The Hunger Games' Jennifer Lawrence Compares Katniss to Alien's Ripley
Sigourney Weaver's character has the same "fighting spirit," she says
As the official leading lady of The Hunger Games, Jennifer Lawrence knows she’s landed an out-of-this-world role – in more ways than one.
Taking on the part of Katniss Everdeen, a fierce and feisty heroine competing in the ultimate game of life-or-death, Lawrence, 20, has extra special, extraterrestrial inspiration for tapping into the “fighting spirit” of her character.
“Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley in Alien is the first [movie] that comes to mind,” she tells Entertainment Weekly of an older yet similarly famous heroine.
And while she may not be kicking alien-butt in the adaptation of Suzanne Collins’s beloved trilogy, Lawrence knows one thing: There’s a lot of fans that will want to kick her butt if she doesn’t deliver.
“I have a huge responsibility to the fans of this incredible book, and I don’t take it lightly,” she said Friday. “I will give everything I have to these movies and to this role to make it worthy of Suzanne Collins’s masterpiece.”
But for fans of the book that are skeptical – perhaps about Lawrence’s older age or head of blonde hair – Director Gary Ross tells EW the choice was “the easiest casting decision I ever made in my life … She came in and read for me, and it just knocked me out.” Plus, he says, “we can easily deal with Jennifer’s hair color.”