Jennifer Lawrence has revealed her favorite movie of 2022 was The Woman King.
As part of Variety’s latest Actors on Actors series (opens in a new tab), the Hunger Games star sat down with Viola Davis to discuss their recent work, motherhood and more. During the chat, Lawrence touched on the action-packed historical drama that centers on the Agojie, the all-female warriors who protected the West African kingdom of Dahomey in the early 1800s – and Davis just happens to starred the main role.
“I think that [The] Woman King is the best movie I’ve seen this year, hands down, and the best movie I’ve seen in so long,” she said candidly.
Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood of The Old Guard, The Woman King follows General Nanisca (Davis), a hardened military leader, who is forced to confront his own violent past when a young provocateur named Nowi (Thuso Mbedu) begins to train as one of Agojie’s next group of fighters. The purpose of the unit? To break free from the dominating Oyo empire and fend off the emerging slave trade.
Captain Marvel’s Lashana Lynch, Jordan Bolger, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Sheila Atim and Star Wars’ John Boyega round out the supporting cast.
Elsewhere in the conversation, Davis recalled how pessimistic she was about making The Woman King during its early stages of development.
“What I have going for me is that I’m a black actress, and I understand how people perceive that. I don’t see that as a barrier,” she told Lawrence. “But when have I ever seen something like Woman King, not just with me in it, but with someone who looks like me in it? Which studio is going to put the money behind it? How are they going to be convinced that women can run a global box office? So, yeah, I said, ‘That’s not going to happen, because you don’t see it.’ ”
For more, check out our list of the most exciting upcoming movies set to release throughout 2022 and beyond.