As the third of the wildly popular Hunger Games movies hits theaters, Jennifer Lawrence has been dealing with the dark side of fame: a far more shocking invasion than the usual paparazzi onslaught. Talking for the first time about having her intimate private photos hacked—and splashed across the Web—the 24-year-old star tells Sam Kashner about her fear, her anger, and the call to her dad.

We met on a balmy afternoon in August, two days after Robin Williams’s suicide and a day after Lauren Bacall’s death, at the age of 89, in New York City. It was a bad week for icons, and Jennifer Lawrence was “feeling dark.” But that seemed anomalous. With the wild popularity of the Hunger Games movies (the first two installments earned more than a billion dollars worldwide) and three Academy Award nominations (she’s the youngest actress to have been nominated three times), with a win for best actress (for Silver Linings Playbook), she has indeed arrived like a newly discovered comet, improvidently throwing out heat and light.

Lawrence’s decision to speak out may serve as a rallying cry for greater efforts to combat privacy infringements and online harassment. The actress has been an advocate for change within the industry, and her personal experience adds a poignant layer to the larger discussion on the challenges that individuals, particularly women, face in the public eye.

Though Chris Martin, at 37, is 13 years Jennifer’s senior, it’s not surprising that she may have fallen for him. For one thing, she loves music—she played the oboe in middle school. “I can’t really remember how to play anymore,” she confessed. “I would’ve loved to serenade you with some ‘Hot Cross Buns.’ ”

She suddenly remembered a song she loves. “Holy shit! Have you ever heard ‘Joy Inside My Tears,’ by Stevie Wonder? I just recently found that one.”