14 DAY TRIAL // Director David O. Russell has come under some serious fire for comparing Jennifer Lawrence to a slave for how much she works on “The Hunger Games” film franchise. He is now apologizing for trying to make a joke and failing so miserably.
Still, you have to give it to the man, he is right about one thing: Jennifer may be a critics and fans’ favorite but this is coming at a very high price. She’s made about 16 films, both big budget and indie, in just 5 years and she said so herself that she has moments when she’s feeling burned out.
Russell has worked with Jennifer on “Silver Linings Playbook” and the more recent “American Hustle,” both of which he directed. So he’s probably right about saying she works too much – it’s just the wording that was wrong and for that, he’s sorry.
“Clearly, I used a stupid analogy in a poor attempt at humor. I realized it the minute I said it and I am truly sorry,” he says in a statement to the Daily Mail.
“I personally think they should give her a bit of breathing room over there because they’re printing money. But she’s a very alive person,” Russell said in an interview with Confidenti@l about what a hard-working professional Jennifer was.
The director was comparing the amount of time she dedicates to her “commercial” role as Katniss Everdeen in “The Hunger Games” franchise, as opposed to smaller budget productions, and stressing that the studio was pushing her too much to promote it.
“I’ll tell you what it is about that girl – talk about 12 years of slavery, that’s what the franchise is. And I’m going to get in so much trouble for saying that,” he continued, even comparing the film franchise to a “hamster wheel,” with Jennifer being the hamster, obviously.
What got Russell in trouble was this part of the comment “talk about 12 years of slavery,” in which he drew a parallel between how hard Jennifer works and the slavery drama “12 Years a Slave.” Obviously, he’s saying that what main character Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor) endures at the hands of merciless slavers after he’s kidnapped and sold into a lifetime of hardship is nothing compared to what Jennifer is suffering.