- Jennifer Lawrence Returns to the Screen in R-Rated Comedy
- Challenging Boundaries: Offensive Content and Engaging with Being Offended
- From Craigslist Ad to Film: The Inspiration Behind No Hard Feelings
Jennifer Lawrence stars in No Hard Feelings as a broke Uber driver who responds to an ad from parents seeking a woman for their introverted adolescent son to date and sleep with.
Jennifer Lawrence gained widespread recognition after being appointed as Katniss Everdeen in the Hunger Games films.
With Oscars, BAFTAs, Critics’ Choice, and Golden Globes, she became the world’s highest-paid actress.
After concentrating on dramas, Lawrence is now starring in his first comedy, and it’s not a family-friendly one.
In No Hard Feelings, she portrays Maddie, a broke Uber driver who responds to an ad from two parents seeking a woman for their introverted adolescent son to date and sleep with.
While the film is rated 15 in the United Kingdom, it is rated R in the United States, requiring anyone under 17 to be accompanied by an adult to view it in a theatre, and is being touted as the return of R-rated comedies to theatres.
Lawrence stated that she believes the world requires comedy at the moment. And if some of the content is offensive to audiences, then perhaps that is a good thing.
She said, “I think it’s time for a good, old-fashioned laugh.” “It is extremely difficult to create a farce without offending anyone. Everyone will be offended in some way by this film – you’re welcome.”
Lawrence’s co-star Andrew Barth Feldman, who portrays the adolescent Maddie is paid to seduce, Percy, concurs.
“We need to be able to engage with being offended,” he said. “There was and is a big overcorrect because we realized there were so many things we were joking about that we shouldn’t have been… and I think this movie does a great job of continuing to push boundaries while still engaging with the conversation that what these people are doing is wrong and not a good idea.”
“One thing we learned from classic comedies is that cruel comedy is not funny,” Lawrence continued. “You know, making someone feel terrible about themselves, besides me making fun of myself. “However, the way we did it was acceptable; we figured it out.”
Lawrence had longed for the opportunity to explore her comedic side on screen for some time. “I was always open to a comedy,” she said. It was the funniest thing I’d ever read. “I wouldn’t say I wanted my character to have sex with a young person. But it was the funniest thing I’d ever read.”
Lawrence and Gene Stupinsky discussed a real Craigslist ad over dinner to inspire No Hard Feelings.
“He showed me the Craigslist ad, and we were just laughing about it,” she stated. “We spent the entire dinner discussing the types of people who would write the ad. So I assumed that’s where he’d take the film.”
The film focuses on Maddie and Percy, an overprotected teen who doesn’t date.
Although Percy is an extreme case, Barth Feldman identified with many aspects of the character.
“My generation, and we see this so clearly with Percy, is the first generation born with iPhones in their hands,” he said. There is therefore a constant sense of compulsion, anxiety, and comparison among us.
“[Percy] is trapped in a bubble – the outside world is all on his phone, his parents want to bubble-wrap him and he hates it, but it’s safe for him; but he needs to break out, he needs to learn that he can make his own decisions and put the phone down for a while.”
Lawrence also promoted Bread And Roses at the Cannes Film Festival in May.
Lawrence’s film focuses on Afghan women surviving under Taliban rule and represents something of a passion project for her.
“You watch it on the news and you know that it will eventually be forgotten, so I didn’t want these women’s lives to be a passing story,” she said. “Therefore, I spoke with my producing partner about how to acquire cameras in a Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, and we located Sahra Mani, an Afghan filmmaker, and informed her of our intentions.
“It was extremely risky for her and the other three women who participated, but thanks to Sahra and these incredible women’s courage, we have this footage that will hopefully explain and shed more light on the unbelievable situation of women’s suffrage in Afghanistan.”
