LAS VEGAS (AP) — Jennifer Lawrence has wanted to do major comedy for years. She was always funny and lively in her television appearances. And while she’s brought humor and physical comedy to many of her roles for David O. Russell and others, she doesn’t exactly have the vast, extensive experience in “Dumb and Dumber” or “Anchorman,” to name a few of her favorites ( or at least the ones she has memorized).
That changes on Friday with No Hard Feelings, a classic, raunchy R-rated comedy tailor-made for the Oscar winner.
“I’ve always wanted to do a comedy. And I’ve read a lot of them,” Lawrence told The Associated Press in an interview about the highly anticipated summer film season. “I just didn’t read anything that was funny enough.”
“No Hard Feelings” was inspired by a real Craigslist ad posted by parents looking for a woman to “date” their son to get him out of his shell the summer before he goes to college . There is debate as to how genuine the “real ad” was, but the thought of the woman who might respond to such an ad was a premise funny enough to catch the attention of several producers and writer-director Gene Stupnitsky to arouse.
Stupnitsky, an Emmy-nominated graduate of The Office who also directed and co-wrote the 2019 hit Good Boys, knew exactly who to turn to. He pitched the idea to Lawrence one night over dinner with friends, after which he estimated they had about “eight or nine martinis together.”
The two met through a mutual friend over a decade ago, of all things, in the Medieval Times. He recalled Lawrence wearing a full wizard costume. And soon they became real friends. He even introduced Lawrence to her husband.
“I owed him one,” Lawrence said. “That’s why I made this film.”
Stupnitsky, sitting next to Lawrence, added, “There’s probably some truth to that.”
With Lawrence signed to star and produce, the film became a coveted commodity, with streaming services and studios vying for the production rights. Ultimately, the decision was made for Sony and a traditional theatrical release.
“The reason I wrote this film for her is because I knew how funny she was and I wanted everyone else to know. I mean, people know she’s funny, but they wanted her in a comedy. I thought yes I know how to do this. I know how to write her voice,” Stupnitsky said. “I remember telling her, ‘I really want you to feel like you’re in a theater and there are hundreds of people laughing.’ She’s had many, many experiences with the film, but she hasn’t quite experienced it yet.”
In “No Hard Feelings,” Lawrence’s character Maddie has trouble with money. As an Uber driver without a car, she finds herself in a difficult situation. When she finds this ad promising a Buick Regal as payment, she takes the bait. In a clip released by Sony at last week’s CinemaCon conference for movie theater owners, Maddie meets 19-year-old Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman) for the first time, who is wearing a slim pink mini dress and heels and is acting overtly flirtatious and available .
“She’s dressed in what she thinks is a 19-year-old’s idea of a sex fantasy. And she’s wrong,” Stupnitsky said. “He’s like the only child she can’t seduce.”
The situation escalates from there as she tries to drive him home. He thinks he’s being kidnapped, and as anyone who’s seen the red trailer knows, she ends up being pepper sprayed. But the film also has a sweet core.
“He craves a connection, which she also needs but doesn’t know yet,” Stupnitsky said. “She wants to get the car and move on with her life. But he’s forcing her to take things slow, to get to know him and to be familiar with him in a way, in a platonic way.”
The experience, Lawrence said, was hilarious, aided by her connection to her younger co-star.
“We just laughed all day,” she said. “Sometimes after work I would go to bed and giggle before bed while thinking about the day. I was also sad that I did it because I was like, ‘God, I’m just not going to have any of these again. This is so unique.'”
As the film’s producer, Lawrence was able to see it in front of audiences and experience the big, shared laugh that Stupnitsky had promised.
“I went to a test exam and sat back,” she said. “It was pretty extraordinary.”
She knows every movie is a gamble, but she’s pretty confident about No Hard Feelings.
“You really never know. You’d think the audience would want that, but they don’t. And I’ve certainly had my experience with that,” she said. “It’s a mix of instinct and looking at the information you have. I knew we had the funniest movie anyone has ever seen – I have no doubt about that – and I knew Gene was the one who could do it.”
It’s also Lawrence’s first major theatrical release since 2019’s X-Men film Dark Phoenix in several years. Her most recent films include streaming releases such as Netflix’s ‘Don’t Look Up’ and Apple’s ‘Causeway’, which she also produced.
“I think audiences will really remember why they love her,” Stupnitsky said.
Lawrence laughed, “I look a lot better at 12 feet tall.”