The science fiction genre often pushes the boundaries of what’s possible in our own world. When Passengers, starring Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt, premiered in theaters in 2016, though, a lot of critics questioned whether or not the film’s themes had taken things too far.
Lawrence spoke with Vogue for its September cover story, which published Wednesday. She touched on recent projects, such as her upcoming horror film mother!, but she also took a step back to reflect on past work.
When asked about the sci-fi epic Passengers, which she co-starred in with Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy), she admitted regret about how the story began. Apparently, she thinks the film would have been better if it had opened with her character, Aurora Lane, waking up.
“I’m disappointed in myself that I didn’t spot it,” she said. “I thought the script was beautiful—it was this tainted, complicated love story. It definitely wasn’t a failure. I’m not embarrassed by it by any means. There was just stuff that I wished I’d looked into deeper before jumping on.”
Passengers underwent quite a bit of controversy when it first premiered in theaters, with critics calling Aurora’s relationship with Pratt’s Jim Preston more of a hostage situation than a true romance.
A good section of the film follows Jim through the ship after he’s woken up 90 years before he and his fellow passengers reach their destination. It takes a while for him to finally muster up the desperation to wake Aurora up, too, damning her to the same fate as him; he thinks she’s pretty and he’s lonely, so, why not?
A lot of people likened their relationship to Stockholm Syndrome, and, as Lawrence pointed out, maybe the film’s tone would have changed if it had opened with her waking up. Though, the whole thing might have read as more of a horror flick if that were the case.
