Jennifer Lawrence Talks “Hunger Games” with Parade

With her new movie "The Hunger Games" set to hit theaters on March 23rd, Jennifer Lawrence amped up promotions by landing the cover of the latest issue of Parade magazine.

The 21-year-old actress, who plays the lead role of Katniss Everdeen in the film, spoke about everything from how she prepped for the part to how the book's popularity is relative to the success of the Kardashian sisters.

Highlights from Miss Lawrence's interview are as follows. For more, be sure to pay a visit to Parade!

On what makes Katniss such a popular character:
“I love Katniss. She doesn’t have a lot, but she’s happy, and she faces death out of love for her family. She doesn’t want to be a hero, but she becomes the symbol for a revolution, a kind of futuristic Joan of Arc.”

On why she thinks so many people relate to the books:
“I was watching the Kardashian girl getting divorced, and that’s a tragedy for anyone. But they’re using it for entertainment, and we’re watching it. The books hold up a terrible kind of mirror: This is what our society could be like if we became desensitized to trauma and to each other’s pain.”

On how she prepped for the part:
“There was running training, stunt training, combat training, archery. It was all really fun but filming in North Carolina in 100-degree heat and 100-percent humidity in cargo pants and leather boots and a jacket was tricky. The whole crew bonded over the heat and the bugs. And I conquered my fear of spiders.”

On her toughest day:
“I had to do a scene running across a field, grabbing a backpack. There was no shade. It was just in this field of really tall grass and I had to sprint, and sprint, and sprint as fast as I could, five or six times. And then I had to get in this huge fight. I felt like I was in a car accident the next day.”

On whether she's nervous about opening day:
“I’m always nervous. I always think this is going to be the end of my career. I’m going to have to go back to school and nobody’s ever going to want to see me again.”