Jennifer Lawrence’s time on Kevin Costner’s new film was over almost before it started. The actress showed up for her first day on set this week and was gone by the afternoon, according to members of the production. Costner’s team says she simply wasn’t a fit for the project, and Costner wasn’t willing to wait around to find out.
Costner has made it pretty clear lately that he runs a strict “no woke” policy on his projects. He has said in interviews that he wants to make movies that tell a story without preaching, and he expects everyone on his sets to buy in.
Lawrence, it turns out, didn’t. “She couldn’t do it,” said Dave Sohinki, Costner’s talent coordinator. “She found a dozen things in the script that offended her.”
According to Sohinki, Lawrence began raising objections almost as soon as she sat down with the script. She questioned how certain characters were written, pushed back on several scenes, and asked for changes to dialogue she felt was insensitive.
Sohinki said he passed her concerns along to Costner right away. The answer came back quickly.
“Kevin gave me the okay to let her go about an hour after she showed up,” he said. “He wasn’t angry about it. He just knew.”
People on set said the mood stayed calm. Costner reportedly spent the rest of the day filming scenes with the rest of the cast as though nothing had happened.
“That’s Kevin,” said one crew member. “He doesn’t make a big show of anything. He just keeps moving.”
Lawrence, an Oscar winner for “Silver Linings Playbook,” has been one of Hollywood’s most vocal liberals. She has spoken out often against Republicans and has called for her industry to take stronger political stands. Her fans love her for it. Her critics say it has made her hard to work with.
Costner has taken a very different approach. After stepping away from “Yellowstone,” he poured his time and money into his “Horizon” films, old-fashioned Westerns that he has said he wanted to make without studio interference. He has avoided taking political sides in public, but people who work with him say he has little patience for drama.
News of the firing spread quickly. Lawrence’s defenders called it unfair and said actors should be allowed to speak up about material they find troubling. Some called it proof that Hollywood is shifting in a direction they don’t like.
Costner’s supporters said the opposite. They argued that Lawrence knew what she was signing up for and that a director has every right to protect his vision.
The role has since been filled by another actress, according to people on the production. Lawrence has not commented, and her representatives did not return requests for comment. For now, there is nothing new on her schedule. She’s insufferable and unemployed.
