Entertainment

Jennifer Lawrence Doesn't Want A 'Mother!' Sequel: "I Wouldn’t Be Able To Do It Again"

Paramount Pictures

Whether you love it or hate it, chances are if you've seen Jennifer Lawrence's new movie mother!, you can't stop thinking and talking about it. The strange, allegorical thriller has been met with both extreme praise and extreme derision from fans and critics alike for its unorthodox story about a woman, her husband, and the string of shocking, unexpected events that happen to them. Though it's the talk of moviegoers everywhere right now, Jennifer Lawrence isn't interested in a mother! follow-up, and she says that's because filming the movie was so incredibly harrowing and emotionally taxing. If you have seen mother!, then you already have an idea of just how difficult the movie must have been to film for Lawrence.

Jennifer Lawrence told Entertainment Weekly that although she connected to her role in mother! and is happy she took it, she never wants to revisit it in a sequel or any sort of follow-up film. So don't expect mother 2! (or would if be mother! 2!?) to ever become a thing.

No. I don't regret it. I'm happy I did it. If I had to do it again? If there was a mother! sequel? [Laughs] No. I wouldn't be able to do it again. I did it once and I gave it my all.

Lawrence described the extreme emotional toll that filming mother! had on her, pointing to one scene in particular (that she did not specify as to avoid spoiling it for readers who haven't seen the movie yet). Apparently, the scene was so intense she actually had to go to a medical unit after filming, but director Darren Aronofsky pulled her out to reshoot it. It got to a point where Lawrence admitted she just wanted to get the scene over with and be done with it.

There's one scene that nobody should ever feel. And that's what I said to Darren when he wanted to do it again. I was in the medical unit with oxygen up my nose and he's like, “It was out of focus, we gotta do it again.” I was like, you are making me go to a place that you have never been. I just wanted to get out and finish it. It's scary not being able to control yourself.

But despite the traumatic-sounding filming experience, Jennifer Lawrence also praised the team and set as a "really good environment," which would make sense given that Lawrence began a relationship with Aronofsky while making the movie. But it sounds like despite the fact that they're dating, Lawrence might not be teaming up with Aronofsky on the big screen again. After all, Aronofsky is known for these taxing psychological thrillers (his past credits include Black Swan and Requiem for a Dream), and if Lawrence is saying she doesn't want to experience such an emotionally harrowing filmmaking process again, she'll probably be keeping her relationship with her boyfriend strictly personal, and not professional, moving forward.

For some audiences, mother! is just as difficult to watch as it sounds like it was for Jennifer Lawrence to film. Shortly after it premiered, the viewer-polling site CinemaScore gave mother! the rare dishonor of it's lowest possible grade: an F. On the opposite end of the spectrum, review aggregator Metacritic shows that most critics gave the film positive reviews, whereas the number of negative reviews from non-critics on the site was notably higher.

Jennifer Lawrence said she has noticed this intense disparity in how viewers have received the movie, pointing out that there's no middle ground after seeing it: people either really love it or they really hate it. But from hearing her talk about the filmmaking process, Lawrence sounds like she both loves and hates the movie herself.