Being Blake

Actress Blake Lively keeps you on edge with her latest thriller movie, A Simple Favor. Here, the mum of two shares how she balances life and work

Blake Lively seems to have found a new BFF in Anna Kendrick. After bonding on the set of their new mystery thriller, A Simple Favor, Blake joked on Instagram that Anna “is the hotter, female version of my husband... so, would it reaaally count as cheating?”

She and Anna looked deliriously happy while promoting the film at CinemaCon in Las Vegas. That is the kind of mischievous rapport Blake had with Anna in A Simple Favor, based on the novel by Darcey Bell and directed by Paul Feig, known for his raucous comedy Bridesmaids and TV’s The Office.

Shot in Toronto, the film centres around the disappearance of Emily (Blake) and the frantic search conducted by her best friend Stephanie, a mommy blogger, to find her. Along the way, audiences find themselves plunged into a tense adventure reminiscent of Gone Girl with betrayals, twists, a dead body, and Blake and Anna’s characters left wondering who is duping whom.

Industry insiders are touting the film as a throwback to classic Alfred Hitchcock thrillers and there was definite buzz when the film’s trailer unspooled at CinemaCon.

“The biggest challenge was getting the tone right because there are so many twists and turns,” Blake says. “Anna and I often had to ask Paul (Feig, the director) what was going on so that we would not get lost.

“There are so many levels to the story that we had to constantly be aware of how much our characters really know about what is going on and how much we are pretending to know. The movie will keep people guessing until the last second. I love those kinds of stories where you never think you have it figured out.”

In the meantime, Blake, 31, and her movie star husband Ryan Reynolds continue to enjoy being one of Hollywood’s coolest couples who are continually riffing with each other and the public on social media.