to only come home for the holidays, and between stuff when I could.
“But after my nephews were born I started getting home like every other month.”
She married New York art director Cooke in a £1million ceremony on Rhode Island. Adele and Bradley Cooper were among the guests, as were Schumer, Stone, Sienna Miller and the Kardashians’ Kris Jenner.
Now she is returning to the screen in a string of projects. She will soon star alongside Cate Blanchett in Netflix comedy Don’t Look Up, directed by Adam McKay.
And in Lila Neugebauer’s new drama Red, White and Water, she plays a wheelchair-bound Afghan War veteran. The film’s release has been postponed until 2021.
She says her motivation comes from dad Gary, who owns a construction firm, and mum Karen, a summer camp manager. She said: “I’d never have gotten anywhere without them believing in me.”
Driven by anxiety, it is understandable she has resisted taking on the insecurities of Hollywood itself. Jennifer says: “I don’t really diet – I’m miserable when I’m dieting, and I like the way I look.
“I’m sick of all these actresses looking like birds. I’d rather I look chubby on camera and like a person in real life, than great on screen and like a scarecrow in real life.”
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