Felicity Jones has acted for more than 20 years, receiving critical acclaim in a variety of roles that range from BBC dramas to indie darlings like Brideshead Revisited and Like Crazy. But when it came time to prepare for her role as tough-as-nails Jyn Erso in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story , out Friday, Jones took notes from another actress who has seamlessly nailed the transition from indie queen to blockbuster franchise leader: Jennifer Lawrence.Lawrence has, of course, two major instalments under her belt as Mystique in X-Men and Katniss in The Hunger Games. But it was her role as kick-ass Katniss that her Like Crazy co-star Jones looked to when prepping for her breakthrough moment as the lead in the standalone Star Wars origin tale. We sat down with Jones to discuss Lawrence and much more — including why she loved playing Jyn and her personal advice for women fighting to close the wage gap."I kind of just take the baton and run with it and carry on. I felt instinctively Jyn is completely her own character... She has a backstory in the way that Rey and Luke Skywalker [don't]: We meet them just at the point of discovery; Jyn has a few more scars in the beginning. She’s a little bit more damaged."I just feel proud to be part of these films, and feeling like it doesn’t have to be a big statement and a big deal about [Jyn] being female. She’s a person. She’s someone who I wanted people to relate to as a character... She’s normal — all the characters, they’re very ordinary and very normal. They’re in extraordinary situations but they’ve all had their struggles and they’re all trying to make the best out of a very difficult situation.""I feel like with friends there were more princess fans. But it was because I absolutely adored my older [boy] cousins and my older brother that I was very much a tomboy. I just wanted to do anything they did. I thought they were the greatest. I started watching it with them and taking what we’d seen and playing in the garden, running around and shooting laser fire at each other.""I think Jyn has an authenticity and a humanity and a kindness; I think that’s so important in these times. that we have kindness to each other — no matter what country we’re from or background or race.""I definitely remember watching Sigourney Weaver in Alien and then, obviously, with Jennifer Lawrence — I absolutely thought her performance was brilliant in The Hunger Games. I really feel like Jennifer set a tone for all of us. What’s so beautiful about her character is her seriousness — she doesn’t have to be silly — there’s a real depth to the character. I think that’s the key with films like this: There’s more opportunity now to find that depth in franchise films, and I think there’s a demand for it as well."