“I Want Somebody to Surprise Me”: Jennifer Lawrence on Die My Love, Lynne Ramsay’s Confidence, and the Directors She’d Love to Work With

In Die My Love, Jennifer Lawrence is Grace, a writer whose life is disrupted when the arrival of a baby leads to a move to the sticks of Montana to be closer to the family of her husband Jackson (Robert Pattinson). Whether it’s from a lack of sex, postpartum depression, writer’s block, a mental disorder, or the innate anxiety manifested from being uprooted so jarringly––or some combination thereof––Grace begins to act more and more erratically, attracting the concern of Jackson and those family members in her orbit. This includes sleepwalking aunt Pam (Sissy Spacek), and Jackson’s dementia-ridden father Harry (Nick Nolte). Spacek’s portrayal of Pam stands out as the lone person who attempts a real understanding of Grace, even if she fails.

After reading the novel of the same name in his book club, Martin Scorsese foresaw Lawrence as perfect for the fiery and sexually frustrated Grace, and sent the novel to her production company, Excellent Cadaver, for consideration. After securing the rights, Lawrence then sought out the one director capable of tackling such difficult material: Lynne Ramsay. 

Ahead of the film’s wide release this Friday from MUBI, I spoke with Lawrence over Zoom about how she prepared for the role opposite Pattinson, why shooting on 35mm was a must, and the two big-name directors she’d love to work with next. 

The Film Stage: When you’re reading for a potential role, are you more interested in finding a commonality, some thread that then gets you into the more unknown elements of a character? Or is it more exciting for a character to be a complete mystery to you that you can explore through your performance?

Jennifer Lawrence: It kind of means nothing either way. If there is a commonality, then I’m like, “Oh, wow, what a coincidence.” But I definitely don’t need it, and I don’t really use any of my real [self]. How I cry when my puppy dies would be very different than how Grace cries when her puppy dies. It’s irrelevant. You’re just looking for great characters with depth. And this book wasn’t a classic story with a linear and straightforward narrative. It was something that sat with me. It felt powerful. And then when I tried to think about who could pull something like this off, it was really only Lynne Ramsay. She is a poet, and I’ve wanted to work with her forever. I didn’t know if she would do it, obviously. And then she said yes.

What was the process like with Ramsay on set? She’s very location-dependent and will often shift things on the day of shooting, where a dialogue scene might become dialogue-free. Do any moments like that stand out throughout production?

There were so many moments like that––like us crawling in the grass. We weren’t supposed to be doing that in the script; we were supposed to be flipping burgers. But then she went and stood out in a field and was like, “The light’s beautiful. Let’s do this.” Down to the way that she would block us, if the script said, “Jackson drops Grace off at the psych hospital,” the way that she could pull Rob forward in the foreground and then me in the background, and then squat him down, and he’s smoking a cigarette. She has such a gift for cinematography.

I want somebody to surprise me. I want somebody to have that eye and confidence to go, “No, no, no, I think it should be this” on the day of. If they were doing everything just as written, it would be boring. That gives me more confidence that I’m putting my faith in the right place. 

The 35mm photography aids Ramsay’s eye. Was getting that element a fight at all with your production company? 

It was a “yes” right away from us, but we weren’t paying for it, so we knew it would be a tough sell to the financier. But that is one of Lynne’s greatest gifts, and we wanted her to be able to have all of the tools in her toolkit at her disposal. 

Like you said, it’s a non-linear story, and there is a pregnant relationship that’s shown with Grace and Jackson, and then there’s the post-baby sequences between them. As an actor, how did you keep those two distinct periods separate? 

The costume helped me a lot. When Jackson and Grace first arrive in Montana, you can tell––we stick out like sore thumbs. And then the longer that we’re there, Grace starts to blend in––the pink cardigan, she starts to dress like the people around her. When I’d show up to set I’d see what clothes were hanging in the trailer, and that would help orient me.

What was the process with Robert Pattinson leading up to the film? Rehearsal-wise, there was dancing. Were there other rehearsals that helped you two figure out who you were in your relationship to one another?

We didn’t rehearse in the typical sense. We didn’t read through scenes or anything; we just talked through the scenes. Rob and I are in similar places in our lives, where we are partners and parents. So being able to have that informed experience to go into, not literally, but for that to build into the experience and have those details was really helpful.

You have been a fan of Ramsay for a long time, but was there anything about her process that surprised you, that made you think, “Oh wow, that’s new”?

I was surprised at how hands-off she was, and also how she was very confident, take-wise. If we got it in one take, she would move on. It shows a lot of confidence, and I mean––she should be confident. If I picture an auteur, I imagine somebody that’s very controlling and neurotic, and she was the opposite. She was really laid-back, open, and let everybody have breathing room. 

When she is confident in the take, do you ever protect yourself by saying, “I know you feel like you got it, but I’d like to go again”? Or are you putting your faith fully in her?

If I felt like I wasn’t there, or something felt off to me, then I would say something. But otherwise, if it felt good to me and she’s telling me that it looked good to her, then she had my total trust.

Now that Lynne Ramsay is crossed off your bucket list, is there another director you’d love to work with?

P.T. Anderson, Chris Nolan. 

Die My Love opens in theaters on Friday, November 7.