This 46-Year-Old Oscar Winner May Be Jennifer Lawrence’s New Leading Man

Jennifer Lawrence may only be 25 years old, but in the last five years, she has romanced three men on-screen who fell in the over-35 bracket at the time of filming—Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook,Serena) , Christian Bale (American Hustle), and Édgar Ramirez (Joy), and one man on the cusp of it,Michael Fassbender (X-Men: First Class). This isn’t to say that the movie industry’s May-December pairings are anything new. (Those 40-and-over actresses need to be reserved for Hollywood’s grandmother roles!) But it is interesting to see the age gap between Lawrence and her leading men possibly expand to a 21-year range, as one new casting report suggests, when there are substantial male actors her age and certainly plenty of impeccable middle-aged (and sadly under-utilized) female actresses his age.

Lawrence is slated to star in a new drama from Black Swan directorDarren Aronofsky—about “a couple whose relationship is tested when uninvited guests arrive at their home, disrupting their tranquil existence.” Paramount Pictures will produce the picture, which is set to arrive in theaters next year. And while other details about the project are scant,Variety reports that Javier Bardem“is in talks to co-star.” Even though reps for all parties involved would not comment, Variety adds that the No Country for Old Men Oscar winner and Bond villain “was always Aronofsky’s top choice for the part and after Lawrence was locked in, quickly offered him the role.”

If Bardem is cast as Lawrence’s significant other, the romantic pairing will mark her biggest age divide yet in film—a small casting slight to those actors closer to Lawrence’s age, likeEddie Redmayne—although even he is 8 years older than Lawrence—andChris Pratt, Lawrence’s 36-year-old co-star in the upcoming sci-fi romancePassengers. But, in the film’s premature defense, maybe Bardem’s age is pivotal to the story. Either way, Lawrence still has some way to go before surpassing some of her starlet peers in the weird-age-difference category. Vulture went as far as charting the age gap between three of Hollywood’s top actresses and their on-screen love interests, deducing thatScarlett Johansson has seen the most bizarre romantic pairings, age-wise, clearing a 34-year chasm with her Lost in Translation co-star Bill Murray. (And yes, in Johansson’s many romantic screen pursuits, she also co-starred opposite Bardem inVicky Cristina Barcelona.)

While Lawrence hasn’t spoken about Bardem in the past, she did confirm that she was interested in working with Aronofsky last year—comparing her love for his films to her affection for David O. Russell’s output.

“I had the same reaction to him that I did with David [O. Russell] when I first discovered David’s films,” the actress told Entertainment Weekly. “I watched I Heart Huckabees 11 times. I’m not joking. I watched all of his films repeatedly and then I did the same thing with Darren. These are two directors in my life who I have spent an obsessive weekend with. I started with The Wrestler and I went nuts from there.”