It’s fair to say that one of the more popular actors around is Jennifer Lawrence.  For several years, she’s starred in films that have been both critical and commercial darlings.

However, if there’s one thing that one realizes is that as incredible as it is to see someone reach the proverbial tip of the mountain in their career, there is always the danger, and possibility, that the stay there is short lived.

The other day Ms. Lawrence was being interviewed on the Howard Stern Show.  I have the Stern Show on my Sirius radio subscription and though in the past I followed it of late I have not.

(Quick random thought: The first time I heard the Howard Stern Show was waaaaaaay back in/around 1985 and I found it bold and incredibly funny.  Years later and before he moved to Sirius, his show appeared on a local radio and I listed to it now and again and found it was still quite good, especially when interviewing celebrities.  When he moved to Sirius, I checked him out now and again and, as before, I still really like his celebrity interviews.  This, more than the controversial aspects about him, is IMHO his grand forte)

So the other day I clicked on the show while Ms. Lawrence was being interviewed and stuck around to hear what she had to say.

She struck me as someone well aware of her status in the entertainment industry, even noting at one point that she realizes her success is a limited thing.

She was on the show promoting her latest film, Red Sparrow, which was released last week and, while not a bust, looks to be at best like it will be a mild/moderate money-maker.  However, this film follows the very controversial -and not very successful- mother! which in turn followed the successful (at least at the box-office) film Passengers.  That film, though, was met with controversy due to its plot, which essentially took the protagonist’s highly questionable actions and somehow tried to make them look “cute” in a romantic way.

Regardless and despite the financial success of that film, I strongly suspect there are few today who would point to Passengers as some great Jennifer Lawrence vehicle.  In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if that winds up being one of those films that gets, for the most part, forgotten in time.

mother!, on the other hand, has its defenders but they seem to be very few.  What is unquestionable, however, is that the film was a box-office bust and Red Sparrow, which looks to do a little better, nonetheless looks to be far from a blockbuster.

Rich Juzwiak at themuse.com noted the last films Ms. Lawrence has been involved in and asks:

How many more risks like Red Sparrow can Jennifer Lawrence’s career afford?

Sadly, I think his question is quite legitimate.  As good and successful as Ms. Lawrence -or any currently big name entertainer- has been, there is always the risk that if you deliver works that either don’t interest audiences or, even worse, turn them off, your high flying star may come crashing down.

In the 1970’s, Burt Reynolds was one of the biggest movie stars out there.  Smokey and the Bandit, released the same year as that little, now forgotten film Star Wars (I kid, obviously!) was second in terms of box office take.

But Mr. Reynolds made some bad choices going into the 1980’s, the biggest of which was reportedly rejecting the role of Garret Breedlove in the very well received/Oscar winning film Terms of Endearment -a role that went to Jack Nicholson- in favor of starring in the box-office and critical bust Stroker Ace.  He reportedly took the later role as a favor to its director Hal Needham, who had directed Mr. Reynolds in Smokey and the Bandit.

From that point on, Mr. Reynold’s career spiraled further and further downward and one notes that Ms. Lawrence, though perhaps not quite at that level of danger, nonetheless may be wise to consider her next roles.

Then again, I highly doubt Ms. Lawrence entered any of those films thinking they would ultimately end up as they did.  That’s the great unknown regarding doing works of art.

What might be a big success on paper might result in a big failure when all is said and done.