The actress, during preview screenings of the starry Netflix movie headed for theaters on December 10 ahead of streaming, recently admitted to actually getting high on the Boston set of the movie. (Via Yahoo! Movies.) In the satire about the end of the world, she plays a low-level astronomer who uses marijuana to soothe her fraying nerves after discovering a comet is heading toward the planet. At a Q&A in Los Angeles earlier this week, writer/director Adam McKay made reference to just how much Lawrence really leaned into character. (At the conversation, they were joined by co-stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Meryl Streep.)

“I know what you’re going to say, and I wasn’t pregnant [at the time],” said Lawrence, who announced back in September that she was expecting her first child. Related Jennifer Lawrence: ‘I’ve Worked with Bryan Singer. I’ve Seen Emotional Men.’ Jennifer Lawrence Knows She Wasn’t the First Female Action Star: ‘That’s Not What I Meant to Say’ Related The Best Zombie Movies Ever Made 17 HBO and HBO Max Original Series to Get Excited About in 2023
“You were not pregnant,” McKay said, before asking, “Can I say this?” “I think so, just nobody tell my mother-in-law,” the Oscar winner said. McKay then explained that the “Silver Linings Playbook” and “Hunger Games” star asked for permission to toke up for a scene featuring Streep that had no lines of spoken dialogue. “Because my character was getting high in the movie,” Lawrence said. “So Jen was like, ‘Are you gonna throw me some improv?,’ which we always do,” said McKay, whose satirical ensemble comedies like “Vice” and “The Big Short” have received Oscar nominations over the years. “And I was like, ‘No, you can get high.’” He added, “I kept turning to my script supervisor, Cate Hardman, and was like, ‘I just want to say, Hey, Jen. I think I have a monologue idea for you.’ And I would look at Jen and was like, ‘I can’t do it. It would be too mean.’ So I left you alone.” “I was a real target,” Lawrence added. “Everyone was fcking with me. … I guess because I was high. Easy to fck with.” Early word on the film, which Netflix is already positioning for the Oscar race, is itself high. Leonardo DiCaprio’s performance has been singled out for its comic brilliance, and comparisons have already been drawn to “Dr. Strangelove.” Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.