The Apple TV Hidden Gem That Transformed Jennifer Lawrence’s Acting
Watching Christian Bale on American Hustle, 23-year-old Jennifer Lawrence ditched her embarrassment and embraced pre-action prep — a career-shaping shift she revealed in a November 1 New York Times interview.
Jennifer Lawrence has been pretty open lately about how her craft and her life have been tangled up. It started with a lesson she picked up at 23 on the set of American Hustle, and it runs straight through postpartum anxiety, medication, and a pair of new films that lean into all of it.
The American Hustle reset
Back when she was 23 and shooting American Hustle, Lawrence says she was terrified of looking silly in front of the crew. Her workaround was to do as little as possible until the director said the word. Then she watched Christian Bale quietly slide into the scene before anyone called action. No speech, no big moment — just gradually getting there as the camera prep started. That flipped a switch for her. She decided she needed to be the person who prepares in plain sight, without worrying that the crew will think, well, that she is acting.
She talked about that shift in a November 1 New York Times interview. Fast-forward: she is 35 now, has two kids, and the craft is tied to a different kind of work — managing her brain while picking projects that reflect where she is.
Postpartum, anxiety, and figuring out who you are now
Her second baby with husband Cooke Maroney arrived in March 2025, and the months after were rougher than the first time. She describes severe postpartum anxiety — the kind where every nap feels like doom and every cry reads like a verdict. She spiraled into second-guessing everything, to the point that she was literally crying while asking ChatGPT for breastfeeding advice. That is both painfully relatable and, yes, a little wild to picture.
The thing that actually helped: Zurzuvae, the FDA-approved oral medication for postpartum depression. She says things started to lift after about two weeks. Alongside the hormones, she was wrestling with identity — mother, wife, artist — and how all of those can coexist without erasing one another.
"The truth is extreme anxiety and extreme depression is isolating no matter where you are. You feel like an alien."
She said that at Cannes in May 2025. And she drew a line between her two postpartum experiences: the first felt like she was battling the outside world and its opinions; the second was an internal, neurological fight.
Die My Love: the first role back as a mom
All of that feeds directly into her next movie, Die My Love, her first time playing a mother since becoming one. It is a black comedy-drama from director Lynne Ramsay about a couple who decamp to rural Montana with their newborn and slide into a shared psychological tailspin. It premiered at Cannes to a nine-minute standing ovation, and it opens in U.S. theaters November 7, 2025.
Lawrence shot the film at around four and a half to five months pregnant with her second child, and she has said that being in that state made those emotions readily accessible. The movie is adapted from Ariana Harwicz’s 2012 novel and produced by Martin Scorsese, who zeroed in on Lawrence for the lead after seeing Mother! in 2017 — he felt she has that rare, raw quality where every moment lands like a dream you can feel.
Next up: back with Scorsese and DiCaprio
After Die My Love, she is reuniting with Leonardo DiCaprio on What Happens at Night, directed by Scorsese and financed by Apple Original Films. Based on Peter Cameron’s 2020 novel, it follows a couple traveling to Europe to adopt a baby who cross paths with a run of enigmatic characters. It is in pre-production right now. Between that and Die My Love, you can see the pivot: she is steering into thornier, more psychologically knotted material.
- March 2025: Birth of her second child with Cooke Maroney; postpartum anxiety hits hard.
- May 2025: At Cannes, she describes the isolating side of anxiety and depression.
- Die My Love: Directed by Lynne Ramsay; based on Ariana Harwicz’s 2012 novel; shot while she was ~4.5–5 months pregnant; produced by Martin Scorsese; Cannes premiere got a nine-minute ovation; U.S. theatrical release is November 7, 2025.
- What Happens at Night: Scorsese directing; co-starring Leonardo DiCaprio; based on Peter Cameron’s 2020 novel; financed by Apple Original Films; currently in pre-production; plot centers on a European adoption trip that turns unnerving.
Does making art help process this kind of personal chaos? I have my hunch, but I want yours: drop your take in the comments.