Posted in: Movies, Prime | Tagged: a simple favor, another simple favor, film, prime video

Paul Feig on Michele Morrone's Character in Another Simple Favor

The director of Another Simple Favor discusses how Emily's new husband was originally written as the villain of the Prime Video sequel.

Another Simple Favor, Paul Feig's audacious sequel to 2018's A Simple Favor, dives back into the world of Emily Nelson (Blake Lively) and Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick) with new characters, a new marriage, and new trouble, all stemming from Emily's unexpected and high-profile return. And this time around, she's with Dante Mancini (Michele Morrone), a mob-connected fiancé, whose lavish Capri wedding becomes a catalyst for murder and accusations.

While Dante emerges as a pivotal figure in the sequel, it actually turns out that his role was originally far darker, as Feig recently revealed, offering insight into how the character's arc evolved to amplify the film's entirely unhinged energy. Here's what we learned.

Paul Feig Reveals Details About the Original Script for Another Simple Favor

In a new interview, Feig disclosed, "In the original script, Dante was more of a bad guy. It turned out that he was a bad guy and he staged his death, and they had to go on the run because Emily was like, 'They're going to kill me. He set me up to look like I killed him.' It was a really fun script, more of a caper. It had a lot of things where Emily had to be undercover, so she was dressing like a nun and dressing like a normal person. I was like, 'I don't know if any of us want Emily to dress like a normal person.' It had them running through Naples and Rome, and we decided to keep it more contained and bring the body count up much higher."

The shift to a contained, bloodier narrative transformed Dante into a more sympathetic figure, whose wedding to Emily becomes a playground for chaos when murders, starting with Sean's, unravel a plot involving Emily's triplet, Charity. Fortunately, Morrone's brooding charisma grounds Dante, making his stakes feel personal rather than villainous. The decision to ditch the heist-esque, caper genre elements also preserved Emily's glamorous edge and her love for the spotlight, aligning with the sequel's campy, true-crime-inspired tone. But now that we know what could have been, what do you think feels like the stronger sequel concept?

Another Simple Favor is available to stream exclusively via Prime Video.

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