The M Interview: JLaw doesn't mind being blue

Jennifer Lawrence is late to her first interview of the day, with no excuse or apology, in the very hotel where she is staying.

Maybe she's having a bad day.

But selling her latest movie - we are at Claridge's hotel in London to talk about X-Men: Apocalypse - is an important part of the job and being on time is the mark of a professional.

When the 25-year-old Oscar winner arrives, she is wearing a floaty Altuzarra dress, looking lovely and ready to field questions.

In the latest film in the X-Men franchise, which opens here on May 19, the US actress reprises her role of shapeshifting mutant Mystique/Raven Darkholme for the third time after X-Men: First Class (2011) and X-Men: Days Of Future Past (2014).

Mystique hides from the world, convinced she will never be accepted. But she is forced to come out of the shadows in the battle against the first and most powerful mutant Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac) who wants to decimate the world then rebuild it, installing himself as ruler.

Mystique is reunited with Professor X/Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Magneto/Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender). Along the way, she serves as a mentorfor a new generation of mutants to become X-Men.

How did it feel to be one of the veterans on set?

Fassbender, McAvoy and I, we are all very used to each other. So it was nice to bring in some young blood.

I think Raven has learnt and has been through so much that it was nice for her to come to this place where she is starting to give back and teach.

Tell us about the punching game you started on set over three years ago.

I technically brought it from The Hunger Games to X-Men. I'm not the one who decided to brutalise everyone on set. On The Hunger Games, we do it and we punch each other but no one is trying to permanently, seriously harm someone.

When Fassbender and McAvoy and Hugh (Jackman) got involved, they punched each other as hard as they possibly could.

I mean, James' arm was black and it looked like he had the flesh-eating virus. James smacked (X-Men: Apocalypse writer-producer) Simon Kinberg so hard in the face that his contact lens popped out.

So I brought the game, (but) I didn't bring the psychosis that followed. There is a lot of testosterone on these movies and I will not take responsibility for that (laughs).

 

 

How bad was your Mystique blue body make-up?

It's really not that bad. (It takes) about three hours now. And getting it on is fine. Having to go to the bathroom is always a problem. Taking it off is really hard, because they glue it and it's intense glue that is supposed to hold all day and you sweat 15, 16 hours so it always leaves a mark.

Plus, I'm allergic to adhesive, so that's nice.

GLAM GODDESS:  Jennifer Lawrence arrives at a screening of X-Men Apocalypse at a cinema in London, Britain, May 9, 2016. PHOTO: REUTERS

X-Men is over now. Is there more of Mystique you want to explore?

Yeah. You don't ever get bored when you are playing the same character because the character is always growing and changing, so you are not playing the same person that is in the same place.

I still feel that now, like where would we even be next? I don't feel done with the character.

When you work on an independent movie, you get showered with awards. When you work on something like X-Men: Apocalypse, you get showered with money. Which is sweeter?

There's no way for me to answer that question and still be likeable at the end of this (laughs).

Creatively, there really isn't a difference. I go about my job the same exact way no matter who is funding the movie. I read my lines and I figure out who she is, and if the director tells me to do something, I do it.

There are wonderful benefits to money and there are wonderful benefits to awards.