The Movie That Made Jennifer Lawrence Rethink Her Career

From Box Office Darling to Career Doubts

Jennifer Lawrence’s career has been defined by blockbuster triumphs — The Hunger Games franchise, Silver Linings Playbook, and her shape-shifting role as Mystique in X-Men. But even Hollywood’s most bankable stars have missteps, and for Lawrence, the 2016 romantic sci-fi Passengers stands out as a film that forced her to reevaluate her choices.

At the time, Lawrence was one of the most in-demand actors in the industry, commanding top billing alongside Chris Pratt in what was billed as a big-budget, high-concept space romance. On paper, Passengers had all the makings of a hit: two charismatic leads, a starry setting, and a blend of action, drama, and romance. But when the film hit theaters, it received mixed reviews, with critics split between praising the stars’ chemistry and lambasting the story as underwhelming.

A Premise Lost in Space

The movie follows two passengers on a decades-long voyage to a distant colony whose hibernation pods malfunction, waking them up 90 years too soon. As they adjust to their premature awakening, they grow close — but the romance is shadowed by troubling revelations about how and why they met.

In hindsight, Lawrence has been candid about her misgivings. “I was like, ‘Oh no, you guys are here because I’m here, and I’m here because you’re here. Wait, who decided that this was a good movie?’” she admitted. She also noted that the story’s structure might have been stronger if key plot points — like when her character wakes — had been handled differently in the edit.

A Warning Ignored

Perhaps most surprising is that Lawrence was warned against taking the role — by none other than Adele. “Adele told me not to do it! She was like, ‘I feel like space movies are the new vampire movies.’ I should have listened to her,” Lawrence confessed.

Her decision, she says, was rooted in people-pleasing: “I think that I was people-pleasing for the majority of my life. Working made me feel like nobody could be mad at me: ‘Okay, I said yes, we’re doing it. Nobody’s mad.’”

The Fallout

By 2021, Lawrence reflected on that period as a turning point. “I was not pumping out the quality that I should have,” she told Vanity Fair. “I just think everybody had gotten sick of me. I’d gotten sick of me. It had just gotten to a point where I couldn’t do anything right.”

The experience, while bruising, forced her to rethink her relationship with her career and public perception. “I reached a point where people were not pleased just by my existence. So that kind of shook me out of thinking that work or your career can bring any kind of peace to your soul,” she said.

A Hard Lesson Learned

For Lawrence, Passengers was more than a disappointing project — it was a reality check. It taught her that saying yes for the wrong reasons can lead to regret, and that chasing audience approval is no guarantee of personal or professional satisfaction.

While the film may remain a blemish on her résumé, it also became the catalyst for a more deliberate and self-aware approach to her work — one that could ultimately shape the next chapter of her career.