Director Paul Feig says Blake Lively is entirely different than the charming but manipulative Emily of the Simple Favor films
“Blake is very sweet, this, like, wonderful mother,” he said of the actress
Another Simple Favor, also starring Anna Kendrick, is now out on Prime Video
Paul Feig says Blake Lively couldn’t be more different from her manipulative Another Simple Favor character Emily.
Speaking with Entertainment Tonight, the director to both 2018’s A Simple Favor and the new sequel explained why the 37-year-old mother-of-four is a sharp contrast to Emily.
“Blake just embodies Emily in a way that’s hilarious because Blake in real life is nothing like Emily,” Feig, 62, said. “Blake is very sweet, this, like, wonderful mother, and just this tiger comes out when she gets into Emily.”
Related: Inside Another Simple Favor‘s Costumes: From a 40-Lb. Halter Top to a Jackie Kennedy Nod (Exclusive)
Michael Buckner/SXSW Conference & Festivals via Getty
Blake Lively on March 7, 2025
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The Bridesmaids director has previously praised Lively’s skill at transforming into Emily onscreen, saying, according to USA Today, at the SXSW Film & TV Festival in March that “Blake is just the sweetest kind of Earth Mother. But she can snap into this character and just be so biting and asserting and scary but funny at the same time.”
Onstage at the film’s SXSW premiere in March, Lively said Emily is “probably my favorite character I’ve ever been fortunate enough to play.”
Speaking with PEOPLE about Lively and costar Anna Kendrick’s abilities to tackle their characters Emily and Stephanie, Feig said, “I literally cannot think of anybody who could play these roles other than them. It’s a fun dynamic. Their chemistry is so through the roof it’s crazy.”
Lorenzo Sisti/Amazon Studios
Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively in ‘Another Simple Favor’
Feig also noted that while he’s never directed a sequel before, there was something about the Simple Favor leading women that drew him into revisiting their dark and twisted storylines.
“Laura Fischer, my producing partner, and I were just sitting at the monitors watching them going, ‘Oh my God. This is crazy how in tune they are and how they play off each other.’ It was really wonderful. I mean, they had a great time together. We had a great time on the first one too,” Feig said.
In the first Simple Favor movie, a blogger named Stephanie (Kendrick) strikes up an unlikely friendship with a woman named Emily (Lively) after meeting her through her son’s school. The first movie centers around Stephanie’s efforts to solve Emily’s mysterious disappearance. Lively’s character is ultimately put in jail for murder.
In Another Simple Favor, Emily gets out of jail and invites Stephanie to attend her lavish Italian wedding as her maid of honor.
Another Simple Favor is now on Prime Video.
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