Jennifer Lawrence on Postpartum Depression, Career Balance

Jennifer Lawrence has spoken candidly about motherhood, calling it “sacrificial” and saying her children and career feel like equal parts of her identity. She revealed she struggled with anxiety and postpartum depression after the birth of her second child earlier this year, experiencing “nonstop intrusive thoughts” and feeling “like a tiger was chasing me every day,” and she sought help through therapy and a short course of medication reported as Zurzuvae. The experience prompted her to reconsider her work–life balance and made her acknowledge feeling “vain and selfish” about wanting to continue acting while raising young children, though she said making movies is essential to her sense of self. Lawrence described escaping into stories and books to process her feelings, including reading an Ariana Harwicz novel that Martin Scorsese recommended, which led to her involvement in Lynne Ramsay’s film Die My Love. She and husband Cooke Maroney, married in 2019, have son Cy (born 2022) and a second child born earlier this year whose details they have kept private.