Do you have Hunger Games fever? The HG movie has been all over the news ever since it opened last Friday. I haven’t seen it yet, but I did get the inside scoop on one of its key players when I got to edit Lerner’s Jennifer Lawrence biography (cover pictured, left). Jennifer, of course, plays Katniss in the movie. This star’s own life story is every bit as compelling as that of the character she portrays. For example, did you know that Jennifer:

• displayed an intense passion for books, TV, and movies from the time she was only a toddler? On family car trips, if she had no way read or watch TV, she’d insist that her parents tell her one story after another.

• begged her mom to take her to New York City when she was fourteen so that someone could “discover” her? Her mom complied, more or less to humor her—and an agent discovered Jennifer on the street!

• has a deep, imaginative personality and has trouble leaving her characters behind once she’s done playing them? She struggled in particular to step away from the character of Ree Dolly, whom she portrayed in Winter’s Bone (an amazing—albeit dark—movie that’s well worth watching if you haven’t seen it, BTW).

• was a HUGE Hunger Games fan before she ever knew that she’d be playing Katniss? On being selected for the part, she said: “I know from the bottom of my heart that I love Katniss. It’s kind of like when you have a huge crush on somebody, and it’s almost scary because you don’t want to mess it up!”

Want to learn more interesting tidbits like these? Check out our Jennifer Lawrence bio.