Jennifer Lawrence is reclaiming her narrative, and she’s doing it in double take-worthy guise. This afternoon saw the actress en route to a London press conference for her new spy thriller, Red Sparrow, channeling her character Dominika’s professional penchant for a femme fatale show of skin. The head-to-toe moment began with a medium-length mane of glossy baby blonde hair, worn sleek and tucked behind ears to reveal a deluge of silver earrings, her glassy pink lip furthered by a graphite smoky eye that peeked out from beneath rounded shades. While the above-the-neck look was characteristically Lawrence, from there, a blend of femininity and fitness converged for an aesthetic that seemed inspired by Red Sparrow‘s undercurrents of sexual politics. First, came a dramatically plunging neckline, pulling focus to Lawrence’s exposed décolletage. And rather than settling for one strategic reveal, Lawrence committed to the cause, her black gown featuring a high-impact slit that allowed for a scene-stealing leg moment punctuated by barely-there black sandals.
Far from simply eye-catching, Lawrence’s look seems to affirm her assertion that Red Sparrow has helped her take new ownership of her sexuality. Late last year, the actress revealed that after a slew of her personal photos leaked in 2014, she avoided “sexier” roles. “I just thought, ‘I’ll never do that again. I’ll never share that part of myself ever since it got shared against my will,'” she told Oprah in an interview. But now, with Red Sparrow—which centers on a group of Russian spies who use their bodies and seduction skills as weapons—it seems that the actress is taking back her power from a world that sought to exploit, then subsequently stifle it. “It was never my choice for the world to see my naked body. I didn’t get to make that decision. In doing this film, in doing this for my art…I really felt, I still feel, empowered,” said Lawrence. “I feel like I took something back that was taken from me.” The verdict? The shift shows.