Don’t Look Up, starring Jennifer Lawrence, Leonardo DiCaprio, and other prominent Hollywood stars, was a 2021 Adam McKay-directed satirical black comedy film, which tackles important socio-political themes. The film treats an earth-destroying comet as a metaphor for the climate crisis; one of the biggest concerns that our planet is currently facing.
Additionally, the endeavor, which garnered four Oscar nominations, delves deep within the notions of societal complacency and non-response, ignorance rooted in skepticism, and political egomania.
The film reaped several mixed reviews, with some hailing it as a “smug satire”. Others’ opinions on the movie seemed to imply that the sardonic jokes of the narrative didn’t land well among them. While critics’ verdict on the Adam McKay film remains debatable and subjective, the project’s behind-the-scene stories did manage to induce some chuckles from the masses.
And one of the people we can thank for that is Jennifer Lawrence.
How Jennifer Lawrence Lost A Tooth While Filming Don’t Look Up
Talking to Variety, at the world premiere of the Adam McKay film, the acclaimed actress revealed one of her biggest personal struggles during the filming process. “I lost a tooth pretty early in the filming,” she admitted. Apparently, in the starting stage of filming Don’t Look Up, Lawrence lost one of her veneers. This led to her partaking in the filming process in a completely toothless fashion, as she was not able to visit the dentist because of COVID-19.
A further clarification on the bizarre incident was derived from her appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Turns out, the lost veneer was a result of her munching on a lollipop—or what the Oscar winner calls a “sucker.”
Following was Jennifer Lawrence‘s statement:
“[I was] Eating a sucker. It was really stupid. It was a veneer, but if anyone knows what is underneath a veneer, it’s much worse. It’s like this pointy fang. And so I lost that, and I couldn’t go to the dentist because of COVID.”
While what the renowned talent lost was not exactly a tooth, only people who have veneers would be able to empathize with her. What’s underneath can be a daunting sight for some. Therefore, during the movie’s production, the actress had to proceed with what she later termed a “gaping hole” in her mouth.
You may wonder, how exactly was the issue mitigated. Well, as it turns out, there is nothing a little bit of technology cannot solve—especially in this case, where Lawrence was saved from the embarrassment of having the rest of the world witness her missing tooth.
How CGI Fixed Jennifer Lawrence’s Teeth
On a recent appearance on Hot Ones, for the promotion of her latest film No Hard Feelings, the 32-year-old talent revealed the full extent of the damage to her teeth that was caused by the lollipop mishap. Lawrence claimed that it was not just a singular tooth that was missing, it was a whole section that was gone. “It wasn’t just one tooth because I have veneers. I had a whole section missing,” the global superstar confessed.
Back in her interview with Stephen Colbert, Jennifer Lawrence revealed that the issue was fixed in post-production, with the help of CGI. She, furthermore, expressed her gratitude for “Netflix money”—without which her frame-by-frame on-screen teeth reconstruction wouldn’t have been possible.
Such an anecdote truly makes one contemplate the wonders that technology is capable of.
The 2021 Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio-starrer had a budget of $75 million, which explains how such a painstakingly long process of a frame-by-frame digital touch-up was accommodated. Lawrence’s tooth mishap is a testament to the bizarre, unpredictable yet resilient nature of the film industry, where anything can happen and you simply have to brace for impact and hope for the best.
We laud the actress for pushing through with the filming process, as well as the CGI artists who worked day and night to grant the endeavor a sense of visual perfection.
Don’t Look Up is available for streaming on Netflix.
Source: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
