LOS ANGELES – Blake Lively, who just turned 31 last Aug. 25, talked to us about her latest mystery thriller helmed by Paul Feig about a small-town blogger Stephanie Ward (Anna Kendrick) who tries to solve the disappearance of her mysterious rich best friend Emily Nelson (Blake). It also stars Henry Golding who is fresh from his box-office hit “Crazy Rich Asians” as Sean Nelson, Emily’s husband.
Blake Lively (Photo courtesy of Janet R. Nepales/HFPA)
Married to actor Ryan Reynolds for the past six years with two daughters (James, 4, and Inez, 2), we asked Blake how her children react to her when she says no to them.
“No is a tricky thing,” she explained. “No is actually something I really appreciate in my household because my mom is one who never takes no for an answer, which is a reason why she is one of the strongest, most powerful, and incredible woman. She grew up on a farm where her dad farm out of logs and mud and I am sitting here wearing pearls and diamonds that aren’t mine and I have to give them back. But it just shows that this is a woman who just fought against her circumstances that she was born into and created an amazing life for herself and her children.
“As for my kids, they like it because it’s one of their favorite words. So they are pretty good about no. Nobody really likes no, but I guess it teaches you how to negotiate, right?”
Does she feel different now that she turned 31? “Other than my organs failing, I feel alright. Some liver spots,” she replied joking.
Turning serious she said, “No, I was shooting the movie, the scene where I walk through the water and it’s the very first scene in the movie, which was actually really intimidating, because it was the first scene that I shot with Anna. I wasn’t sure if I was making a thriller or a comedy and neither was she, which I found out later. I had all this dialogue and the scene was pretty straightforward, it wasn’t written comedic, it was more do you want to come over to my house for a drink? Paul and I thought that it could be a lot more fun, funny and shocking.
“But then I had these kids around and there were things that I wanted to say that were maybe not appropriate for kids, so I said, I don’t want the parents to freak out and start calling Child Protective Services or SAG, even worse. So I asked them to remove the children so I could say all the terrible things that I wanted to say in the scene. It was so much fun because take after take was entirely different on Anna’s part and my part and getting to play ball with her, because I had never done a comedy before. So to do that with Anna, who is just so smart, so acerbic and cutting and that be my first scene, it was intimidating but it was fun.”