Jennifer Lawrence says leaving home at 14 inspired new film ‘Causeway’

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Jennifer Lawrence says her upcoming drama Causeway is one of the most personal movies she’s ever made.

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In the Lila Neugebauer-directed film, which garnered a standing ovation following its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on Saturday night, Lawrence plays Lynsey, a soldier who forms an unlikely friendship with an auto-body shop worker (Brian Tyree Henry) after she returns to the U.S. from Afghanistan following a traumatic brain injury.

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“I felt something in my gut when I read this,” the Oscar winner said of the film, which debuts on Apple TV+ later this year. “That kind of immediate, ‘We have to make this.’ I identify with that feeling of trying to find your home. And trying to find where you have purpose. I left home when I was 14. My relationship with home has always been complicated. That made me emotional.”

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As the pair form a bond, they each begin to recover and embrace life again after their shared trauma begins to heal. “There’s so much subtext in this movie,” Lawrence added.

Causeway doesn’t delve into politics as it charts Lynsey’s journey to heal herself so she can reenlist and head overseas again. But in a recent cover story with Vogue, the 32-year-old actress said that “politics are killing people” as she reflected on the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

“It breaks my heart because America had the choice between a woman and a dangerous, dangerous jar of mayonnaise. And they were like, Well, we can’t have a woman. Let’s go with the jar of mayonnaise,” Lawrence said. “I don’t want to disparage my family, but I know that a lot of people are in a similar position with their families. How could you raise a daughter from birth and believe that she doesn’t deserve equality? How?”

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The new mother — who welcomed her first child with husband Cooke Maroney earlier this year — also revealed to the outlet that she has tried to mend fences with her loved ones over their political views.

“I just worked so hard in the last five years to forgive my dad and my family and try to understand: It’s different. The information they are getting is different. Their life is different.”

During her stop in Toronto, Lawrence also spilled the tea on her reality-TV obsession speaking to Variety about the drama surrounding Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Jayne, who, along with her estranged husband Tom Girardi, has been accused of embezzling millions of dollars from accident victims.

“My biggest problem with this season is that it’s just been boring and I think that Erika is evil,” Lawrence told Variety. “I would go as far as to say, she needs a publicist ASAP.”

Causeway will be released by Apple TV+ on Nov. 4. The Toronto International Film Festival continues until Sept. 18.

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