Jennifer Lawrence says Red Sparrow naked scenes helped her get past photo hack

'What I went through, should that dictate decisions I make for the rest of my life?'

The nudity in Jennifer Lawrence's new film Red Sparrow has been picked up on in several reviews of the movie due to how unexpectedly explicit it as and how random it feels at times. For me, it felt as if at least one of the scenes was added just to boost box office sales.

Lawrence herself has defended the scenes, however, and said that they were empowering for her.

"The insecurity and fear of being judged for getting nude, what I went through, should that dictate decisions I make for the rest of my life?" she said at the Red Sparrow premiere on Monday night (via Variety), referencing the phone hack that saw her personal images stolen and posted online.

"This movie changed that and I didn’t even realize how important changing that mentality was until it was done. But I also really challenged myself in ways that I never really had before. The foreign accent. The dancing. It was really taking on a very different leaf."

As for the filming of the scenes and working with her Hunger Games director Francis Lawrence, she added: "We talked about it extensively, which was really important for showing up on the day and there being no surprises.

"I knew exactly what was going on and also there was one moment he came out to give me a note and just looked at me like I had clothes, and then I just felt like I had clothes on. I was surrounded by professionals and everybody was completely professional."

One scene sees Lawrence strip completely naked and lie spread-eagled on a table, her character taking part in a seduction training program for Russian spies.

“Look, I wasn’t sure she was going to want to do the movie," Francis Lawrence (no relation to Jennifer) said. "And I pitched her the idea in general, but I didn’t tell her much about the content.

"She liked the idea of the character in general, and I sort of filled her in a little bit along the way, but I wanted her to wait for the script. She thought about it, because clearly she knew what the content was going to be. And as soon as she said, ‘I want to do it,’ I said, ‘OK, I’m coming over to your house and we’re having a really frank conversation.'"

Red Sparrow opens in UK cinemas 1 March.