HowHustlersdirector Lorene Scafaria cast her stripper saga.
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The only problem: Scafaria didnt know Cardi, nor was she sure how to contact her.
Scafaria texted that number.
I got back a We know, well get back to you, she recalls.
I didnt know if I was talking to her or somebody else.
Even now, a month before the films release, Scafaria isnt sure to whom the phone number belongs.
I have two phone numbers in my cell: Cardi 1 and Cardi 2.
Im not sure if either of them are actually Cardi.
I chasedLizzofor a year, she says.
I met withTrace Lysetteprobably a year earlier, then wrote her a part.
I knew I neededKeke Palmerso early on.
I remember casting the Mercedes character and saying, It has to be Keke Palmer.
Jennifer Lopez is Ramona.
The two of them are the same; they have all of these similar qualities.
It has to be her.
Once Scafaria landed Lopez, everything fell into place.
Casting was made infinitely easier once Jennifer was attached.
Everybody really, really, really wanted to work with Jennifer.
Scafaria was particularly impressed with the way Lopez rose to the physically demanding task of playing a career stripper.
Shes obviously such an unbelievable dancer, but she trained so hard-core for this.
Pole dancing is not like anything else.
It required muscles you dont know you have.
So we did treat it a little bit like a sports movie in that way.
Scafaria says she felt like a matchmaker as she watched the cast quickly bond with one another.
Constance and Jennifer love each other.
There was this very beautiful sister relationship that was unfolding.
And Keke and Lili [Reinhart] together, theyre so adorable.
Trace and Mette really hit it off.
I always feel like mom.
Scafaria was also insistent on casting Julia Stiles as Pressler herself.
The movie wouldnt work without Jessica as a character, says Scafaria.
But most important to Scafaria was maintaining a sense of empathy for the characters.
I felt instantly sort of protective over them, she says.
Because I dont think theyre being judged for where they ended up in the crime that they committed.
I feel theyre being judged for where they started.
And that, for me, made it a story really worth telling.
That razor-sharp vision for whatHustlersshould be was what helped her land the directing role.
