‘Another Simple Favor’ Director Paul Feig On His ‘Nuts’ Anna Kendrick & Blake Lively Sequel
In a spirited talk with Awkwafina, the filmmaker recalls the Italian shoot — including a hard-won Trevi Fountain scene
On AnklerEnjoy, you can find the full video of the Q&A between Paul Feig and Awkwafina.
“I love when movies go crazy,” director Paul Feig told a packed crowd of about 200 at CAA’s Ray Kurtzman Theater. “Even if I go, ‘That's too much,’ I [say], ‘But God bless you. You went for it.’”
No wonder Another Simple Favor — the sequel to his twisty 2018 thriller A Simple Favor — is, in Awkwafina’s words, such an “insane” movie.
On Tuesday night, after a screening of the film, Feig sat for a lively, joke-filled chat with the actress and comedian, who starred in his 2024 action comedy Jackpot! for Amazon’s Prime Video. Another Simple Favor, which was released May 1 on Prime Video, reunites straight-laced mommy vlogger Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick) with the devious Emily Nelson (Blake Lively) as Stephanie travels to the beautiful island of Capri, Italy, to be the maid of honor at Emily’s luxurious wedding. But things take a turn when guests start turning up dead — and the culprit(s) remain a mystery. “If you can laugh at the same time that you’re gasping at it, that to me is the pinnacle of what we can do as filmmakers,” Feig said.
After the screening and discussion, the crowd headed upstairs for a cocktail reception with the Bridesmaids and Spy director. The soirée featured an open bar, where guests could, of course, indulge in the original film’s signature dry martinis.
When A Simple Favor debuted in theaters with Lively and Kendrick in lead roles, it grossed $97.6 million worldwide on a budget of $20 million — a solid haul, “but that’s not a movie that normally gets a sequel,” Feig said. What gave the film an extra kick was its robust second life on streaming during the Covid pandemic. “People were talking about, ‘Well, maybe there’s a sequel in here,’ and I just loved Blake and Anna so much,” Feig said. He also had been obsessed with an Italian wedding he’d seen in Vogue and saw an opportunity to fuse that over-the-top vision with the continuation of the story.
While filming in Rome, the director became “hell-bent” on the idea of staging a scene at the historic Trevi Fountain. “I go back to the office like, ‘Guys, I got the greatest idea: We’re going to put Blake in the fountain,’” Feig said. “And all the Italians were just like, ‘You cannot do that.’” Four months of back-and-forth later, Feig got his wish — albeit, between the hours of 1 and 4 a.m. and with intense restrictions. “It was basically, if she puts one toe in that fountain, you are banished,” he recalled with a laugh.