David O. Russell Calls Jennifer Lawrence a 'Slave' to 'The Hunger Games'

Ah … we had been wondering where the good old controversy-stirring filmmaker David O. Russell has been hiding these past few years.

The “American Hustle” director recently recalled his tumultuous past with some comments about the “Hunger Games” series, which features his muse, Jennifer Lawrence, in the lead role of Katniss Everdeen. Russell said he is concerned about just how long it takes to bring the four-part mega-franchise to the big screen … and its potential toll on J.Law’s health.

"I’ll tell you what it is about that girl — talk about 12 years of slavery, that’s what the franchise is," Russell told Confidenti@l at Australian Academy’s AACTA Awards on Friday. “And I’m going to get in so much trouble for saying that.”

He did. And now he has apologized. “Clearly, I used a stupid analogy in a poor attempt at humor,” Russell said in a statement to Yahoo Movies. “I realized it the minute I said it and I am truly sorry.”

[Related: The Internet’s 6 Best Jennifer Lawrence Globes Lookalikes]

When Russell made the “12 Years a Slave” comparison, he was likely referring to Lawrence’s pneumonia scare during last year’s awards season, a condition arguably brought on by the rigorous shooting schedule of “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.” (She also fell ill during the “Catching Fire” press tour and missed an “American Hustle” premiere due to "weather issues.") Now, with the star already in production on the two-part “Mockingjay” whilst traversing this year’s awards season with “American Hustle,” Russell seems concerned history might be about to repeat itself.

One thing Russell definitely was right about: the fact that getting into trouble for comparing Jennifer Lawrence’s very well-compensated commitment to “The Hunger Games” to slavery.  Some of the instant reaction from the internet:

David O. Russell has been rather well-behaved since reinventing his career with the Oscar-winning “The Fighter” (2010) and “Silver Linings Playbook” (2012). The director was previously infamous for his  reputation for being rather … well, difficult. He threw epic temper tantrums on the set of “Three Kings” (1999), sometimes openly humiliating crew members and finally getting into a physical skirmish with star George Clooney.

And then there was this much-publicized exchange with Lily Tomlin on the set of “I Heart Huckabees” (2004), a showcase of behavior so stark raving insane that it had everyone wondering whether it was staged as a part of the already highly experimental ‘existential comedy’ (as far as we know to date: it wasn’t).

Yes, this is the guy who just a few years later began churning out a steady stream of awards season darlings, becoming the filmmaker that every A-list actor wants to work with.

Anyway, we’ll see if Russell’s ‘slavery’ comments sabotage any potential Oscar wins for “American Hustle” (Oscar nominations voting ended last week, so he’s in the clear there). “Hustle” won three Golden Globes earlier this week: Best Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical; Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical (Amy Adams); and Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture (Lawrence). This year’s Oscar nominations will be announced on Thursday morning.

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