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Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick’s costar Alex Newell couldn’t have had a better experience filming Another Simple Favor.
Newell, 32, spoke to Us Weekly exclusively weeks after the A Simple Favor sequel opened at the 2025 SXSW Film & TV Festival. “I thoroughly had a good time,” the Tony winner told Us. “I read the script and still was shocked [by the movie].”
Making their feature film debut alongside “all these icons” — from Kendrick, 39, and Lively, 37, to Allison Janney and Elizabeth Perkins — was the icing on the cake.
“And to be in Italy while filming with all of these great people and Paul Feig, our fearless leader and director, who really created such a lovely piece of work and treated us all with respect to do what we felt and then have the gumption to let us have fun while filming,” Newell continued. “It was a really good time.”
Feig, 62, also directed 2018’s A Simple Favor, which saw widowed single mom Stephanie Smothers (Kendrick) befriend the glamorous Emily Nelson (Lively) before her mysterious disappearance. As Stephanie tries to find out what happened to Emily, dark secrets are revealed.
Lively and Kendrick reprise their roles in the sequel with original costars Henry Golding, Andrew Rannells and Bashir Salahuddin. Joining a cast that had already formed working relationships isn’t uncommon for Newell.
“I think I’ve had a crash course in jumping into something when everything else is established. I showed up on Glee season 3,” the actor told Us. “And so there was always that [feeling of], ‘I’m the new one here, but also I have to be good at my job at the same time.’ You kind of learn how to play the game and just do it and become fast friends and great coworkers at the same time.”
The cast and crew wasted no time when it came to bonding. “Paul took us on a boat to a boat to get to a restaurant on an off day, and we had the time of our lives,” Newell gushed.
Another Simple Favor was already highly anticipated, but there are even more eyes on the movie due to Lively’s ongoing legal battle with her It Ends With Us costar and director Justin Baldoni. Following months of speculation about a rift between the two stars, Lively filed a lawsuit against Baldoni, 41, in December 2024 claiming he created a toxic workplace and sexually harassed her during filming. Baldoni denied the accusations before filing two lawsuits of his own: one against The New York Times, which published Lively’s complaint, and another against Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds. (Lively’s publicist was also named in the second lawsuit but requested to be removed last month.)
Lively and Reynolds, 48, have denied Baldoni’s claims against them — and they each have filed motions to dismiss Baldoni’s lawsuit. A trial date has been set for March 2026.
While attending SXSW, Lively expressed her gratitude to fans for their support of her latest film. “Watching @asimplefavor opening night @sxsw felt like a rock concert. … Making this movie was already the gift, every element of it,” she wrote via Instagram on March 11. “To share it with you all and feel the love returned to us was the best feeling. Thank you for having us Austin.”
Lively didn’t address her legal battle at the festival, but her costar Kendrick was asked how Another Simple Favor was being “impacted” by what’s “going on in the world.”
“Why? What happened? I did ayahuasca and the last year of my life has been gone,” she teased to Variety. “But I hear the movie is amazing.”
