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Two Days Before Oscar Nomination Deadline, Jennifer Lawrence Tells Vanity Fair ‘Acting Is Stupid’

With the deadline for Academy Award nominations just two days away, perhaps it’s not the best time for Jennifer Lawrence to be talking about how acting is “stupid.” But that’s what she does in the new issue of Vanity Fair . The actress, whose performance in David O. Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook should put her in the running for a Best Actress Oscar, is the cover girl for the magazine’s February issue in which she’s named “The Most Desirable Woman of 2013.” But her perspective on acting may not sound so desirable to actors casting their votes for the first stage of the Oscar sweepstakes. “Not to sound rude, but [acting] is stupid,” Lawrence says. “Everybody’s like, ‘How can you remain with a level head?’ And I’m like, ‘Why would I ever get cocky? I’m not saving anybody’s life. There are doctors who save lives and firemen who run into burning buildings. I’m making movies. It’s stupid.’” Okay, so Lawrence hasn’t pulled a Joaquin Phoenix and declared the awards race “the stupidest thing in the whole world.”  The context of her comment is unclear because Vanity Fair has yet to release the full story in which this quote appears, but Lawrence sounds like she’s merely being self-deprecating in a safely provocative way. And yet, as much as I admire candor, if I was part of Lawrence’s management team, I’d be telling her to can the “acting-is-stupid” comments until after awards season. I have to imagine that there are a fair number of self-important Academy voters/actors who don’t want to hear their profession belittled, especially since they’re not getting the kind of sought-after roles that Lawrence keeps getting. [ Vanity Fair] RELATED: Oscars E-Voting Too Hard For Tech-Illiterate Academy Members, Also Get Off My Lawn Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter.  Follow Movieline on Twitter. 

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Two Days Before Oscar Nomination Deadline, Jennifer Lawrence Tells Vanity Fair ‘Acting Is Stupid’

Talkback: Samuel L. Jackson Really Wants This Interviewer To Drop An N-Bomb

You might have heard the shocking news that Django Unchained features copious use of the word ‘nigger’. I know! I can’t understand why a film set in the antebellum South, featuring numerous unrepentant slaveowners, during a time when black people were considered barely human as a matter of course, would have so many n-bombs. Sure, the word is almost exclusively spoken by villains or by black people to refer to themselves, and sure, it is one of the few aspects of the film that is 100% historically accurate, but come on. How rude of Quentin Tarantino to include it and make the harsh depiction of the slavery era even more uncomfortable. I’m kidding, the fake controversy is incredibly stupid 1 , and feels to me like the rush to blame movies and video games for terrible acts of public violence, because that’s easier than actually facing our demons head-on 2 . Maybe that’s why Samuel L. Jackson had a bit of fun during an interview with FOX Houston’s film critic Jake Hamilton over the issue. About 14 minutes into the the video below, Hamilton started to ask Jackson about the controversy, and this happened: I feel for Hamilton of course. His refusal to use the word and stir up a hornet’s nest of both real and fake outrage is understandable, but of course, it’s just a word. I would hope we’re at a place where we can use it in context – like I did here – without anyone mistaking you for a racist. Perhaps Jackson’s position that the taboo just gives the word more power is the correct one. Either way, this was hilarious. What do you think, readers? Sound off in comments. 1. Speaking of stupid, we’re not giving Drudge hits, but surely you read about his recent Django-inspired N-word tirade. Yeah. 2. BTW, Louie C.K. was right ; being white and male is like winning the lottery. [ Source: Gawker ]

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Talkback: Samuel L. Jackson Really Wants This Interviewer To Drop An N-Bomb