Amy Schumer starring in movies is a regular thing nowadays, but part of what makes her latest, I Feel Pretty, stand out is the fact that it's rated PG-13, not Rated R. Schumer is famous for raunchy material and plenty of bad words in her comedy, so it's surprising to see her take on something so family friendly. Apparently that sense of surprise was intentional, however, as I recently learned from an interview with directors Marc Silverstein and Abby Kohn that Schumer was very interested in restraining herself and doing something new while on set. Said Silverstein,
We knew PG-13 from the outset, and she was excited about that type of movie. She was super excited about doing the more dramatic stuff, showing a sort of different side of her.
At the end of last week I had the opportunity to hop on the phone with Marc Silverstein and Abby Kohn to discuss their work together on I Feel Pretty -- and it was during this conversation that I took the opportunity to ask about the rating. Apparently not only was the film was planned to be PG-13, but Amy Schumer actually took extra steps within herself to make sure she was doing something different than what we generally see from her.
Abby Kohn illustrated this perfectly when talking about working with Amy Schumer during production. Evidently there were times when she would say something really funny and off-color, but then would immediately self-correct, realizing that what she was doing was not really appropriate for the story being told in I Feel Pretty. Said Kohn,
The emotional honesty part of it [is very much her], it's apparent in the first 10 minutes of the movie. I think she was really excited about that. And we didn't have to... she obviously so funny, and she would do things that were so funny, and then she would immediately be like, 'Not this movie!' So she knew. She obviously is a genius, and she can be really funny, but also know in that moment like, 'That was really funny. We all really laughed. The crew really laughed. We get it! It's not for this movie.'
In I Feel Pretty, which is based on an original screenplay by Marc Silverstein and Abby Kohn, Amy Schumer plays a woman who sees her low self-esteem go out the window following a head injury. While she used to judge herself and feel the world judging her, she suddenly believes herself to be the most gorgeous woman on the planet, and finds her confidence takes her to places in her life unimaginable before.
The film, which co-stars Michelle Williams, Emily Ratajkowski, Busy Phillips, Aidy Bryant and Rory Scovel, arrives in theaters this Friday -- and be sure to stay tuned for more from my interview with I Feel Pretty directors Marc Silverstein and Abby Kohn.
