Yahoo Lifestyle Blake Lively Brings Down House At SXSW Premiere Of ‘Another Simple Favor’, Says Pic “Was Uncomfortable To Watch In This Theater” – Here’s What She Meant
Blake Lively said that Another Simple Favor director Paul Feig “upped the ante” in the Amazon MGM Studios /Lionsgate sequel — and that’s keeping the spoiler at bay.
However, watching herself — a lot of herself — onscreen at the Paramount Theatre for the SXSW world premiere Friday, the actress said, “It was uncomfortable to watch in this theater.” That’s not a ding. You gotta see the movie May 1 on Prime Video to see what she’s talking about.
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In Another Simple Favor, Lively’s Emily Nelson is not dead. She returns to visit Anna Kendrick’s Stephanie Smothers, who is making a name for herself as an author writing about the calamities that ensued in A Simple Favor. Emily is getting married in Capri, Italy, to a glamorous, mob-tied guy. She insists that Stephanie be her maid-of-honor, or else she’ll sue her for not clearing her name and likeness, which was used in her book. Chaos ensues.
Lively said on the original 2018 movie that she and Kendrick were “nervous” — they didn’t know whether Feig was making a drama or comedy. He would tell them it was both.
On part deux, Feig wanted to shoot in Capri. Lively said that after watching the movie: “Now, I want to live there! They serve ice cream in lemons!”
Blake Lively at the #SXSW premiere of ‘Another Simple Favor’ pic.twitter.com/Rv1xIMcSLq
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Feig’s inspiration for setting the sequel in Capri came from a Paris Vogue editor’s opulent wedding there.
Kendrick enjoyed reprising the earnest Stephanie. Her convo with the costume designer was that her character “is addicted to not serving. Can I just not be very well dressed but comfortable?” One of her signature wears in the film is a striped sweater.
Amazon MGM Studios again is a force at SXSW; in addition to this year’s Another Simple Favor, it has The Accountant 2 world premiere Saturday night. That Ben Affleck movie is getting a theatrical release April 25.
Feig also is a frequent denizen of SXSW, having world premiered his movies Bridesmaids and Spy here in the past.
In regard to whether this audience has any idea of what the Lively-Justin Baldoni situation is — it doesn’t seem to faze them in Austin. It’s clear they loved the movie.
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