‘Don’t Look Up’ cast spent two days improvising a 16-minute scene

Quickly becoming one of the most highly anticipated films of 2021’s Christmas period, Don’t Look Up, created by director Adam McKay, looks to be a hilarious Hollywood comedy for the modern age. With a stunning ensemble cast that includes the likes of Oscar-winners Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence in the lead roles, we expect both a quality standard of acting as well as many, many laughs.

Adam McKay, the same director behind Step Brothers and Anchorman starring Will Ferrell, as well as dramas The Big Short and Vice, encouraged a considerable amount of improvisation during the filming of his latest Netflix film even spending two days on one single set-piece. The scene itself featured DiCaprio and Lawrence alongside the likes of Meryl Streep, Jonah Hill and Rob Morgan, with the scene so stuffed with talent that McKay wanted to spend as much time as possible on the scene.

Speaking to Deadline, McKay stated: “That group of people could not have been happier to be in that fake Oval Office, doing that scene”. Continuing, he added, “Laughing, improvising. They almost were a little intimidated by Meryl Streep because she’s arguably the greatest film actor ever, and we discover she’s just a delight with this big generous laugh, who can improvise all day long”.

Commenting on the length of the scene and the joy at watching the actors play off each other, McKay noted, “We shot that scene for two days and the first cut was 16 minutes long and I never got tired of watching it…everyone felt you could have watched it for another five minutes, but we had to whittle it down for the final cut”.

As well as the wealth of acting talent already mentioned, Don’t Look Up also stars, Timothée Chalamet, Ariana Grande, Chris Evans, Himesh Patel, Matthew Perry, Cate Blanchett and Tyler Perry. The film will be released on Netflix on Christmas eve 2021.