Actors Robert Pattinson, Jennifer Lawrence drew on real-life parenthood for postpartum Cannes drama
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Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson during a photo call for the film Die, My Love at the 78th Cannes Film Festival on May 18.
PHOTO: REUTERS
CANNES – English actor Robert Pattinson and American actress Jennifer Lawrence reflected on May 18 on the difficulties of the postpartum period and how they brought their own experiences of parenthood to their latest film. They star in the Cannes Film Festival competition title Die, My Love.
“There’s not really anything like postpartum. It’s extremely isolating,” Lawrence, who recently gave birth to her second child, told journalists in the French Riviera resort town. The 34-year-old also has a three-year-old son with her husband, American art gallery director Cooke Maroney, 40.
However, “as a mother, it was really hard to separate what I would do as opposed to what she (her character) would do”, said Lawrence, who won a Best Actress Oscar for Silver Linings Playbook (2012).
Pattinson and Lawrence play a couple, Jackson and Grace, who move to a small Montana town and have a child. The birth puts increasing pressure on their relationship as Grace, a writer, struggles to deal with her new identity as a mother.
“Dealing with a partner going through postpartum or any kind of mental illness or difficulties, trying to deal with her isolation, figuring out what your role is, is difficult, especially if you don’t have the vernacular,” Pattinson said.
Robert Pattinson and Jennifer Lawrence at the premiere of Die, My Love during the 78th annual Cannes Film Festival on May 17.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
Die, My Love received a nine-minute standing ovation at its premiere on May 17 and has been well received by critics. The film is the latest from Scottish director Lynne Ramsay, known for emotionally intense dramas like We Need To Talk About Kevin (2011).
Pattinson, who has a one-year-old daughter with English actress-singer Suki Waterhouse, 33, said becoming a parent himself in 2024 had reinvigorated him.
“In the most unexpected ways, having a baby gives you the biggest trove of energy and inspiration,” the 39-year-old said.
The actor gained fame in the Twilight film series (2008 to 2012) before both taking on less mainstream titles like The Lighthouse (2019) and donning Batman’s suit in The Batman (2022).
Lawrence, of The Hunger Games film series (2012 to present), said becoming a parent made her realise that she did not know just how much she could feel – “and my job has a lot to do with emotion”.
“I highly recommend having kids if you want to be an actor,” she added. REUTERS
