Video: How Sunny Sandler & Julia Hart Are Serving Up WAITRESS in DON'T SAY GOOD LUCK
Don't Say Good Luck, starring Sunny Sandler, Melanie Lynskey, Max Greenfield, Bebe Neuwirth and Steve Buscemi, is now streaming on Netflix.
Sunny Sandler is stepping into the spotlight in Netflix's new film Don't Say Good Luck, and for the young actress, the project marked an important first: making a movie outside of her famous family. Luckily, she found the perfect collaborator in director Julia Hart.
"This was my first film not doing [one] with my family, which was very nerve-racking for me, but she made me so comfortable the whole time," Sandler told BroadwayWorld. "As soon as I read the script, I was like, 'This is perfect. I want to do it.'"
The feeling was mutual for Hart, who revealed that Sandler was the first person they approached to play Sophie. The two connected immediately over their shared vision for the film and the kind of environment they wanted to create on set.
"The moment I met Sunny, I was like, 'This is such an amazing young woman,'" Hart recalled. "Obviously so talented and so beautiful, but more importantly, just so kind and so hardworking."
For Broadway fans, Don't Say Good Luck comes with an added treat: Waitress plays an important role in Sophie's story. Hart explained that screenwriter Laura Hankin had included the musical in the original script, though there was initially some uncertainty about whether they would be able to secure the rights.
"But then we got the rights to Waitress," Hart said. "So really it was her original vision of how Jenna's story from Waitress and Sophie's story from Don't Say Good Luck wove together so beautifully, so emotionally."
Sandler immersed herself in the score before filming, listening to the Waitress songs "on repeat for like three months." And could the experience eventually lead her to Broadway? "Oh my goodness. I mean, of course," she said. "That would be amazing." Hart quickly volunteered to direct, with the pair joking that they're now a "package deal."
Despite the difficult subjects at the heart of the film, both Sandler and Hart hope viewers ultimately walk away feeling hopeful.
"I really do hope that people learn from Sophie that she kind of puts a lot of the anxiety and fear that she has into her art," Sandler explained. "I think I do that in real life, and I think that's the best way to go about all of your emotions."
For Hart, that idea is central to the film's message.
"It was really important to us that it's a movie about living, not about dying, and that it is a hopeful movie and it's about how art can help you get through the hard stuff," she said. "We have a feeling they will cry, but that they also feel like they got a really good hug."
Watch the full interview with Sunny Sandler and Julia Hart above!
