Jennifer Lawrence is a brilliant actor, but her claim that she was the first woman to lead an action movie with The Hunger Games has caused a bit of a stir. Now, one of the stars of the horror movie Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 has hit back and wants to prove Lawrence wrong.
The Hunger Games franchise is a brilliant collection of adventure movies that feature plenty of epic action set-pieces and provide lots of excitement for fans. They’re also a fantastic example of how successful a woman-led movie series can be. But was Lawrence really the first woman to be the lead in a big action movie?
Well, no. And on Twitter, Caroline Williams, who appeared in the ‘80s movie sequel to the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, has shared the proof.
Williams shared a short clip of herself in the slasher movie, covered in blood, wielding a chainsaw above her head. She captioned the tweet: “Hey, Jennifer Lawrence. This was 1986… Chew on that for a while.”
Now there are two things to consider here that potentially derail Williams’ own argument. One, is Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 an action movie? Not really, but it does have lots of the kinds of thrilling scenes you’d find in one, so we’ll not scrutinise that too much.
Second of all, is to debate the actual success of Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. The movie made over $8 million at the box-office, against a reported budget of just under $5 million. Not bad returns, but certainly not a monster success by any means.
That all said, Caroline is correct to counter Lawrence’s claim. Plenty of women have fronted action films, and though The Hunger Games has no doubt helped the conversation about women leading whole franchises, it’s not that drastic of a trendsetter.
It’s all moot anyway, because whether Lawrence or Williams, or indeed any actor was the first woman to lead an action movie, the point is a film can and should be incredibly successful regardless of gender. All that really matters is the quality of the project.
For more chainsaw action check out our guide to the Chainsaw Man anime release date, and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre timeline. Or, for more Hunger Games, dive into our guide to the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes release date.