Jennifer Lawrence’s R-rated romance, No Hard Feelings, which was released this Friday, has been raising some eyebrows for the significant age gap between the on-screen lovers portrayed by the Don’t Look Up actress and Andrew Barth Feldman. The controversial premise revolves around the romance between Lawrence, who is hired by Feldman’s helicopter parents to seduce their 19-year-old. Now, the director as well as the cast of the film has come out in defense of the plot and stated that the age gap was meant to make the audience uncomfortable.
Although it has a bit of a rough start, the director and co-writer of the movie, Gene Stupnitsky assured that the feeling of “ick” will be momentary and will vanish towards the end. Overall, the intriguing premise of the film has caught a lot of attention, but the director and the actor supporting the backlash, have reassured the fans.
The Director of No Hard Feelings Acknowledged the Backlash Against Jennifer Lawrence’s Character
It is no secret that the premise of the film has caused controversies online, leading people to slam Jennifer Lawrence‘s character. With a huge 13-year age gap, the situation gets more eerie given that the boy in the question is just 19 years of age. But the director of the movie, who also co-wrote the screenplay, Gene Stupnitsky, since then has come out in defense of the movie, and acknowledged the backlashes.
He stated, that the age gap was intentional on their part, and therefore was meant to make the viewers uncomfortable. On the red carpet interview during the New York premiere of the movie, Stupnitsky explained,
“If you feel that way when you come out of the movie, I would be surprised,–We took great pains to be careful about the ick factor because it could go that way. We took a humanist approach and I think that’s all you can ask for.”
He also then defended the Sony film by stating the age gap problem Hollywood had through the years, and pointed out that in Silver Linings Playbook, Lawrence’s character was 15 years younger than her male counterpart. Thus, without revealing much, the R-rated romcom’s director guaranteed the watchers of the film would be leaving with a different perspective and feeling about the movie than they did before actually watching it.
Jennifer Lawrence Found the Script of No Hard Feelings Extremely Funny
The actors and the director of the movie go a long way back, and this movie has been in talks for the longest time. The Craiglist ad that inspired the film, tickled both pals so much so, that they were compelled to make the movie. Although the two were friends, Stupnitsky did not have it easy when it came to convincing Lawrence to be the lead, the script also had a significant part to play in that process. And fortunately, the screenplay did not disappoint, as it has been described as the “funniest I’d ever read in my life” by Lawrence.
At the London screening of the movie, the actress revealed,
“This was just a blast because Gene and I have been friends for a really long time,–We got dinner maybe five years ago and he showed me the Craigslist ad and we just cracked up at who would post the ad and also who would respond to that ad–Then four years later I got the script and it couldn’t have been funnier.”
After reading the script the actress was forced to change her mind and say yes to the opportunity, she said,
“I didn’t want to tackle any genre, I didn’t want to work when I got this script——(Then) I read it and it was the funniest script I’d ever read in my life so I quickly changed my tune and we were on set four months later.—I’m really just doing what feels right or something that resonates, I really don’t have a specific genre in mind, just anything I want to make”
She also commented on the controversy surrounding her character in the movie and sang the same song as the director previously did. Lawrence stated,
“I think it’s time for just a good old-fashioned laugh and it really is hard to make a comedy where you’re not offending people. Everybody in some sense will be offended by this film – you’re welcome.”
Thus, all in all, Jennifer Lawrence is very proud of the work she did and is excited for the fans to see it. The film debuted on the 23rd of June, and currently holds a 68% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, will overall average reviews.
No Hard Feelings is currently in theaters.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
