Jennifer Lawrence says online comments about her appearance led to losing the role of Sharon Tate in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood to Margot Robbie.
During a January 12 appearance on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, the 35-year-old Oscar winner recalled fans deeming her “not pretty enough” to portray the 1960s star. The conversation shifted to Tarantino after Horowitz mentioned the director once expressed interest in working with her.
“It’s true, he said that. The Hateful Eight, the Jennifer Jason Leigh part was originally written for you, I believe,” Horowitz said.
“I turned it down, which I should not have done,” Lawrence joked.
When asked about Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Lawrence replied, “Well, he did and then everybody was like, ‘she’s not pretty enough to play Sharon Tate.'”
Horowitz disputed the claim, but Lawrence doubled down: “I’m pretty sure it is true. Or it’s that thing where I’ve been telling the story for so long that way, I believe it. I’m pretty sure that’s true, or he just never was considering me for the part and the internet just went out of its way to call me ugly.”
Margot Robbie, 35, was ultimately cast as Sharon Tate. Ahead of the film’s 2019 release, Sharon’s sister Debra Tate told TMZ she would have chosen Robbie over Lawrence.
“They are both extremely accomplished actresses, but I would have to say my pick would be Margot. Simply because of her physical beauty and the way she carries herself, it’s similar to that of Sharon,” Debra said. “I don’t think as much about Jennifer Lawrence… She’s just, I don’t know, she’s not pretty enough to play Sharon. That’s a horrible thing to say, but I have my standards.”
After the film’s release, Debra told Vanity Fair that Robbie’s performance moved her to tears: “The front of my shirt was wet. I actually got to see my sister again…nearly 50 years later.”
Tarantino later clarified on the June 28, 2021, episode of WTF with Marc Maron that he had considered Lawrence for a different role. He revealed he was thinking of casting her as Squeaky Fromme, a member of the Manson family, not Sharon Tate. The role eventually went to Dakota Fanning.
“Early on, I investigated the idea of Jennifer Lawrence playing Squeaky,” Tarantino said. “She came down to the house to read the script cause I wasn’t letting it out. So, she came down to the house and I gave her the script and said, ‘Go in my living room or go outside by the pool and read it.'”
He continued, “So she read it and afterwards we talked about it a little bit. She was interested in doing it, but then it didn’t work out. She’s a very nice person and I like her, I respect her as an actress.”
