‘Another Simple Favor' Director Paul Feig Talks Sequel And His Career

Forbes

01-05-2025

Blake Lively, Paul Feig and Anna Kendrick at the "Another Simple Favor" premiere at Jazz at Lincoln ... More Center on April 27, 2025 in New York, New York.
He is the creative visionary behind iconic comedies like Bridesmaids, Spy and The Heat - yet arguably, director Paul Feig's juiciest movie, 2018's A Simple Favor, took moviegoers for quite the ride. Starring Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively, the mystery-thriller revolves around two young moms, Stephanie Smothers (Kendrick) and Emily Nelson (Lively), who strike up an unlikely friendship. When Emily goes missing, Stephanie looks into her disappearance and uncovers that her new, so-called friend has plenty of deep, dark secrets. As Emily returns to the public eye, Stephanie confronts her (with the authorities involved) and Emily ends up in prison for her crimes.
These seven years later, their story continues with Another Simple Favor, which is now streaming on Prime Video. Set largely in the breathtaking backdrop of Capri, Italy this time around, the story finds Emily getting married and Stephanie questioning Emily's motive on why she was invited to the joyous occasion. In true Simple Favor fashion, martinis are had, murder ensues and another mystery begins to unravel.
(Left to right) Blake LIvely, Michele Morrone, Alex Newell and Anna Kendrick in "Another Simple ... More Favor"
Sitting down with Feig to discuss the sequel, what was it for him about Stephanie and Emily that made him feel that there was more story to tell?
'Those characters are so fascinating to me, and to have Stephanie go from being this kind of innocent mother to being somebody who can take down a pretty masterminded criminal, left her in such a good, new place, that it felt like - Oh, I want to see what she does now with this skill set that she has. For Emily - Emily's just such a delicious character. You hate the idea of somebody like that just rotting in prison. They could be out being fabulously awful in the world. It was too much catnip to turn down.'
Also returning for Another Simple Favor are Henry Golding, Andrew Rannells and Bashir Salahuddin, along with newcomers Allison Janney, Elizabeth Perkins, Alex Newell, Michele Morrone and Elena Sofia Ricci. With the sequel premiering on video streaming, unlike its predecessor's theatrical release, I wondered what joys Feig has in bringing this latest installment to audiences in such an easily accessible way.
Allison Janney and Elizabeth Perkins in "Another Simple Favor"
Feig said, 'I mean, that's a big deal because we know there's nothing harder than to get people up out of their houses, into a car, shelling out money and sitting in the theater. It's still my favorite way to watch a movie, but it creates roadblocks. The great thing about streaming is you hear about a movie, you turn on your TV, open the app and - Oh, there it is! Sure, I'll give it a watch. It's kind of great that you can do that. I hope that people who are fans of the movie will maybe say - Hey, come on over! Let's watch it together. It is a fun group experience because there's so much crazy stuff in it, that I do kind of hope people will do that.'
After working alongside Kenrick and Lively on two movies now, Feig has some thoughts about his ongoing collaborations with these two Hollywood stars.
Paul Feig, Anna Kendrick, Blake Lively and Henry Golding at the "Another Simple Favor" premiere ... More during the SXSW Conference & Festivals at Paramount Theatre on March 07, 2025 in Austin, Texas.
'They're just so delightful to work for and with - and also, they're just really inventive in their own separate ways. They're both so smart and so creative and bring things to the characters, whether it's changing up lines or just changing up their performance level in different areas, and then in their thoughts on how they want to dress. I am very collaborative because I was an actor for a long time. I know how the external affects you as much as the internal, so your clothing and your makeup and the locations and the set dressing is all part of it. I want everybody to weigh in on what's going to help them play the characters the best. They're both brilliant at that.'
Like many movie directors, we the public get to experience their creations on-screen, as they guide their cast and crew in telling the story, but we do not often get to truly know the filmmakers themselves on a more human level. So, I asked Feig - Who is Paul Feig in 2025? What brings the greatest purpose and passion to your days lately?
Feig said, 'Doing what I do. I so love making movies. It's my favorite thing in the world. I spent the vast majority of my life trying to get to a point where they would let me make movies. I was an actor for a long time. Then, when I created Freaks and Geeks, that was my kind of 'in' to being a creative force on the other side, but then could not get movies made. I had a couple that were very unsuccessful and that set me back a lot. Now that I get to make movies, I don't take that for granted at all. I'm just driven by the fact that I just want to keep doing it and that I can do it, and trying to find projects that I know people want to see, that will entertain them.'
