Jennifer Lawrence Hated Working With Jonah Hill In 'Don't Look Up' For This Reason
Jonah Hill's improv skills made life very difficult for Jennifer Lawrence in Netflix's 'Don't Look Up'.
The waiting is nearly over now for all the fans who have been eagerly anticipating the arrival of Adam McKay's sci-fi satire film, Don't Look Up. The movie will start streaming on Netflix on Christmas Eve. Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio are the main stars of the story, as they play two low-level astronomers on a massive media tour to warn of an impending comet that is on course to destroy the earth.
Joining them on the cast, though, is an extensive list of top actors, including the peerless Meryl Streep as U.S. President Janie Orlean and Jonah Hill as her son, Jason, who also works as her Chief of Staff. Tyler Perry, Timothée Chalamet, Ron Perlman, and Ariana Grande are all on the line-up as well, as is British actor, Himesh Patel.
As the big day draws closer, Lawrence has revealed how difficult it was to film alongside Hill. She explained how he consistently came up with off-the-cuff insults, which made it very hard to achieve continuity on set.
Freedom Of Creativity For Jonah Hill And The Cast
The Hunger Games and X-Men star was speaking to Vanity Fair about her experience making the film, as well as working with other illustrious names like Hill and Streep. Her hatred of the teasing by her co-star was not a visceral one, however, as she explained that he did it only in jest and that it always ended up in laughter. "It was really hard filming with Jonah and just not ruining take after take laughing," she said.
So remarkable were Hill's insults of Lawrence, that the cast actually set aside one whole day for them. "We one time dedicated an entire day to him just improv-ing insults at me," Lawrence said. "It was amazing. He and Meryl are the only ones who should do that kind of improv. He's a comedic master. We all did some stuff, but not as well as Jonah."
Director McKay allowed freedom of creativity and expression on set, which provided the perfect platform for improvisation by the actors. "There was a lot of improv in the film," the actress explained in a separate interview with Netflix. "Adam made us feel very free to move with whatever you're feeling."
Director Adam McKay Was Open To Anything
DiCaprio backed up Lawrence's assertion, as he joined her and McKay for the Netflix interview. As opposed to other directors who insist on towing a very strict dialogue and action line, the filmmaker's flexibility allowed his talent to explore and co-create their characters on set as they shot the scenes.
"Adam gave us an interesting opportunity to try anything," DiCaprio disclosed. "And so, right off the bat, Jen and I really developed our characters on camera. It was done through a lot of different improv. There were so many different actors who came in and were given free rein to really delve into their characters. It was incredible to work alongside such amazing talent."
One of the people the actor was very excited to reunite with was Streep. The pair had last worked together on another star-studded picture all the way back in 1996: She played his character's mother in the movie Marvin's Room, alongside the likes of Diane Keaton and Robert De Niro. "I haven't worked with Meryl since I was 18, and she had this incredible monologue," he said. "So to witness her mastery as an actor was a real gift."
Great Improvisational Acting By Meryl Streep And Jonah Hill
Seeing Streep combine her talent with that of Hill as mother and son in Don't Look Up was something special for DiCaprio. In fact, it was their performances as incompetent political leaders that he says provided the foundation upon which he and Lawrence built their characters.
"Putting [Meryl Streep] in a room with Jonah Hill, who I've worked with and see as one of the greatest improvisational actors in the world was inspiring," said DiCaprio. "They nailed their characters and portrayed them as completely unhinged, undependable leaders, which was a huge motivation for Jen and I for the rest of the film. It was amazing to be reunited with both of them."
DiCaprio and Hill had previously last collaborated in 2013, as the two stars of Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street. As far as Lawrence is concerned, it was the first time she had worked on a serious project alongside either of them. She did turn one opportunity down, to join DiCaprio in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019). But when her chance eventually arrived to work with the two stars, their improvisational aptitude really shone through, albeit often at her expense.
