Jennifer Lawrence has taken on an empowering role for her upcoming film Joy. The 25-year-old actress stars alongside Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro in a tale of a strong woman who holds her family together while reaching her ambition in becoming an inventor.
In this exclusive featurette only on HELLO! Online, take a look inside the world of Joy Mangano, as told by Jennifer herself.
"David O'Russell called me and said "do you wanna make a story about a woman and her struggles to make her dreams to light?" and I knew it was going to be something special," the star revealed.
The main character Joy and her family live in a small town in Long Island in the 1960s which seemed to have appealed to Jennifer. "It's memorable for me in the sense that it is the first time I've ever played a character through four generations," she said.
The protagnist is struggling with her home life while she tries to build her business empire. She is a divorced mother-of-three whose ex-husband is living in the basement when her dad Rudy, played by Robert De Niro, turns up to stay.
The American Hustle star explained how Joy pushed herself to become the inventor of the Miracle Mop and Huggable Hangers. "The woman is actually the rock of the family; holding everything together, forfeiting her dreams to make everyone else's come true. A huge part of the story is about the years where she doesn't believe in herself. She has a huge imagination, she can see the brighter side of things - be her own hero."
The film follows entrepreneur Joy through her journey as she develops items which will be sold on TV, with a little help from Neil Walker, played by Bradley Cooper. "When she finally has enough faith in herself to move forward it's unstoppable," the actress shared.
Jennifer was named the highest-paid actress in the world in August by Forbes magazine, taking the title from Sandra Bullock after reportedly earning $52million in the past year. The blonde beauty has been busy shooting the sci-fi film Passengers which will be out in December 2016 and she will return to her role as Raven/Mystique in X-Men in May 2016.
Joy is out in UK cinemas on 1 January 2016