Jennifer Lawrence says filming the rap scene in Don’t Look Up was ‘horrendous’
Jennifer Lawrence has joked that filming a scene in Don’t Look Up was the “worst day of my life”.
The newly released Netflix movie stars Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio as Kate Dibiasky and Randall Mindy, two mid-level astronomers who struggle to alert the public that a comet is on a collision course with earth.
After failing to convince the US president (played by Meryl Streep) of the seriousness of the situation, they leak the information to an equally disbelieving public.
During a press conference publicising the film (per LadBible), Lawrence said that filming her first scene in the movie was “horrifying”.
The moment in question is the opening scene of the film and the first that Lawrence shot.
In it, Lawrence is seen working on a computer, eating toast with headphones on while she sings along to Wu-Tang Clan’s 1993 hit song “Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthing ta F’ Wit” without any accompanying music.
The 31-year-old said: “It was horrifying because I’m in this huge hangar and it’s so quiet. And I don’t know anybody and I had to rap Wu-Tang Clan. It was just horrendous. And then what’s in the movie is like, five seconds. I really wish I had known that.”
She quipped that it was “the worst day of my life”.
The film’s writer and director Adam McKay, however, stepped in to commend her on the scene.
I’m only at the very start of Don’t Look Up, but the first lines of dialogue are J-Law rapping along to “Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthing ta F’ Wit” so it’s got to be good.
— Evan Altman (@DEvanAltman) December 29, 2021
Don’t Look Up starts with Jennifer Lawrence rapping along to Wu Tang Clan and I was very close to stopping the movie right then and there
— Batheem (@JacuzziRamen) December 29, 2021
“Hey, I knew my assignment. I did know every word. I still do,” replied Lawrence before she started rapping along to the song.
Viewers were divided by the scene. Many have called it “terrific” while plenty others describe it as “cringey”.
“Jennifer Lawrence raps along to a Wu-Tang Clan song in Don’t Look Up. Pretty awesome,” wrote one person.
Another added: “In the beginning of Don’t Look Up Jennifer Lawrence is singing Wu-Tang Clan and it made me want to turn it off. Cringe af.”
McKay recently responded to fans who spotted an apparent editing blunder in the film, revealing that it was a deliberate inclusion.
You can read The Independent’s four-star review of Don’t Look Up here.
