Inside the Beach Fight: How Jennifer Lawrence Choreographed Hollywood’s Boldest Comedy Stunt
While the story unfolds in Montauk, New York, logistical demands shifted the production to coastal locations across Long Island. Filming the skinny-dipping sequence took place in late October, when Atlantic water temperatures plummeted below 55°F (13°C). Warm summer nights were an illusion created by cinematic lighting and sheer actor discipline.
Andrew Barth Feldman, who played the sheltered Percy Becker, spent hours shivering beside Lawrence in the shallows. The production team deployed heavy heating tents and industrial warming blankets mere feet beyond the camera's sightlines. Lawrence and Feldman would submerge themselves, run the emotional beats of Percy's awkward strip-down, and immediately scramble toward heated base stations between takes.
Sand posed another practical hazard. Wet, coarse shoreline granules act like sandpaper when bodies hit the ground repeatedly. Every suplex, tackle, and scuffle across the beach caused abrasive friction burns that the makeup and medical teams had to treat immediately. Despite the freezing air and stinging sand, crew reports confirmed Lawrence insisted on multiple takes to nail the comedic timing of her kicks and wrestling holds.
