Jennifer Lawrence Was Almost in OH, MARY! on Broadway: Why She Backed Out
While on Las Culturistas, Lawrence revealed that the only time she had the urge to do theater was Cole Escola's hit play.
By: Michael Major Nov. 05, 2025
Jennifer Lawrence was almost Mary Todd Lincoln in Oh, Mary! on Broadway. On the latest episode of Las Culturistas, the Oscar-winner revealed that she almost donned the bratty curls, but scheduling got in the way.
The Hunger Games alum said on Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers' iHeartRadio podcast that, while she doesn't think she would be good at theater, she had the urge to do Cole Escola's hit play. However, the lengthy rehearsal period and eight shows a week did not work out.
"It just didn't work out. The schedule, just whatever. They were like, 'Okay, well, it's eight shows a week and like six weeks of rehearsal.' And I was like, 'Okay, do you guys have daycare there?' It just wouldn't have worked."
When asked what drew her to Oh, Mary!, Lawrence revealed that she enjoyed the play's humor and felt like she could take on the title role.
"Maybe because like the whole thing is a joke that she's like in on. And so I felt like I could be like big and in on the joke."
At the end of their conversation, Lawrence did leave the door open for a future run in the play if her schedule clears up.
She also revealed that Escola is writing a new Miss Piggy movie that she and Emma Stone are producing. Learn more here.
Oh, Mary! currently stars Jane Krakowski through January 4. As previously announced, tickets for Oh, Mary! are now on-sale through July 5, 2026.
Directed by 2025 Tony Award winner Sam Pinkleton, Oh, Mary! opened on Broadway on July 11, 2024 at the Lyceum Theatre, where it became the first show in the theater’s 121-year history to gross more than $1,000,000 in a single week. Oh, Mary! has since broken its own box office record twelve times, and became the first show of the 2024-25 Broadway season to recoup its investment.
Oh, Mary! is produced on Broadway by Kevin McCollum & Lucas McMahon and Mike Lavoie & Carlee Briglia with Bob Boyett, The Council, Jean Doumanian Productions, Nicole Eisenberg, Jay Marcus & George Strus, Irony Point, Richard Batchelder/Bradley Reynolds, Tyler Mount/Tommy Doyle, Nelson & Tao, Palomares & Rosenberg, and Showtown Productions.
