No Hard Feelings was one of the best comedy movies of 2023, but Jennifer Lawrence movie has has been talking up one of the funniest men alive: Will Ferrell.
Lawrence has always been a gifted comic performer and, as we explained in our No Hard Feelings review, she’s really spreading her wings on that front with her funniest new movies. At this point, she’s following in the footsteps of the best actors in the genre, including Ferrell.
In an interview with YouTube show Hot Ones, Lawrence revealed that she has a particular admiration for Ferrell’s work – and especially the bold swing he took when making Elf.
When asked which of Ferrell’s best movies she considers to be his masterpiece, Lawrence said: “Anchorman, I guess, is like the obvious one, but what’s so great about Elf is that when you’re making a movie, you really don’t know how it’s gonna turn out. To be in an elf costume, just like marching around the city and doing all of that and committing, it’s just really admirable and I respect it a lot.”
Released in 2003, Elf became an immediate commercial success to the tune of more than $200m at the box office and is now considered one of the best Christmas movies ever made.
But the Elf cast and crew couldn’t have known that for sure on set. In fact, James Caan really didn’t like making Elf and only came around on Ferrell’s performance when he saw the finished movie. He got there in the end, though, and we have to agree with J-Law that Ferrell deserves huge respect for taking a massive risk by playing the role with such commitment to silliness.
For more on Lawrence’s recent movie, read our No Hard Feelings director interview and Andrew Barth Feldman interview. You can also find out why Jennifer Lawrence “died laughing” when she learned about the true story.