Jennifer Lawrence Inspired Star Trek Beyond’s Jaylah

Star Trek Beyond‘s new heroine, Jaylah (Sofia Boutella), was inspired by Jennifer Lawrence in one of her early, award-winning roles. Boutella donned elaborate makeup to play Jaylah, the lone survivor of an unknown species who crash-landed on the planet Altamid. Jaylah joined forces with Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and the crew of the USS Enterprise, who were also stranded and held prisoner on Altamid after their starship was destroyed by the nefarious Krall (Idris Elba).

Jaylah was an impactful new addition to Star Trek Beyond, and she was arguably the most successful new female character introduced in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek movies. The main cast of Star Trek includes Lieutenant Nyota Uhura (Zoë Saldaña), but the addition of Dr. Carol Marcus (Alice Eve) in Star Trek Into Darkness wasn’t as well-received as filmmakers hoped, and Carol didn’t return for the third Star Trek movie. Along with the devious Kalara (Lydia Wilson) and Commodore Paris (Shohreh Aghdashloo), Star Trek Beyond had notable new female faces, but Jaylah was the new hero who was positioned to join the Starship Enterprise’s crew at the end of Star Trek Beyond.

Jaylah In Star Trek Beyond Was Inspired By Jennifer Lawrence

Lawrence starred in 2010’s Winter’s Bone

Star Trek Beyond‘s co-writer, Doug Jung, told TrekCore in 2016 that the character of Jaylah was inspired by Ree Dolly, the character Jennifer Lawrence played in Winter’s Bone (2010). Jung and co-writer Simon Pegg, who also plays Scotty, wanted to add a new female hero to Star Trek Beyond, and they literally named Jaylah after Jennifer Lawrence’s nickname, “J-Law.” Jung explains:

We wanted to have a strong female character; I think Simon’s talked about this, like Jennifer Lawrence in “Winter’s Bone.” We just kept referring to her as ‘Jennifer Lawrence’ for a long time, then somebody, joking, was like J-Law?,,, Phonetically, it sounded good – ‘Jaylah.’ It sounded a little foreign… We wanted her character to be someone who was outside of the understanding of the Federation and what it means, and really, to really be a blank slate in the sense that she has no real understanding even of her own people, in a way.

In Winter’s Bone, Jennifer Lawrence’s Ree Dolly was a teenager in the Ozarks searching for her father, and she endures abuse from the members of her meth-dealing relatives as she tries to save her family. Star Trek Beyond gave Jaylah very different circumstances – she was an orphan living alone on Altamid and evading Krall’s soldiers – but, like Ree Dolly, Jaylah was a self-sufficient, indomitable spirit. Jaylah, however, gained a found family in Captain Kirk and the crew of the Starship Enterprise.

Will Jaylah Return In Star Trek 4?

Sofia Boutella would love to return as Jaylah

Jaylah has only made one Star Trek appearance, but she made a striking impression, and fans hope that Jaylah will return in Star Trek 4. 8 years after Star Trek Beyond‘s release, the next J.J. Abrams-produced Star Trek movie remains in limbo. However, Deadline recently reported that Star Trek 4 is being developed as the “final chapter” of the voyages of Chris Pine’s Star Trek movie crew. At the end of Star Trek Beyond, Jaylah joined Starfleet Academy, and she would presumably be a full-fledged USS Enterprise crew member in Star Trek 4.

For her part, Sofia Boutella would love a Star Trek return as Jaylah. Many questions about Jaylah remain unanswered, starting with what species she is and what planet her people hail from. But one thing that is known is that Jaylah is named for and inspired by J-Law herself, Jennifer Lawrence. Perhaps Star Trek 4 should create a villain for Jennifer Lawrence to play so that Jaylah can meet her namesake on-screen.

Star Trek Beyond is available to stream on Paramount+.