Jennifer Lawrence Spoke About The Difficulties Of Postpartum Depression: âIsolating and Heartbreakingâ
Her new film addresses the topic head-on.
In their new thriller Die, My Love, Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson play new parents grappling with Lawrence's character's severe postpartum depression and psychosis (a rare and very serious condition that can come on suddenly, but is reversible with treatment). At the film's premiere at Cannes, Lawrence opened up about the strange and destabilizing realities of the postpartum experience.
âAs a mother, it was really hard to separate what I would do as opposed to what [the character] would do. It was just heartbreaking.â Lawrence said at a press conference, per TheWrap. âThereâs not anything like postpartum. Itâs extremely isolating.â
In the film, directed by Lynne Ramsay and based on the novel by Ariana Harwicz, the family moves to a remote cabin, but this is an externalization of the mother's issues, not the cause of it. âExtreme anxiety and extreme depression [are] isolating no matter where you are. You feel like an alien,â said Lawrence, who is receiving rave reviews for her performance in the film, which garnered a standing ovation after its screening.
Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson at a photocall for the film Die, My Love on May 18.
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She also opened up about the highs and lows of parenthood overall. Jennifer Lawrence and her husband Cooke Maroney welcomed a son, Cy, in 2022, and a second child earlier this year. âHaving children changes everything. It changes your whole life. Itâs brutal and incredible,â she said, per Variety. âSo not only do they go into every decision of if Iâm working, where Iâm working, when Iâm working, theyâve taught meâI mean, I didnât know that I could feel so much and my job has a lot to do with emotion. Itâs almost like feeling a blister or somethingâlike, so sensitive. So theyâve changed my life, obviously, for the best and theyâve changed me creatively. I highly recommend having kids if you want to be an actor.â