In September, actress Jennifer Lawrence announced that she would be taking a break from acting, though she wasn’t sure how she would spend her time. “I don’t know, start making pots? I think I’m just taking a little break,” she said earlier this year.
“I’m going to take the next year off. I’m going to be working with this organisation as a part of Represent.Us, trying to get young people engaged politically on a local level,” she said in an interview with Entertainment Tonight.
Represent.Us is a non-profit, nonpartisan organisation which sums up itself and its goal with a one-liner that says, “We bring together conservatives, progressives, and everyone in between to pass powerful anti-corruption laws that stop political bribery, end secret money, and fix our broken elections.” It was founded in November 2012.
Lawrence indicated that she was inspired to enter the world of political activism after the #MeToo movement and the Harvey Weinstein saga. She is motivated to use her stardom to raise consciousness amongst the next generation and has also founded the Jennifer Lawrence Foundation to back charities that help youngsters and boost awareness and involvement with the arts.
“It’s not easy to speak out. It’s not easy to face criticism on a global scale. But the fact is, I have been given a platform and if I don’t use it, then I don’t deserve it,” Lawrence said when presented with the Sherry Lansing Leadership Award last December.
The mother! star has already started working with the organization; earlier this year, she travelled to a high school in Ohio to talk to a government class about the importance of political involvement. “It was really amazing how informed Ms. Lawrence is about politics,” senior Londyn Crenshaw remarked after the visit. The actress has also been outspoken on issues like sexual harassment in Hollywood, attended the Women’s March earlier this year, and hosted a political comedy show.
