Originally appeared on E! Online
Blake Lively is sharing her simple truth about working with Paul Feig.
Amid the actress’ ongoing legal battle with “It Ends With Us” director Justin Baldoni, she took a break from the drama by stepping out at the premiere of “Another Simple Favor” at the South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival on March 7.
Inside the movie screening, the 37-year-old gushed about being directed by Feig on the sequel to “A Simple Favor.“
“I love this character so much — this is probably my favorite character I’ve ever been fortunate enough to play,” Lively shared from the stage, per The Hollywood Reporter. “And so when Paul asked us to come back, I was so excited.”
“I was really nervous on the first one, because we didn’t know if we were making a drama or a comedy,” she explained. “We asked Paul and he said, ‘Yes,’ which is not really an answer to the question, but it worked out.”
However, she revealed Feig had a surprise in store for the second film with Anna Kendrick and Henry Golding, hitting Amazon Prime Video May 1.
“I was like, ‘OK, no nerves, I know what I’m doing this time,'” she recalled. “And then right before we started shooting, he said, ‘I have a little bit of a curveball idea,’ which I’m not going to say what it was, because we don’t want to give away anything.”
But the “Gossip Girl” alum went along with her director’s unexpected idea, which she joked was “personal torture” to see on the big screen.
As Lively noted, “It definitely upped the ante. It was very uncomfortable to watch in this theater with you all.”
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds are all smiles amid their ongoing legal battle. On Sunday night, the couple attended the “SNL50: The Anniversary Special” in New York City, posing for photos on the red carpet. The outing marked Blake and Ryan’s first public appearance together since the beginning of their legal battle with Blake’s “It Ends With Us” co-star Justin Baldoni.
In recent months, Lively has been caught in a back-and-forth with “It Ends With Us” director Baldoni after filing a December lawsuit, in which she accused the filmmaker of retaliation when she spoke up about his alleged sexual harassment that took place during the filming the Colleen Hoover adaptation.
Baldoni not only denied the allegations but also filed a countersuit against Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds, accusing the couple — who share kids James, 9, Inez, 8, Betty, 5, and Olin, 2 — of launching a smear campaign against him.
And while Lively has been keeping a low profile amid her proceedings, she recently returned to the red carpet when she attended “SNL 50″ with Reynolds in New York. At the Feb. 16 show, the “Deadpool” actor even appeared to make a joke about the legal saga. When he was asked how it was going, Ryan responded, “Great. Why? What have you heard?”
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