In an exclusive interview moderated by The Hollywood Reporter, Stephen Galloway, Director and Writer of ‘Silver Linings Playbook,’ David O’ Russell, talks about how a young Jennifer Lawrence won the role of recently widowed, Tiffany Maxwell based off a candid moment with a spider.

Russell recalls the audition with Lawrence back in 2011 that took place over Skype. It was after an unexpected moment with Lawrence killing a spider in her bathroom that blew him away.

“I asked her to cry and she made me cry. Then she went and killed a spider in the bathroom that was behind her. Which was just kind of amazing to me,” Russell explains. “She had cried so she went to get a tissue. Then when she went in the bathroom, she went, ah there’s a gigantic spider in the bathroom. It was in her father’s house, in her parent’s house. Then she imitated how the spider went when she tried to attack the spider. That fascinated me as much as anything else. She was unlike anybody I’d ever seen, unlike anybody I’d ever met.”

Russell personally took the Skype recording to Harvey Weinstein, whose Weinstein Co. backed the film, to his office in New York. Weinstein was skeptical about Lawrence but within 30 seconds of the tape, Weinstein was sold and the rest was Best Actress Oscar winning history.

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