As “Causeway” hits Apple TV+ tomorrow, Jennifer Lawrence has made the press rounds to promote the film that many call her Hollywood comeback. Granted, that’s just a narrative to help with the film’s release. Lawrence never really left the limelight but didn’t act in things for about a year after getting engaged to her husband, Cooke Maroney. But Lawrence’s press tour for “Causeway” gave the actress a chance to talk about her career and some movies she regretted making, like the 2016 space drama “Passengers” with Chris Pratt.
And apparently, Lawrence’s good friend, the singer Adele, warned her not to do that movie before she signed on. EW reports that Lawrence mentioned the anecdote in a new interview with The New York Times. “Adele told me not to do it!” Lawrence told the NYT. “She was like, ‘I feel like space movies are the new vampire movies.’ I should have listened to her.”
Critics despised “Passengers,” and many consider it a career-worst film for Lawrence (The Playlist’s review was a bit kinder to the film). In the movie, Lawrence and Pratt star as voyagers on a spacecraft who wake up from hibernation decades before they’re supposed to. Even though Lawrence and Pratt were two of Hollywood’s biggest stars in 2016, their presence in the film couldn’t win over critics or audiences. Check its Rotten Tomatoes score for proof: a dismal 30% rating from critics and a slightly better 63% audience score.
Lawrence spoke negatively about that time in her career to the NYT, saying she began to feel “like more of a celebrity than an actor, cut off from my creativity, my imagination.” But she’s on the critics’ side regarding “Passengers.” While Pratt and producer Neal Mortiz defended the film after its release, Lawrence doesn’t see anything worth merit in either the movie or her performance. “I was like, ‘Oh no, you guys are here because I’m here, and I’m here because you’re here,” she told the NYT. “Wait, who decided that this was a good movie?'”
But Lawrence is well beyond that stage of her career now, with “Causeway” getting lots of great press following its world premiere at TIFF. The critics also like Lawrence’s performance and that of her co-star, Brian Tyree Henry. So, in a way, even though critics and fans may see “Passengers” as a career nadir for Jennifer Lawrence, it’s like the actress never really left Hollywood or strong performances behind at all.
“Causeway” premieres on Apple TV+ tomorrow, November 4.