Jennifer Lawrence has revealed she once hallucinated while filming The Hunger Games after accidentally taking Ambien, opening up about the moment during a newly released Actors on Actors interview with Leonardo DiCaprio.
Speaking candidly about on-set mishaps, Lawrence admitted the mix-up happened during production on the franchise’s second film, Catching Fire, while filming a scene alongside the late Philip Seymour Hoffman.
@varietymagazine #JenniferLawrence tells #LeonardoDiCaprio that she started “hallucinating" on set of "The #HungerGames" after “accidentally” taking an Ambien: "Elizabeth Banks got really annoyed with me." Watch the full #ActorsOnActors ♬ original sound - Variety
“I also once took an Ambien in the morning thinking it was something else,” Lawrence told DiCaprio.
Reacting with disbelief, DiCaprio replied: “Wow, those are key screwups.”
Lawrence went on to explain just how disorienting the experience became during filming.
“There was a dance scene with Philip Seymour Hoffman in the second Hunger Games movie. And I was hallucinating.”
DiCaprio, who said he has familiarity with the effects of the medication, added: “It almost shuts off a certain part of your brain, Ambien.”
“Well certainly the memorisational part,” Lawrence responded.
DiCaprio followed up: “And you had to say lines with that? Wow…”
“I did,” Lawrence confirmed, before recalling how her confusion frustrated co-star Elizabeth Banks. “Elizabeth Banks got really annoyed with me, maybe she didn’t know I was on Ambien. So I kept asking the director, ‘Wait, so what does this mean? And what does this mean? What does that mean?’ So she just threw her sides and was like, ‘Fine, let’s keep talking about it!’”
The exchange was one of several candid moments in the interview, which also saw DiCaprio admit he has never actually watched Titanic, the film that made him a global star.
“Have you rewatched ‘Titanic’?” Lawrence asked.
“No. I haven’t seen it before,” DiCaprio replied.
Encouraging him to revisit the film, Lawrence said: “Oh, you should. I bet you could watch it now, it’s so good.”
DiCaprio countered: “I don’t really watch my films, do you?”
“No,” Lawrence admitted. “I’ve never made something like ‘Titanic,’ if I did I would watch it. Once I was really drunk, I put on ‘American Hustle.’ I was like, ‘I wonder if I’m good at acting?’ I put it on, and I don’t remember what the answer is.”
The interview comes as excitement builds around the Hunger Games universe once again. It has recently been confirmed that Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson are set to reunite as Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark in the upcoming prequel Sunrise on the Reaping.
The forthcoming film, adapted from Suzanne Collins’ novel, primarily centres on a young Haymitch Abernathy, but features a moment that longtime fans will recognise. In the book’s epilogue, set far beyond the events of Mockingjay, Haymitch references Katniss and Peeta’s post-Games life. The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed the pair’s return, though further details remain under wraps.
Since launching in 2012, The Hunger Games franchise has grown into one of the most successful film series in modern cinema, generating more than $3 billion at the global box office across four main films and a 2023 prequel. Catching Fire in particular shattered November opening records, cementing the saga’s lasting cultural impact.
