‘Extreme anxiety and extreme depression': Jennifer Lawrence says she felt ‘like an alien' as a new mother

The Guardian

18-05-2025

Jennifer Lawrence has spoken of the 'extremely isolating' effect of the postpartum period, while discussing a new film in which she portrays a mother descending into psychosis.
In Scottish art-house director Lynne Ramsay's moody psychodrama Die, My Love, Lawrence's character Grace is left alone to look after her newborn in a ramshackle house in the remote woods of Montana while her husband Jackson (Robert Pattinson) goes off to work.
'As a mother, it was really hard to separate what I would do as opposed to what she would do,' Lawrence said in a press conference on the eve of the film's premiere at the Cannes film festival. 'And it was just heartbreaking.'
The Hunger Games star, who gave birth to her first child in 2022 and was five months pregnant with her second when filming began on Die, My Love in 2024, said 'there's not really anything like postpartum … it's extremely isolating. The truth is extreme anxiety and extreme depression is isolating no matter where you are. You feel like an alien.'
Die, My Love is based on Argentine writer Ariana Harwicz's novel of the same name. It is Ramsay's second film to explore the darker sides of motherhood, after her critically acclaimed 2011 feature We Need to Talk about Kevin, based on Lionel Shriver's novel.
Batman star Pattinson, who became a father in 2024, said he was usually drawn to more abrasive characters than Jackson, but that the character's struggles while coping with a partner's mental health issues resonated with him.
'Especially in postpartum, trying to deal with her isolation and trying to figure out your heart and your role in the relationship, it's incredibly difficult, especially if you don't have the vernacular,' Pattinson said in Cannes. 'He's not a mental health professional. He's just hoping that the relationship will go back to what it was.'
Contrary to the swirling horror of early motherhood portrayed in the film, Lawrence insisted having children had made her a better actor. 'I didn't know that I could feel so much,' she said. 'My job has a lot to do with emotion … and they've changed me creatively. I highly recommend having kids if you want to be an actor.'
In the UK, the charity Mind is available on 0300 123 3393 and Childline on 0800 1111. In the US, call or text Mental Health America at 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. In Australia, support is available at Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636, Lifeline on 13 11 14, and at MensLine on 1300 789 978