No Hard Feelings: The surprising true story

The plot of No Hard Feelings is too ridiculous to be true…or is it? Is the new raunchy comedy actually based on reality?

No Hard Feelings is an R-rated comedy movie, with raunchy gags and two coming-of-age stories for Lawrence’s character – who has arrested development – and her co-star, who is playing an actual teenager.

The official plot for the film is as thus: “On the brink of losing her childhood home, a desperate woman agrees to date a wealthy couple’s introverted and awkward 19-year-old son before he leaves for college.”

While we didn’t love the film here at Dexerto – you can read our review here – the plot of the movie is certainly odd enough to catch your attention. But is the film actually based on a true story?

Is No Hard Feelings based on a true story?

Yes, kind of. No Hard Feelings is based on a real Craigslist ad, which serves as the jumping off point for the movie.

The film’s director, Gene Stupnitsky, revealed in an interview with EW at CinemaCon the truth behind the story. See, producers Marc Provissiero and Naomi Odenkirk came to him at one point with a Craigslist ad from a couple looking for a woman to date their son: “I read it, and I thought, ‘This is wild. Who is the woman that answers this ad?'” he explained. “And I thought, ‘Oh, that’ll be a great role for my friend Jennifer Lawrence.'”

Stupnitsky told The Associated Press that he specifically created the film with Lawrence in mind because of her comedic side. “I remember I told her, ‘I really want you to experience a feeling of sitting in a theatre with hundreds of people laughing.’

“She’s had many, many experiences in film, but she hasn’t quite had this one.”

Lawrence also told the outlet that she jumped at the opportunity, as she had “always wanted to do a comedy” but until that point she “didn’t read anything that was funny enough.”

The two officially became collaborators over dinner one night: “Gene read the Craigslist ad to me, and I died laughing,” Lawrence told Entertainment Weekly. “I thought it was hilarious, but there wasn’t a script or anything. I just thought he had a funny idea. And then a couple years later, he handed me the funniest script I’ve ever read in my life.”

No Hard Feelings is now in cinemas. Check out our other coverage of the film below:

No Hard Feelings release date, cast, plot & more | No Hard Feelings Review | Does No Hard Feelings have a post-credits scene? | How to watch No Hard Feelings – is it streaming? | No Hard Feelings ending explained | No Hard Feelings cast: All actors & characters

You can also find out about whether other films and shows are based on true stories below:

Forrest Gump | Blonde | The Staircase | Kaleidoscope | Emily the Criminal | Dog Gone | Treason | Happy Valley | The Black Phone | Cocaine Bear | The Pursuit of Happyness