Jennifer Lawrence Breaks Rules for Red Sparrow

Jennifer Lawrence has famously refused to diet for movie roles, but she made an exception when she signed on to play a Russian ballerina in Red Sparrow.

The 27-year-old graces the March cover of Vanity Fair, and inside, she breaks down the brutal-sounding experience. “Red Sparrow was the first time that I was really hungry, and disciplined,” the actress says. “I can’t be in character as an ex-ballerina and not feel like an ex-ballerina.”

• She filmed the dancing portion first per director Francis Lawrence (no relation), after training for three months and rigorously dieting.
• Lawrence explains that she had to go back to her regular eating habits for her own sanity-and to be able to shoot the film.
• “I can’t work on a diet. I’m hungry. I’m standing on my feet. I need more energy,” Lawrence said. “I remember having a meltdown, freaking out that I had eaten five banana chips.”
• Previously, when she was told by the powers to be to lose weight, she refused: “For Hunger Games, they told me to lose weight, and then I discovered Jack in the Box.”
• When her diet was over for Red Sparrow, she says that her favorite indulgence became sausage.
• “I discovered this Viennese kielbasa sausage in an uncircumcised French-bread roll, with pickle relish. I had that almost every day in Budapest – which you can see, because I continue to grow in the movie,” she said, laughing. “Dieting is just not in the cards for me.”