Jennifer Shrader Lawrence was born on August 15, 1990, in Indian Hills, Kentucky. She is an American actress and producer known for her versatility on-screen and her accessible, honest off-screen persona.

She began her career as a teenager with guest roles on television. Her first major role was as a main cast member on the sitcom The Bill Engvall Show from 2007 to 2009.

She made her film debut with a supporting role in the drama Garden Party in 2008 and had her breakthrough playing a poverty-stricken teenager in the independent film Winter's Bone in 2010.

Jennifer Lawrence gained stardom portraying the mutant Mystique in the X-Men film series from 2011 to 2019 and Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games film series from 2012 to 2015. The latter made her the highest-grossing action heroine.

She collaborated with filmmaker David O. Russell on three films, which earned her various accolades. For portraying a troubled young widow in the romance Silver Linings Playbook in 2012, she won the Academy Award for Best Actress, becoming the second-youngest winner in the category at age 22.

She won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for playing an unpredictable wife in the black comedy American Hustle in 2013. She also received Golden Globe Awards for both, and for portraying businesswoman Joy Mangano in the biopic Joy in 2015.

A series of mixed reviewed films and the media scrutiny of her role choices led to a small break from acting.

Jennifer Lawrence returned with the black comedy Don't Look Up in 2021, after which she produced and starred in the drama Causeway in 2022 and the comedy No Hard Feelings in 2023. Lawrence is a feminist and advocates for women's reproductive rights.

In 2015, she founded the Jennifer Lawrence Foundation, which advocates for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and the Special Olympics.

She formed the production company Excellent Cadaver in 2018. She is an active member of the nonpartisan nonprofit anti-corruption organization RepresentUs and has served as a spokesperson in its videos about protecting democracy. Her parents are Gary, a construction company owner, and Karen, a summer camp manager.

She has two older brothers, Ben and Blaine. She married Cooke Maroney in 2019, and they have a son named Cy, born in 2022. She has received numerous awards throughout her career, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, three Golden Globe Awards, four Critics' Choice Awards, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.

She has also been recognized by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2013 and appeared on the Forbes Celebrity 100 list from 2013 to 2016.