Jennifer Lawrence Hilariously Confessed That She Hardly Understood “Mother!” Despite Starring In It And “Sleeping With The Director”

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With a stack of major box office hits to her name, Jennifer Lawrence is undoubtedly one of our biggest movie stars. But one film of hers that fell a little flat was Mother!.

  Samir Hussein
Samir Hussein

For context, Jennifer stars in the psychological horror movie with Javier Bardem, who plays her character’s selfish husband. Jen’s unnamed heroine is expecting a baby and — to cut a long story short — things descend into chaos when strangers invade their secluded home.

  Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures

Following its premiere in September 2017, Mother! was pretty widely dragged, with Variety describing it as a “baroque nightmare that’s about nothing but itself.”

  Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures

Disappointed viewers found faults with everything from the acting performances to the disturbing nature of the film’s later scenes, but one of the biggest criticisms among fans was the confusing and abstract premise.

  Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures

The overall message of the movie is still up for debate, but essentially, Jennifer and Javier’s characters were seemingly intended to represent Mother Earth and God, while their sprawling home symbolized the environment — with the invasion of strangers presumably a nod to humanity’s destruction of the earth and its resources.

  Stephane Cardinale - Corbis / Corbis via Getty Images
Stephane Cardinale - Corbis / Corbis via Getty Images

One article attempted to summarize by explaining that the story "attempts to be a biblical allegory of both the Old and New Testament as well as a brief, deeply misanthropic view of human history." So, yeah.

  Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures

On top of all this confusion, Mother! also became a major talking point thanks to Jennifer’s relationship with the director, Darren Aronofsky, who is 22 years her senior.

  Jim Spellman / WireImage
Jim Spellman / WireImage

They hit it off on the set of the film, but broke up just two months after its release, with Jennifer later admitting that the negative reviews put an unhealthy strain on their relationship.

  Robin Marchant
Robin Marchant

And now, six years later, Jen is weighing in on the polarizing movie once again — and this time, she’s being brutally honest.

  Bravo / Peacock
Bravo / Peacock

In yesterday’s episode of Watch What Happens Live, Jennifer and Andy Cohen played a game of “Plead The Fifth,” during which the host asked for her thoughts on the infamously bizarre movie.

  Bravo / Peacock
Bravo / Peacock

“On a scale from one to totally confused, how much did you understand your film Mother!?” Andy said.

  Samir Hussein
Samir Hussein

Struggling to hide her shock, Jennifer instantly burst into laughter and assured Andy she’d give her most truthful answer.

  Bravo / Peacock
Bravo / Peacock

“I'm going to be honest,” she said, stifling her giggles. “Well, I was sleeping with the director, so I had the CliffsNotes. So, five? Or four.”

  Bravo / Peacock
Bravo / Peacock

“A four!?” Andy hit back in disbelief. “Wow, OK. That’s not high.”

  James Devaney / FilmMagic
James Devaney / FilmMagic

Joking about the controversial romance, Jennifer quipped to the camera that “if anybody needs any tips on understanding their films” they should — in Andy’s words — “fuck the director.”

  Elisabetta A. Villa / WireImage
Elisabetta A. Villa / WireImage

The Oscar winner hasn’t shied away from discussing the film’s poor reception, saying during a 2017 interview that she felt it was difficult for fans to see her in a role that was so different to her previous characters.

  Rick Madonik / Toronto Star via Getty Images
Rick Madonik / Toronto Star via Getty Images

“People saw me being soft-spoken and meek and they hated it. They were like, ‘I like her better when she's Katniss!’” she said. “I think people do fall in love with this idea, but I'm an actor. I have to push myself. I have to try as hard as I can to transform.”

  Dia Dipasupil / Getty Images
Dia Dipasupil / Getty Images

Well, if there’s one thing we love about Jennifer, it’s that she’s always going to choose the honest answer.

  Sebastian Reuter / Getty Images for Sony Pictures
Sebastian Reuter / Getty Images for Sony Pictures

Stream Watch What Happens Live on Peacock.

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