How a Craiglist ad inspired Jennifer Lawrence's No Hard Feelings : 'I died laughing'
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Jennifer Lawrence and Gene Stupnitsky are a little nervous... Nervous, but excited.
The two are just hours away from debuting the first extended look at their film No Hard Feelings to theater owners at CinemaCon in late April when EW catches up with the duo. It's not lost on them the challenges of bringing a non-franchise film that's also not based on existing IP to theaters, particularly one in the raunchy comedy vein.
"A theatrical release these days is, uh..." Lawrence says, before her director completes her thought: "It's a test. You get tested publicly, and everyone knows if you pass through." "But," Lawrence adds, "I feel we're putting our best foot forward."
Macall Polay/Sony Jennifer Lawrence and director Gene Stupnitsky on the set of 'No Hard Feelings'
If the loud laughter the clip received at CinemaCon is any indication, she isn't wrong. The scene in question involves Lawrence's character Maddie. She's a cash-strapped Uber driver who has accepted a Craigslist ad from a couple seeking someone to date their painfully awkward 19-year-old son, Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman). When she visits him at the animal shelter where he volunteers, naturally things go very wrong during her attempt to seduce him, and Maddie ends up with not one but two rounds of pepper spray in her face.
The whole idea for the film, which Stupnitsky also co-wrote alongside John Phillips, stems from a real Craigslist ad sent to him by producers Marc Provissiero and Naomi Odenkirk. "I read it, and I thought, 'This is wild. Who is the woman that answers this ad?' And I thought, 'Oh, that'll be a great role for my friend Jennifer Lawrence,'" Stupnitsky says.
Lawrence and Stupnitsky are longtime friends — he even introduced the Oscar winner to her husband — and the two were having dinner when he first pitched the idea to Lawrence. "Gene read the Craigslist ad to me, and I died laughing," she recalls. "I thought it was hilarious, but there wasn't a script or anything. I just thought he had a funny idea. And then a couple years later, he handed me the funniest script I've ever read in my life."
Macall Polay/Sony Jennifer Lawrence and Andrew Barth Feldman in 'No Hard Feelings'
The trailer promises a hard-R, raunchy, profanity-laced film akin to comedic hits of the early aughts. It feels nostalgic in a way, which the duo says was not intentional.
"Comedies in general haven't really been made that much, especially in the theatrical space," says Stupnitsky. "At the time it didn't necessarily feel like we were making a throwback, but I think once people saw the trailer, that was the reaction. I was like, 'Oh, that makes sense.'"
The trailer also introduces us to Percy's parents, Allison and Laird, played by Laura Benanti and Matthew Broderick, the latter of whom sports a very interesting wig, to say the least. Long, gray, and slightly curly, Stupnitsky says Laird's hair gave the vibe that he's someone who still has game — they even gave it the nickname "Still F---s Hair." Explains the director, "[Laird] kind of grew it out during the pandemic and the girls at the country club complimented him, and he's like, 'Oh yeah, I still got it.' So he's keeping it long."
Lawrence says it might be her favorite part of the movie. "I felt bad because it was my first time meeting Matthew, and I just couldn't stop laughing when I was looking at him," she says, laughing again now at the memory.
When it comes to what else makes her laugh, Lawrence says nothing beats Julia Louis-Dreyfus — "She's my favorite comedic actress," Lawrence admits — though she wouldn't say there's any of the Veep star in her performance. However, she cites Step Brothers, Dumb and Dumber, and anything by the Farrelly brothers or Armando Iannucci as works that have influenced her comedic sensibilities.
Macall Polay/Sony Jennifer Lawrence in 'No Hard Feelings'
"I guess I like cringe humor," she admits. "I do like the idea of comedy that makes people uncomfortable. I love when people are watching through their hands, through their fingers. Nothing makes me happier. And I love a lot of the stuff that Harold Ramis did, his movies."
One comedy staple that didn't play a major role in Lawrence's performance, though, was improv, which she says she's more than okay with. "I think it's more freeing to have dialogue that you love. And it can be scary sometimes," she says of the craft. "I also don't think that the results are great when it's just like, 'Okay, go.' Not everybody's on the same page — literally. So, we mostly stuck to the writing because it was really good, but there was also freedom to try things."
Even still, some improv did make its way into the film, including some stuff that Stupnitsky says at the time he didn't think anything of. It wasn't until he was going through the footage that he realized it was, in fact, hilarious. As if on cue, that same unexpected brand of comedy slips out of Lawrence when asked about her overall experience making No Hard Feelings.
"I don't have one single special memory from this movie," she deadpans, which makes her director and friend smile knowingly. Says Stupnitsky, "Well, I'll tell you that despite what she said, this was the most satisfying creative experience I've ever had. And it was really so fun. And I knew even as I was making it, I was like, 'This is never going to happen again. It's never going to be this good.' Making it with your friend, everything just is smooth — it was the best experience."
No Hard Feelings — which also stars Natalie Morales, Hasan Minhaj, Kyle Mooney, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Scott MacArthur — hits theaters June 23.
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