He added: 'I'm not an awards director. I have no interest in making movies to try to win an award, because I don't think you're in service of the audience when you do that. You're in service of yourself and of critics or whatever. I always go back to this - Bridesmaids got nominated for two Oscars. You think when we had Melissa McCarthy s******* in a sink, we were thinking - Hey, we're Oscar bait!?'
As the entertainment industry continues to evolve, I was curious in what ways is Feig excited about the trajectory of Hollywood filmmaking and the advancing technologies that we have at our disposal, and in what ways is he cautious and perhaps watching closely to ensure that this business does not ultimately become certain things.
'It's a great question. I'm just really optimistic because I think people are coming back to theaters - people are watching things. People are consuming a lot of stuff and they're also very cautious about what they're consuming. They're demanding quality, which hasn't always been the case. People always want quality, but sometimes, you'll just kind of watch whatever. Especially for movies, like they're being very hard on movies. I think it's good because it forces us as filmmakers not to get lazy, and it forces the industry not to assume things.'
Anna Kendrick in "Another Simple Favor"
He added: 'It's one of the reasons I always avoided sequels because it was always such an automatic knee-jerk thing in the business to go - Well, that movie did well, so let's do a sequel - with the idea that people like the first one, so clearly they're just going to show up for the second one. What happened is over the years, people went like - No, I'm not. I did like the first one. I'm not necessarily going to show up again, unless you offer me something that looks so unique and different that I have to see it.'
Today, Feig is not only a filmmaker - he even has his own London Dry Gin brand called Artingstall's. Being the entrepreneur that he is, what advice might he have for other professionals out there that have great ideas, but are not sure how to effectively get people to listen and finally get it off the ground?
Feig said, 'You got to act on it. Everybody's got ideas. I get contacted all the time by people - not necessarily people I know, but people who kind of know me or know our company. I can't tell you how many times it happens, like - I've got this great idea. I just need somebody to write it. I got a million great ideas. It doesn't matter - writing it is the whole thing. I'm just so impressed with a lot of the young actors that I work with - how entrepreneurial they are. It's crazy! They'll have all these other businesses going and brands. I think it's great. Why not take advantage of it? Don't be gross about it - like put your gin all over your movie, like I do. If you have an interest, do it. If it doesn't work, that's fine, but there's nothing worse than kind of like dead dreams that could be great. You know pretty fast if something has a chance of working, or at least kind of getting people interested in it. And so, why not try it out, you know?'
Beyond Another Simple Favor, Feig is bringing the bestselling book Housemaid from author Freida McFadden to the big screen this Christmas. The psychological thriller stars Sydney Sweeney, Brandon Sklenar and Amanda Seyfried.
(Left to right) Brandon Sklenar, Amanda Seyfried, Sydney Sweeney and Paul Feig promote the upcoming ... More film "The Housemaid" at the Lionsgate presentation during CinemaCon on April 1, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
'I'm really excited about it,' Feig said. 'The book is really good. That's nice to have source material that is great already - just like A Simple Favor is the same way. Darcey Bell wrote that great book. It's a very visceral movie - and honestly, it's perfectly cast. I will pat myself on the back for that. Although Sidney was attached when it came to me, so that was like the greatest gift of all time. Then finding Amanda, who we've been trying to work together forever and finally found this part, which is such a career-defining part for her. Then Brandon - Blake had been telling me about Brandon when we were shooting Simple Favor because she was doing It Ends With Us with him. She just kept going on and on. Then, when I finally met with him, I'm like - Oh my god, I'm in love! You were right - he's wonderful. I just think audiences are really going to dig it. It's because it's such a fun, crazy ride. I mean, it's super dark, obviously, but it's still fun - it's fun dark. It goes through some machinations, but I always try to make all my movies good-natured at the end of the day, even if they get super dark. This one's probably going to be my darkest one yet, but there's something still kind of lovely about it.'
Circling back to Another Simple Favor with Feig as we concluded our conversation, I left him with one last question - What would you say, Paul, to Stephanie Smothers and Emily Nelson, if only you could, after seeing these films, putting this all together, understanding the evolution of their character actions and mindsets? What do you feel they would benefit from hearing from you, someone who has watched them very closely from the outside in?
Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively in "Another Simple Favor"
Feig said, 'I'd say - Ladies, keep doing what you're doing.'