Here’s what Jennifer Lawerence felt about her role as Mystique ( Photo Credit – Facebook )
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Jennifer Lawerence wanted to fast-forward to X-Men: Dark Phoenix and let’s just say that by the time her run as the mutant shapeshifter ended, it was more of a relief than a celebration. She first took on the role in 2011’s X-Men: First Class, which catapulted her to big-screen fame, but the whole blue paint and prosthetics gig? Not her favorite. As much as she appreciated being part of the X-Men universe, she was vocal about how challenging the wakeup process was. By Dark Phoenix, she was ready to ditch the blue for good.
“I love these movies—it’s just the paint,” she admitted on Jimmy Kimmel in 2022. And honestly, who could blame her? The whole process could take up to eight hours. After a while, it wasn’t fun—it was a grind. In one hilarious chat with Graham Norton, Lawrence revealed how weird it got on set. “The guys who made it were like: ‘Well, she’s a girl. She doesn’t go to the bathroom!’” She had to “pee standing up out of a funnel.” Yep, that’s how X-Men movie magic is made.
But the costume wasn’t just a practical nightmare—it also affected her health. When Lawrence first filmed First Class, she didn’t care much about the toxic fumes from the paint. But as she got older, her perspective shifted. “I can’t even pronounce this, and is that going in my nose? I’m breathing that?” she said, reflecting on how the fumes started to make her think twice. No one can blame her there.
Looking back, it’s clear that her time in the X-Men franchise took a more considerable toll on her than she’d let on at the time. Lawrence said she needed a break after spending years in the public eye. “I was not pumping out the quality that I should have,” she said, confessing that the constant pressure to please everyone had worn her down. “I’d gotten sick of me,” she added, and it wasn’t just her. The public had, too.
“I think I was people-pleasing for most of my life,” she explained. “Working made me feel like nobody could be mad at me: ‘Okay, I said yes, we’re doing it. Nobody’s mad.’” Eventually, she reached a point where it wasn’t enough just to work. People weren’t pleased just by her existence anymore, and that realization shook her out of thinking that a career could bring inner peace.
Lawrence had hit a personal crossroads by the time she wrapped up Dark Phoenix. The blue body paint, the constant pressure, and the exhaustion of people-pleasing were all factors in her decision to step into the limelight. And now, years later, she’s back on screen with a renewed sense of purpose. No more blue paint—just Jennifer Lawrence, doing her thing on her own terms.
Sah, Jennifer Lawrence might’ve been a badass in X-Men, but it wasn’t always smooth. The blue paint? Not so glamorous. The fame? Well, that’s a whole different story. But at the end of the day, the journey shaped her, and now she’s ready for whatever comes next—no funnel required.
