Jennifer Lawrence might be a tad clumsy, but that just makes us love her more writes Anna Hunter
We've all had those panic-inducing worst case scenario nightmares, in which you trip up the aisle during your own wedding, forget to wear your skirt to work or snot everywhere during a live talk show interview. Most of us wake up, realise it didn't happen and douse ourselves with cold water just to make sure. For Jennifer Lawrence though, these things are real - and thinking about it, actresses don't get more real than Jennifer Lawrence.
In fact, she's just like you and I - she falls, she snorts, she swears and, even better, she takes all her very frequent faux pas in her stride (or not, if her monumental Oscars trip is anything to go by...). But face planting on your way to collect your Best Actress Oscar is a bad dream that many of us have had; really, Jennifer's just living the dream. She should be on the lower section of today's Daily Gloss barometer given the amount of time she spent on the floor, but her humour, grace and grounded (quite literally) character make her a strong, standout winner of today's ‘Going Up’ trophy.
Although she accepted a helping hand from Hugh Jackman after her televised tumble (who wouldn't?), Ms Lawrence is certainly no damsel in distress. From gutsy Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games to sassy Tiffany in Silver Linings Playbook, her choice of roles are indicative of her fearless, girl power approach. This is a lady who eats, quips and trips her way to the top; finally we have an Oscar-winning mortal, instead of an immaculately behaved and perfectly honed Hollywood leading lady.
In response to the standing ovation that she received for her Best Actress win, Jennifer proclaimed to the audience; “You guys are just standing up because you felt bad that I fell over and that's embarrassing.” Of course, last night's stage dive isn't the first time that Jennifer has found herself in a bit of a pickle at an awards ceremony. Despite being the face of Dior, her gorgeous gowns always seem to get her into trouble. If she's not tripping on the train she's flashing a vast quantity of thigh through sheer panelling, as occurred at the SAGS earlier this year.
She doesn't make life easy for herself even when she talks about her attire, declaring of one dress. “This is Dior Haute Couture. I don't really know what Haute means, but I had to say it.” In fact, it is in interviews and press conferences that she is in her element; she cracks jokes, she uses the wrong entrances and generally just lets it all hang out. Bless her.
Walking down yesterday's Oscar's red carpet Jennifer refreshingly declared “I'm freaking starving!” before pointing at a McDonald's in view on Hollywood Boulevard. Her anti-skinny stance is to be admired, as is her relaxed attitude to grooming, as evidenced by her out-loud realisation at a Hunger Games press event that she had forgotten to shave her armpits that morning. She puts her human faults and failings out in the open and refuses to apologise for them, as demonstrated during a bodily malfunction on a recent episode of The Late Show with David Lettermen; “Sorry that was phlegm, it was so powerful. I'm like a dragon.”
Lumbering Lawrence makes us feel like one day, we too could be gaffing and goofing our way to victory - she's forever making ill-advised statements, tripping over her own clothes and she doesn't even really have a house yet. She may have an Oscar, but she would be the first one to admit that she doesn't have it all sorted, and actually, that's okay.
In her own words: “I'm just trying to figure out what to do with what I got.” By the way, she gave the press the finger in an Oscar winner's photo call last night, mainly because she'd just done some shots backstage. No other reason. We would do that too.