WHILE heroine Katniss Everdeen leads a rebellion in the final “Hunger Games” movie, the actress who brought the character to life, Jennifer Lawrence, is coming into her own in a business dominated by men.

    With an Oscar and a number of hit films to her credit, Lawrence, 25, was ranked by Forbes as the highest-paid actress last year with an estimated US$52 million in earnings.

    Lawrence reprised her role as Everdeen in “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 2,” due in theaters Friday. She said the franchise has shown that “a female lead in an action movie can still be a critical and commercial success.”

    “The huge misconception that women can relate to male leads but men can’t relate to female leads, I think that’s something studios are saying and it’s just getting repeated. Hopefully that kind of mentality is on its way out,” Lawrence said in an interview.

    Lawrence has mainly played strong women. Her first Oscar nomination was for playing survivor Ree in 2010’s independent drama “Winter’s Bone.” She played the outspoken Tiffany in “Silver Linings Playbook” and Everdeen, the “Hunger Games” heroine.

    This year after wrapping up “Hunger Games” and “X-Men,” in which she plays blue, shape-shifting Mystique, Lawrence will step into the post-franchise chapter of her career.

    She is co-writing a script with comedian Amy Schumer and filming space romance “Passengers” with Chris Pratt.

    “I have complete control over my schedule and I really like that,” said Lawrence.

    (SD-Agencies)