'No Hard Feelings' Interview: Andrew Barth Feldman

Moviefone speaks with Andrew Barth Feldman about 'No Hard Feelings' and Jennifer Lawrence. "I was expecting to be more intimidated by Jen than I was."

Opening in theaters on June 23rd is the new R-rated comedy ‘No Hard Feelings’ from director Gene Stupnitsky (‘Good Boys’).

What is the plot of ‘No Hard Feelings’?

'No Hard Feelings' follows Maddie (Jennifer Lawrence), who thinks she’s found the answer to her financial troubles when she discovers an intriguing job listing: wealthy helicopter parents (Matthew Broderick and Laura Benanti) looking for someone to "date" their introverted 19-year-old son, Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman), and bring him out of his shell before he leaves for college. But awkward Percy proves to be more of a challenge than she expected, and time is running out before she loses it all.

No Hard Feelings

"Pretty. Awkward."

R1 hr 44 minJun 23rd, 2023

Showtimes & Tickets

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Who is in the cast of ‘No Hard Feelings’?

‘No Hard Feelings’ stars Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence (‘Silver Linings Playbook,’ ‘The Hunger Games’) as Maddie Barker, Andrew Barth Feldman (‘A Tourist's Guide to Love’) as Percy, Matthew Broderick (‘Ferris Bueller's Day Off’) as Laird, Laura Benanti (‘Tick, Tick... Boom!’) as Allison, Natalie Morales (‘I'm Totally Fine’) as Sarah, Ebon Moss-Bachrach (‘Tesla’) as Gary, Hasan Minhaj (‘The Spy Who Dumped Me’) as Doug, Kyle Mooney (‘Zoolander 2’) as Jody, and Alysia Joy Powell (‘The Sitter’) as Fern.

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Andrew Barth Feldman about his work on ‘No Hard Feelings,’ his reaction to the R-rated screenplay, Percy and Maddie’s friendship, working with Jennifer Lawrence, performing Hall & Oats’ “Maneater,” and collaborating with director Gene Stupnitsky.

Andrew Barth Feldman stars in Columbia Pictures' 'No Hard Feelings.'

You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch the interview.

Moviefone: To begin with, what was your first reaction when you read screenplay for this the R-rated comedy?

Andrew Barth Feldman: I couldn't believe how funny it was. I was rolling around laughing practically upon reading it for the first time and feeling like I had gold in my hands. It's also so funny not just because of how brilliant the jokes are, how clever the words are, but how deep the emotional depths are. That's why it's so funny. Every crazy situation these characters find themselves in comes from a place of emotional truth. You understand exactly where they're coming from at all times, and that is a remarkable high wire act.

(L to R) Maddie (Jennifer Lawrence) and Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman) in Columbia Pictures’ 'No Hard Feelings.'

MF: Can you talk about Percy and Maddie's unusual relationship and the really beautiful friendship that kind of emerges from that?

ABF: It obviously is a relationship that is born out of a very strange situation that turns out to be one that changes both of their lives in a way that nobody in the film could have anticipated when they orchestrated the situation that they're in. I think Jen and I have a pretty similar relationship. We came here as coworkers, and we left this movie as very special people in one another's lives. I think she'll always be a part of my life, and there are things I can talk to her about that I can't talk to anybody else about. So I'm really thankful that I got to do this with her. That relationship that you see between the two of us, it's real.

Maddie (Jennifer Lawrence) in Columbia Pictures' 'No Hard Feelings.'

MF: What was your experience like working with Jennifer Lawrence? Was it different than what you were expecting?

ABF: I think I was expecting to be significantly more intimidated by Jen than I was. I was so nervous. She is such a force on screen, and she's somebody I've admired for so long. But she's a really wonderful, grounded, and generous human being, and from the beginning was eager to get to know me just as much as I was to get to know her. That kindness that she embodied on set, even at the level that she's at, it starts from the top. She was the top, and she knew that, and that was an incredible model to set for me.

Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman) in Columbia Pictures' 'No Hard Feelings.'

MF: You perform Hall & Oats’ “Maneater” in the movie. Did you create the arrangement and can you talk about rehearsing for that sequence?

ABF: Yeah, the arrangement is all mine actually. I played it myself. I sent Gene and John Phillips, he co-wrote it with Gene, and he's an incredible pianist in his own right, so he was able to give really specific music notes as well. But we had a ton of back and forth about what we wanted this moment to be, how we wanted Percy to have this huge kind of breakout moment as just a person in Maddie's eyes and the audience's eyes, and his own eyes. The fact that it was Maneater, that song, I'm a huge Hall & Oates fan. I'm a huge yacht rock fan in general, so I was floored that it was going to be a "down" arrangement of this otherwise very poppy Hall & Oates tune. It was magical. Jen and I both fought really hard for it to be sung live on the day, which is just like a hundred times harder to do. But we knew that if there was any potential for this moment to be as special as we knew it could be, it had to be live, it had to be in the room that day, and we got to do that. I'm exceptionally grateful. I think it works out.

(L to R) Jennifer Lawrence and Director Gene Stupnitsky on the set of Columbia Pictures' 'No Hard Feelings.'

MF: Finally, what was it like collaborating with director Gene Stupnitsky on set?

ABF: I mean, he was so open to me talking about what was authentic for me in this character, what was authentic for me as a young person in this year, someone who's around Percy's age. What do they sound like? Of course, Gene doesn't know. He's not one, and he, from the very beginning, told me that I had to speak up and talk about it. I actually wrote an essay at the very beginning about Percy and his intentions and all this stuff, and he would quote it back to me in direction. He was so incredibly collaborative and giving us ideas, and taking ours. He's a special, special breed of director.