Jennifer Lawrence made her big screen debut as a teenager in the 2008 film, Garden Party. By 2015, she was the highest-paid actress in Hollywood, a feat she repeated in 2016. Just over a decade of work produced a wide range of roles for Lawrence, four of which earned her Academy Award nominations and — one win.
Lawrence’s characters include a mutant, a spy, a revolutionary, a writer, and more. While a lot of her characters have been caretakers, even more have been brave, striking out into the unknown. None of Jennifer Lawrence’s characters have been magic users, but it’s not too difficult for the Sorting Hat in Harry Potter to find a place for them at Hogwarts all the same.
Raven Darkholme/Mystique (X-Men Franchise): Hufflepuff
The Mystique of Marvel Comics fame might be a candidate for Slytherin, but the character as played by Jennifer Lawrence is definitely a Hufflepuff.
Beginning in X-Men: First Class, the audience got to see a different side of Mystique. This isn’t the Mystique who is a warrior or anti-human. Instead, this is a Mystique who longs for peaceful coexistence, but who doesn’t want it at the expense of anyone’s lives. She’s a peacemaker and loyal to the family she’s found in the X-Men. Those qualities ultimately cause tragedy for her in Dark Phoenix.
Aurora Lane (Passengers): Gryffindor
In Passengers, Aurora Lane was a journalist before she wound up on a vessel sent out to colonize a new planet. Her inquisitive mind meant she had a lot of Ravenclaw traits, but she still ends up sorted into Gryffindor.
Aurora’s bravery and sense of adventure are what drive a lot of her decisions. After all, she willingly decided to spend a century asleep in order to see a new world. That’s one pretty big adventure. Her first emotional response to finding out the only other awake human lied to her is to attempt to kill him. That’s definitely an emotional Gryffindor jumping to conclusions. Ultimately, Aurora bravely saves the life of the same person she tried to kill (and also forgave), and spends her life with him.
Dominika Egorova (Red Sparrow): Slytherin
On the one hand, Red Sparrow’s Dominika Egorova is very often motivated by loyalty to her ill mother. But more often than not, she’s motivated by ambition.
Dominika initially wanted to be a professional ballerina, but an injury sidelined her. Taking an offer for a government job because she feels like she has no other choice, Dominika becomes a star spy. She very quickly figures out ways to get around doing exactly what is asked of her. Her cunning finds her short cuts, a way to save her mother’s life, and a way to get what she wants. She is definitely a Slytherin.
Elissa Cassidy (House At The End Of The Street): Gryffindor
Like a lot of final girls in horror movies, Elissa spends a good chunk of her story forced to be brave. She is very much a Gryffindor by default.
Most of what the audience knows about Elissa is literally a product of her experiences with the boy who lives in the House At The End Of The Street. She goes with her gut and defies her mother to hang out with him. Elissa learns bits and pieces of the house’s story without intentionally investigating. She also bravely attempts to save herself, one of the kidnapped girls, and her mother. It’s her emotions on her sleeve and her bravery that land her in Gryffindor.
Ree Dolly (Winter’s Bone): Gryffindor
The movie that earned Jennifer Lawrence her first Oscar nomination and put her on the map was Winter’s Bone. Far from the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, the movie followed a desperate teenage girl just trying to keep her family from losing their house.
Ree could easily be a Hufflepuff with her fierce loyalty to her siblings and her mother, but she has a lot of Gryffindor traits we can’t overlook. She’s stubborn to a fault, never taking no for an answer. That gets her into trouble repeatedly in the movie, but she won’t back down, even when she’s terrified. Ree faces off against some of the toughest men and women in Missouri, standing her ground as she searches for her father.
Joy Mangano (Joy): Ravenclaw
The only Ravenclaw to make the list, the title character in Joy is inspired by a real-life inventor and business woman.
Joy Mangano thinks outside of the box. When she has a problem, she doesn’t use someone else’s solution, but invents her own. That creative thinking lands her a bestselling mop and a business empire. In addition to that creativity, Joy’s got a head for logic and business. When she discovers she’s been taken advantage of, she finds out exactly how to fix the situation and manages to get businesses to pay the money back that the swindled from her.
Tiffany Maxwell (Silver Linings Playbook): Gryffindor
Inspired by a novel, Silver Linings Playbook isn’t exactly Tiffany’s story. Instead, it’s Pat’s. Tiffany, however, plays a huge part in the story with her big heart and her big risks. That’s why she’s a Gryffindor.
After tragically losing her husband, Tiffany allows herself to really experience her emotions. That involves a lot of casual physical relationships, openly talking about her issues, and taking dance classes. Tiffany truly puts herself out there, willing to embrace life, even if it might be short, and that might make her the biggest Gryffindor of Jennifer Lawrence’s characters.
Serena Pemberton (Serena): Hufflepuff
In Serena, the titular protagonist is a bit of a conundrum. Like many of Lawrence’s characters, there’s always more going on in her head than she lets on. She’s not above scheming to get her way — even if that involves killing people. Her motivation, however, isn’t herself, but her husband.
Everything Serena does from the moment she marries George is done with the intent of strengthening their relationship. She systematically cuts the people out of his life she thinks are holding him back. Serena is what happens when a Hufflepuff’s loyalty is set to an extreme level.
Rosalyn Rosenfeld (American Hustle): Gryffindor
Rosalyn Rosenfeld is a surprisingly difficult sort. Perhaps that’s because the audience doesn’t spend as much time with her in American Hustle as they do all of Lawrence’s other characters.
Ultimately, Rosalyn ends up in Gryffindor because, like a lot of the members of this particular Hogwarts house, she thinks with her heart instead of her head. Rosalyn doesn’t initially want to leave her ill-fitting husband, but she also wants him to stop getting himself in trouble. She agrees not to turn him in, but feeling trapped in her relationship, she starts acting out. Rosalyn eventually follows her heart right into a new relationship and attempts to find her freedom.
Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games Franchise): Slytherin
Katniss Everdeen accidentally becomes the face of a revolution in The Hunger Games franchise, but it’s a role she never wanted to have. She’s not intentionally a hero either. There’s a lot of Hufflepuff in her, standing up for Prim and wanting fairness for Rue’s district, but ultimately, Katniss is a survivor who plays the system, just like a Slytherin would.
Katniss uses any means necessary to make sure her family stays safe. She also manipulates the audience of the games themselves to make sure she and Peeta get a fair shot at survival. Katniss keeps her guard up so much in the story that everyone sees her how they want to see her — and not for who she really is.
