X-Men’s Jennifer Lawrence is One Actress to Keep Your Eyes On

If you’ve already seen X-Men: First Class, then you probably understand what all the hype’s about. Yours truly reviewed the film here, but there was much I left out. The cast was almost uniformly excellent, grounded as they were by James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender’s turns as Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto respectively. Kevin Bacon and January Jones were also clearly having fun with their respective roles as Sebastian Shaw and Emma Frost.

But what about the rest of the ensemble? Were there any standouts? Most assuredly there were, and top of the list, in our opinion, was Jennifer Lawrence playing Raven/Mystique. It was a heavy supporting role, and difficult, in many respects. As Charles’ consort-of-sorts for so many years, Lawrence had to wear a gamut of masks in the presence of Xavier: trusted friend, daughter-like child, blossoming woman…and finally independent individual.

Of course, being blessed with good looks helps, but Lawrence is more than just another pretty face with long legs (although, of course, those attributes don’t hurt). At 20, Lawrence’s performance often felt wise beyond her years. If you’ve seen the actress’ role of Norah in Mel Gibson’s The Beaver, then you know the Louisville, Kentucky native shines alongside major, established talent.

No surprise, perhaps. Lawrence starred in Guillermo Arriaga’s directorial debut The Burning Plain, opposite Charlize Theron and Kim Basinger. That performance earned her the Marcello Mastroianni Award for best young emerging actor/actress during the Venice Film Festival in 2008.

She’s certainly one actress to keep your eyes on (and yes, we do mean that as a double entendre). Presently, Lawrence is starring as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games, and we’re really looking forward to seeing what she does with that role in the adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ bestselling novel.

Lawrence also seems to possess a keen awareness of today’s Hollywood. “Where are the Robert Redfords and Paul Newmans of my age group?” she asked rhetorically in an interview with W Magazine. “I love James Franco, but where’s the next James Franco? Where are the hunks who can act?”

Well, Jennifer, we suspect you might just be in a class of one right now.