Paul Feig remains a fierce defender of Blake Lively amid her nasty legal battle!
In an interview with Esquire on Wednesday, the 62-year-old director opened up about his experience working with the actress on Another Simple Favor, the sequel to A Simple Favor. And he maintains that it was nothing like the drama on the set of It Ends With Us.
That film’s director (and Blake’s leading man) Justin Baldoni claimed Blake and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, used their power to seize control over every aspect of the movie. One crew member even backed the filmmaker, accusing the Gossip Girl alum of attempting to “take power” from him during the project in a 60 Minutes Australia interview.
Related: ANOTHER Awkward Blake Lively Interview Resurfaces — This Time With Seth Meyers!
Paul obviously wasn’t on that set. But he swears he’s never had any kind of experience like that with Blake! He has nothing bad to say about her at all! As the Bridesmaids director previously expressed amid the drama, she has always been “a dream to work with” and an “amazing collaborator.” And it frustrates him that people continue to criticize her online without any knowledge about how moviemaking works. He said in the Esquire interview:
“Blake is an amazing collaborator, so when I read people’s misconceptions about how movies are made, it’s just frustrating for me. Every star I’ve worked with works this way. The idea that a star just shows up and you go ‘Here’s the script’— please point me to one movie star who works that way. So when the gang on the internet get [up in arms] about something, it’s just like, guys, you don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Well, obviously Paul Feig’s movies wouldn’t be in danger of a star pushing their weight around. He’s a known pro with a good rep and several hit movies under his belt. But the idea of a nascent, relatively unknown director being bullied by a diva on set? Come on, man, that’s a tale as old as time in Tinseltown! Obvi he wants to defend his collaborator, but the truth is he doesn’t know if she decided she didn’t like or trust another director — and treated him totally differently.
But Paul stood fast. He stressed he loves “work with Blake” and thinks “she’s just the best.” As for the haters? He had a strong message about the “outrage” they have toward Blake! The Heat filmmaker expressed:
“Outrage is the most boring emotion humans have these days – when it’s towards something meaningful, that’s great. But people get outraged at everything. It’s like, this is what you’re angry about? There’s other things to be outraged about – please, go and help make the world a better place.”
Damn…
Look, the simple truth is all of this might be true! Paul could’ve had a great time working with Blake, AND totally separately she also could’ve staged a coup against Justin.
But also… we have to take anything Paul says with a grain of salt today. We mean, his new movie with Blake opens this weekend! Riding for her and shutting down feud speculation can only help ensure it’s a hit. Goodness knows it wouldn’t be the first time someone defended a movie opening weekend! LOLz!
But what do YOU think about Paul’s latest comments? Sound OFF in the comments!
[Image via MEGA/WENN, Gent’s Talk Podcast/YouTube]
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