Jennifer Lawrence, Andrew Feldman play opposites in new comedy

CEBU, Philippines — Jennifer Lawrence has always wanted to make a comedy, but she just couldn’t find the right one.

Enter “No Hard Feelings,” which opens today in Philippine cinemas.

For Lawrence, it was a pleasure to do a “totally different genre, with fun scenes and ridiculous dialogue that got me excited! Shooting this movie, alongside a brilliant and hilarious cast, was so much fun.”

One of those castmates is Andrew Barth Feldman, who plays the socially awkward Percy, whose wealthy helicopter parents post a job listing looking for someone to “date” their introverted son before he leaves for college. This is the job listing that Lawrence’s Maddie responds to so she can save her childhood home.

The filmmakers thought that the role of Percy might be difficult to cast – and indeed, they conducted an extensive casting process – but one candidate kept rising to the top: Broadway breakthrough Feldman.

“When Andrew walked in, we all knew immediately that he was the one,” says Lawrence.

Writer-director Gene Stupnitsky was immediately impressed. “We saw Andrew on the second day, and right away, I thought, ‘He’s so good,’” says Stupnitsky.

“He nailed the comedy, he nailed the emotion. We went and saw a lot of other people – but I was relaxed, because I knew we had Andrew. It was clear, he was always the one.”

Stupnitsky says that the chemistry between Lawrence and Feldman started strong and only got stronger through production – and that relationship, that feeling of trust and give-and-take in a fellow actor, encouraged bold, risky performances from both of them.

“In his audition with Jennifer, they had amazing chemistry,” he says. “There’s something that was going on in their dynamic that I wasn’t even fully aware of. From day one, their connection was so strong – she could put herself out there, and that would force him to go out as well, to meet her. If she pushed him, he’d go there.”

“Jen is down for things that other people would not be, for sure,” says Feldman, “things that are intimidating for me to even think about. I couldn’t do so much of the stuff that she’s doing in this movie in a million years. Even when she has been afraid, she shows up, and she works really hard.” — (FREEMAN)