Hey, did you guys know that Jennifer Lawrence is deathly afraid of singing in public? That's only been one of the major tidbits to emerge from the media coverage of the actress' new movie The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1. You may have heard of it.
The reason why Lawrence's vocal ability has become so associated with Mockingjay is because she had to sing in the movie. Lawrence sings an original song called "The Hanging Tree" written by the author of The Hunger Games series Suzanne Collins and The Lumineers' Jeremiah Fraites and Wesley Schultz. She starts off singing the tune solo and a capella, but she's later joined by a choir and an orchestra.
But just because Lawrence is so self-conscious about her singing doesn't mean she's not successful at it. In fact, she's now basically an international pop star. "The Hanging Tree" is currently No. 14 on the U.K. singles chart and No. 12 in Australia. The song hasn't cracked the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. yet, but just give it time.
For someone who hates singing so much, Lawrence sure is pretty good at it. And even though she has protested so much about singing recently, Lawrence has actually done it quite a bit in her professional life and in public. Here are five of Lawrence's musical moments.
1. In a production of Othello at age 14
Lawrence played the female lead Desdemona in a production of William Shakespeare's Othello when she was 14 years old. Though this is a play, Lawrence still had to do some singing, crooning a little ditty a capella during the show, which you can hear a bit of in the above video around the one-minute mark.
2. In The Hunger Games
Everyone seems to forget that we've heard Lawrence sing before and in The Hunger Games to boot. As Katniss, Lawrence sings "Deep in the Meadow" in the first film of the series as she lays her young confidant Rue to rest after she's killed in The Hunger Games. Lawrence sounds fine in the movie. Well, as good as one can sound while sobbing.
3. In American Hustle
In another movie musical moment, Lawrence sings along to Paul McCartney & Wings' '70s classic "Live and Let Die" while she angrily cleans her home in her Oscar-nominated performance as dissatisfied housewife Rosalyn. Now you have to listen carefully to hear Lawrence's voice under the booming piano chords of this song, but you can still hear it.
4. On The Late Show With David Letterman
Lawrence was a guest on the Nov. 11 episode of The Late Show, and she discussed her fear of singing in public with the titular talk show host. The actress told Letterman she had a "tone-deaf Amy Winehouse" voice when she was 8 years old, and she demonstrated what she sounded like when she sang "Holly Jolly Christmas" in front of the entire school as a kid, an experience that turned her off from singing ever since. Of course, Lawrence exaggerated her voice when she appeared on The Late Show, but it was no less entertaining to see her sing.
5. On Saturday Night Live
Lawrence's Hunger Games co-star Woody Harrelson hosted the Nov. 15 episode of Saturday Night Live this year, and he opened the show with a spoof of Taylor Swift's hit "Blank Space." Lawrence and her fellow Hunger Games co-stars Liam Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson joined Harrelson on stage to help him finish the song. Again, it's hard to get a good idea of Lawrence's real singing ability with all of those other voices going on, but we can all take solace in the fact that we've heard her sing live.
