Another Simple Favor Director Paul Feig Says He Gave Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick ‘a Lot of Leeway’ for Input (Exclusive)

Director Paul Feig says that he was all about creative collaboration with Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick on the set of Another Simple Favor.

Speaking exclusively to PEOPLE while on the red carpet for the world premiere of the sequel to A Simple Favor at SXSW in Austin, Texas, on Friday, March 7, the filmmaker explained that he prefers to let his performers provide creative input when working on projects together.

“I mean that’s what I always do,” says Feig, 62, adding that he was once an actor and feels there’s often untapped creative potential on sets.

“When I work with actors, I give them a lot of leeway. I want them to figure out what they want to wear, etc., because I was an actor, I know. Like if I’m just saying, ‘Say this. Say this the way I wrote it,’ I’m cutting off this huge bit of talent,” he explains. “So every movie, every show I’ve ever done, I collaborate with them and go, ‘Here’s the stuff,’ and they’ll come [back with], ‘Oh what about this? What about this?’ And that’s how we work. That’s how I’ve worked with every movie star ever.”

Feig also shared that getting to work with Lively, 37, and Kendrick, 39, again on Another Simple Favor was “a dream come true.”

“It was too much fun. Too much fun,” Feig says. “I mean, I had such a great experience on the first one. It always kind of stuck with me, like, ‘God, I love working with the two of them’ — as well as the rest of the cast.”

“So, you know, coming up with this [sequel] just like, ‘We gotta get something that gives them both something great and new to do that can include the old cast but bring in a bunch of new characters,’ ” he continues. “And I always wanted to shoot something in Capri, so it was a dream come true to get to figure that one out.”

The first film, a dark comedy which stars Lively and Kendrick, was released in 2018 and received both critical and box office success. It was based off the book of the same name by Darcey Bell and — as the novel does not have a sequel — the most recent installment will take the characters from the first movie into uncharted territory.

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In addition to Lively and Kendrick, Henry Golding also returns for the sequel, and will be joined by a number of new castmates, including Elena Sofia Ricci, Elizabeth Perkins and Allison Janney.

Another Simple Favor is slated for release on Prime Video on May 1.