![Jennifer Lawrence Says She Turned Down Tarantino’s ‘Hateful Eight’ But “Wasn’t Pretty Enough” For ‘Once Upon A Time In Hollywood’ [Ned]](https://cdn.theplaylist.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/16090354/Jennifer-Lawrence-Says-She-Turned-Down-Tarantinos-%E2%80%98Hateful-Eight-But-Wasnt-Pretty-Enough-For-%E2%80%98Once-Upon-A-Time-In-Hollywood.jpg "Jennifer Lawrence Says She Turned Down Tarantino’s ‘Hateful Eight’ But “Wasn’t Pretty Enough” For ‘Once Upon A Time In Hollywood’ [Ned]")
Jennifer Lawrence is not shy about who she wants to work with—or sharing the cinephile-y taste that’s quietly shaped the turns in her career. A few years back, Lawrence put it out there that Lynne Ramsay (“You Were Never Really Here”) was one of her favorite filmmakers, and, sure enough, Ramsay’s next film, “Die My Love,” starred the Academy Award winner (read our review).
That picture, co-starring Robert Pattinson, was the topic of conversation on a recent episode of Happy Sad Confused, and Lawrence used the occasion to get candid about the directors she’s still chasing—and one major role she wishes she hadn’t passed on.
When host HSC host Josh Horowitz asked if there was a private wish list of filmmakers she wanted to work with, Lawrence didn’t hesitate. “[Olivier] Assayas, Park Chan-Wook, Christopher Nolan, [Paul Thomas Anderson].” Horowitz followed up with the obvious assumption—“You must have had the Nolan meeting, the PTA meeting?”—and Lawrence cut it dead with a quick laugh of a reply: “Nope, rude.”
From there, the conversation steered toward Quentin Tarantino, and the host noted that “The Hateful Eight,” the Jennifer Jason Leigh part, was initially written for Lawrence. And she admitted the one-word sting that makes these stories land: regret. “I turned it down, which I should not have done.”
Horowitz also brought up “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” and Lawrence’s answer slipped into that familiar part-joke, part-truth, modern churn—where half-remembered casting stories, internet cruelty, and repetition blur into something that feels real, whether it was or not. “Well, he did [want me for that movie], and then everybody was like, she’s not pretty enough to play Sharon Tate,” Lawrence said off the cuff. “And then I’m pretty sure it is true— or it’s that thing where I’ve been telling this story this way for so long I believe it— no, but I’m pretty sure that happened, or he just never was considering me for the part. The internet just went out of its way to call me ugly.”
If that’s true, that would be real news—Tarantino originally wanting Lawrence for “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.” But with Lawrence, and no offense to her many talents, she’s not the most reliable narrator all the time.
Still, the bigger takeaway is the clarity of her appetite: Lawrence is basically naming the filmmakers she wants next as plainly as she once named Ramsay—Assayas, Chan-wook, Nolan, PTA—and acknowledging, with the same breath, that some of the biggest “almosts” still haunt you if you let them.
And if the “her lips to god’s ears” technique worked with Ramsay, maybe a few of those other names will take note? Let’s wait and see what happens. Watch the full conversation below.
Rodrigo Perez is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Playlist, which he launched in 2008. He has worked in entertainment journalism since 2000, including at MTV, and has written for SPIN, IndieWire, Pitchfork, Complex, Magnet, and various music, film, and entertainment publications over the past two decades.
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
