The Raunchy Comedy Where Jennifer Lawrence ‘Dates’ A Teenager Is Based On A Real Craigslist Ad

In No Hard Feelings, Jennifer Lawrence plays a broke 30-something who answers a Craigslist ad from two parents asking someone to “date” their teenage son. It’s a wacky concept straight out of an 1980s sex comedy, or something you might read in Penthouse (“I never thought this would happen to me…”), but it’s also based on a real incident.

“The director’s a good friend of mine, and we’ve been friends for a long time. And, we were getting dinner, and he showed me the Craiglist ad,” Lawrence told GMA about where the idea for No Hard Feelings came from. “And I just thought it was hilarious. I, in no way, thought I was going to be in the movie… There was no movie. It was just the ad, and we laughed about it. And, four years later, he sent me the script.” The ad was sent to director Gene Stupnitsky by Marc Provissiero and Naomi Odenkirk, who produced the film.

Just to recap: Bob Odenkirk’s wife found a Craigslist ad; forwarded it to Stupnitsky; and he convinced four-time Oscar nominee Jennifer Lawrence to star in a movie based on the post where she gets to ask teenagers why they don’t f*ck anymore. Cinema is back.

Now I’m wondering what other comedies are based on real stories.

I don’t know what to believe in anymore.

No Hard Feelings, which also stars Andrew Barth Feldman, Matthew Broderick, Laura Benanti, Natalie Morales, Scott MacArthur, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach, opens in theaters on June 23rd.