David O. Russell now sees Jennifer Lawrence as a single mother of three

By Sean O'Neal | January 31, 2014 | 7:16pm

Aux Features Film

Aiming to test whether people will literally watch Jennifer Lawrence watch floors dry, David O. Russell is in early talks to cast his favorite actress as Joy Mangano, inventor of the self-wringing Miracle Mop, in a movie about her life. Mangano was a struggling single mother of three in her mid-30s when she first fashioned her breakout product, making her an ideal role for the 23-year-old Lawrence to play, for the director who’s previously seen her as both jaded widow and neglected housewife. (Age logistics aside, at least that mop would come in handy around all the Doritos dust.)

Mangano, dubbed the “Mother Of Invention” by people who have never heard of Frank Zappa, then went on to become a multimillionaire entrepreneur and Home Shopping Network presenter, while also developing another hit in Huggable Hangers (clothes hangers that don’t spurn your advances, like other, emotionally closed-off hangers). It’s unclear as yet where telling Mangano’s story will fit into Russell’s other plans for Lawrence, which already include casting her in The Ends Of The Earth, as well as over the faces of every woman he sees.