Jennifer Lawrence has made a rather peculiar claim that she was the first woman to ever be the lead in an action movie after starring in The Hunger Games.
Lawrence, 32, is an Oscar-winning actress and has been a staple on the big screen since bursting onto the scene in The Hunger Games series where she played Katniss Everdeen.
The series follows her character in a dystopian future, where two children from each district are placed into an arena and forced to fight to the death.
Lawrence's character (spoiler alert) survives the games in the first installment and dedicates the remaining three films to leading a rebellion to overthrow the people that run the barbaric entertainment.
In a recent interview with Variety, Lawrence claimed that this was the first time a woman had been the lead in an action movie.
She said: "I remember when I was doing Hunger Games, nobody had ever put a woman in the lead of an action movie because it wouldn’t work — because we were told girls and boys can both identify with a male lead, but boys cannot identify with a female lead."
Lawrence added that new action movies featuring female leads make her happy, as it destroys the belief that only men can take on the roles. "[It] proves that it is just a lie to keep certain people out of the movies," she said. "To keep certain people in the same positions that they’ve always been in."
The claim has been met with confusion from fans, who pointed out that there were several female-led action movies before the Hunger Games, starring actresses including Angelina Jolie, Kate Beckinsale, and more.
Daily Mail columnist Meghan McCain tweeted: "What about Ripley in Alien [Sigourney Weaver] and Sarah Connor in Terminator [Linda Hamilton]? Because I was obsessed with them growing up…" she suggested.
Another fan tweeted: "Some of my all-time favorite movies: Aliens franchise, Underworld franchise [Kate Beckinsale], Lara Croft [Angelina Jolie], Terminator 2, Haywire [Gina Carano], original Girl With The Dragon Tattoo trilogy [Rooney Mara], Resident Evil series [Milla Jovovich]; just to name a few."
However, some are quick to defend the star, claiming that her words are being taken out of context. Another person added: "It’s incredible how Jennifer Lawrence is making a great point here about films marketed to the young demographic here and it’s being misconstrued."
Do you think Lawrence was the first female action star, or have her words been misunderstood by viewers? You can watch the full interview here.