Jennifer Lawrence recently told Entertainment Weekly that she “died laughing” when reading the real-life Craigslist ad that inspired her upcoming raunchy R-rated comedy “No Hard Feelings.” Directed by Lawrence’s longtime friend Gene Stupnitsky, the film casts the Oscar-winning actor as a Montauk Uber driver facing bankruptcy who accepts a Craigslist ad to date and seduce an awkward 19-year-old (Andrew Barth Feldman). His helicopter parents don’t want him leaving for college as a virgin.
Stupnitsky and Lawrence first let it slip at CinemaCon last month that “No Hard Feelings” was based on a real-life Craigslist ad. The director told EW that it was the film’s producers, Marc Provissiero and Naomi Odenkirk, who sent him the Craigslist ad.
“I read it, and I thought, ‘This is wild. Who is the woman that answers this ad?'” Stupnitsky said. “And I thought, ‘Oh, that’ll be a great role for my friend Jennifer Lawrence.'”
“Gene read the Craigslist ad to me, and I died laughing,” Lawrence added. “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.”
“A theatrical release these days is, uh…It’s a test,” Lawrence also said in the EW interview. “You get tested publicly, and everyone knows if you pass through. But I feel we’re putting our best foot forward.”
Stupnitsky is a veteran of the R-rated comedy genre having directed the raunchy 2019 comedy “Good Boys,” a coming-of-age film starring Jacob Tremblay. He also served as a co-writer on 2011’s “Bad Teacher” and 2009’s “Year One.”
“No Hard Feelings” opens in theaters on June 23.
