- Jennifer Lawrence is helping to bring back one of the great lost art forms: the R-rated comedy.
- The 32-year-old actress plays Maddie, a slightly chaotic 32-year-old woman who is facing bankruptcy, in No Hard Feelings.
- In urgent need of cash, she answers a Craigslist ad—a true sign of desperation—and agrees to date the shy, socially awkward Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman) in exchange for financial compensation from his wealthy parents.
Jennifer Lawrence has turned her hand to big-budget franchises with The Hunger Games and X-Men, off-beat romance in Silver Linings Playbook, well-received ensemble pieces like American Hustle, and divisive auteur fare like Adam McKay’s Don’t Look Up and Darren Aronofsky’s love-it-or-hate-it horror movie mother!.
In other words, the 32-year-old actress is the kind of performer who can do pretty much anything. And now she’s helping to bring back one of the great lost art forms: the R-rated comedy.
No Hard Feelings follows Maddie, played by Lawrence, a slightly chaotic 32-year-old woman who is facing bankruptcy. In urgent need of cash, she answers a Craigslist ad—a true sign of desperation—and agrees to date the shy, socially awkward Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman) in exchange for financial compensation from his wealthy parents. It’s a similar premise to the Matthew McConaughey/Sarah Jessica Parker rom-com Failure to Launch, but with the raunch and toilet humor turned all the way up to the scale of a Judd Apatow joint.
In a recent conversation with Variety, Lawrence and Feldman discussed the movie, which includes a scene where Lawrence is fully nude on the beach—a challenge that she was completely unfazed by as an actress.
“Everyone in my life and my team is doing the right thing and going, ‘Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure?'” said Lawrence. “I didn’t even have a second thought. It was hilarious to me.”
She added that the scene took “a lot of rehearsal” and shooting lasted a whole day, while Feldman described the experience as “entirely professional,” saying: “Every situation that these characters end up in, you’re laughing your butt off… We became so close instantly that nothing ever felt weird or unsafe. It was entirely professional.”
Lawrence jokingly responded: “Even when I put my T-shirt over your head and motor-boated you? You felt safe?” To which Feldman replied, equally deadpan: “I felt it was an exclusively sterile and professional environment.”
No Hard Feelings is in theaters now.
Philip Ellis is a freelance writer and journalist from the United Kingdom covering pop culture, relationships and LGBTQ+ issues. His work has appeared in GQ, Teen Vogue, Man Repeller and MTV.
