Jennifer Lawrence Says She Hallucinated on ‘Hunger Games’ Set After Accidentally Taking Ambien

Jennifer Lawrence has shared a hilarious and very relatable behind-the-scenes story from her time filming The Hunger Games: Catching Fire — and it involves a serious sleep medication mix-up.

During her conversation with Leonardo DiCaprio for Variety and CNN’s Actors on Actors, Lawrence revealed that she once accidentally took Ambien before filming a scene with the late Philip Seymour Hoffman. The result? She was fully hallucinating while trying to do her job.

“You and I are both obsessive about sleep when we’re working, like counting the hours,” Lawrence told her Don’t Look Up co-star. She explained that sleep issues have caused her trouble on multiple film sets over the years.

Recalling another incident, Lawrence said she once took an Adderall instead of a sleeping pill while filming Red Sparrow. “I didn’t sleep all night. I was taking hot showers in a panic,” she said. “And then I had to say the phrase ‘Senate Armed Services Committee’ in a Russian accent. That sucked.”

But the Hunger Games story may top them all. “I also once took an Ambien in the morning, thinking it was something else,” Lawrence said. “It was a dance scene with Philip Seymour Hoffman on the second ‘Hunger Games’ movie. I was hallucinating. Elizabeth Banks got really annoyed with me.”

DiCaprio reacted by calling such moments “key screwups” in an actor’s career — a label Lawrence seemed more than happy to embrace with humor.

Lawrence famously originated the role of Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games franchise, which released four films between 2012 and 2015. The series has since expanded with prequels, including 2023’s The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and the upcoming Sunrise on the Reaping.

Lawrence is set to appear in Sunrise on the Reaping alongside original co-star Josh Hutcherson, with both reprising their roles as Katniss and Peeta. While details of their appearances are being kept secret, fans of the books know the characters appear in the epilogue alongside Haymitch, suggesting a flash-forward.

The Oscar-winning actress has also made it clear she’s open to returning to the franchise again. During her No Hard Feelings press tour in June 2023, she told Variety she would “totally” reprise Katniss if the right opportunity came along. “If Katniss ever could ever come back into my life, 100 percent,” Lawrence said.

Between medication mishaps, iconic performances, and a possible return to Panem, Jennifer Lawrence continues to prove that even Hollywood’s biggest stars have unforgettable — and sometimes surreal — on-set moments.