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Logo text [This story contains spoilers for Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die.]
Haley Lu Richardson is a true original. You will struggle to find another actor who is so authentically themselves in every facet of the entertainment business. You also won’t find a more varied portfolio of brand new work than hers.
Richardson is currently on the big screen in Gore Verbinskis Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die, a sci-fi comedy that gives artificial intelligence the roasting it rightly deserves. She also just premiered Zi, her third independent drama with Kogonada, at Sundance. You can also catch her alongside Emilia Clarke in the Peacock streaming series, Ponies, where she and Clarke play widows who step in for their deceased CIA operative husbands during the late ‘70s portion of the Cold War. Last but not least, Richardson and her childhood best friend, Lily Kravetz, just put out a poetry book called I’m Sad and Horny, chronicling “the chaos of being a twenty-something girl in this world.” blogherads.adq.push(function () { blogherads .defineSlot( 'medrec', 'gpt-article-mid-article-uid0' ) .setTargeting( 'pos', ["mid-article1","mid-articleX","mid","mid-article"] ) .setTargeting( 'viewable', 'yes' ) .setSubAdUnitPath("ros\/mid-article") .addSize([[300,250],[2,2],[300,251],[620,350],[2,4],[4,2],[320,480],[620,366]]) .setClsOptimization("minsize") ; }); Related Stories Movies Gore Verbinski on His AI Comedy Comeback: "It's 2026. Good Luck. Have Fun. Don't Die." Movies 'Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die' Review: Sam Rockwell Fights to Save Humanity From AI Annihilation in Sci-Fi Comedy Short on Bite
In Don’t Die, the Arizona native routinely steals scenes as Ingrid, a party princess with electromagnetic sensitivity. It’s an impressive feat when you consider that she’s acting opposite Oscar winner Sam Rockwell and the likes of Zazie Beetz, Michael Pena and Juno Temple. Her character’s allergy to mobile phones and Wi-Fi has made human connection all the more difficult, so Richardson took inspiration from a singer-songwriter who’s become a defining voice for those who feel isolated and heartbroken.
“Honestly, Phoebe [Bridgers] is a crucial part of the emotional, physical, psychological development in my life,” Richardson tells The Hollywood Reporter. “I would love to collaborate one day. I was very much inspired by Phoebe for Ingrid — her energy, her mannerisms, her stance, her hair. We had a picture of Phoebe up in the hair and makeup trailer as one of our inspirations.” blogherads.adq.push(function () { blogherads .defineSlot( 'medrec', 'gpt-dsk-tab-mid-article2-uid1' ) .setTargeting( 'pos', ["mid","mid-article2","mid-articleX"] ) .setTargeting( 'viewable', 'yes' ) .setSubAdUnitPath("ros\/mid-article2") .addSize([[300,250],[300,251],[620,350],[2,4],[4,2],[320,480],[620,366]]) .setClsOptimization("minsize") ; });
As the author of I’m Sad and Horny, Richardson did not realize that Bridgers concocted a viral tweet during the pandemic that said, “Finished Normal People and now I’m sad and horny …” Series co-lead, Paul Mescal, then responded, “I’m officially dead.” And in another relevant twist of fate, Bridgers shot back, “No, don’t die …”
“Oh my God, I did not know about that. Im feeling mixed emotions right now because Im such a Phoebe fan,” Richardson says. “Phoebe’s music makes me sad and horny, and it has really helped me accept my sadness inside. So its actually crazy to hear that she tweeted that. Maybe Im just really in tune with her, or maybe shes inspired me so much that I think like her now.”
In Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die, Richardson and Rockwell’s characters have a very unique relationship on screen, one that is explored via the Q&A below in spoiler-y detail. The two actors also got to share a memorable moment together off camera when Rockwell asked Richardson to help him read his now-famous The White Lotus monologue scene at a point when he was still on the fence about accepting the job. Richardson, who starred on season two of Mike White’s smash hit HBO series, essentially stood-in for Walton Goggins’ character. The latter’s eventual response to the brutally honest speech spawned some of the most hilarious reaction shots in recent memory. But it turns out that Richardson may have given Rockwell the nudge he needed to commit to season three. blogherads.adq.push(function () { blogherads .defineSlot( 'medrec', 'gpt-thr-article-mid-articleX-uid2' ) .setTargeting( 'pos', ["btf","mid-articleX","mid"] ) .setTargeting( 'viewable', 'yes' ) .setSubAdUnitPath("ros\/mid-articleX") .addSize([[300,250],[300,251],[620,350],[320,480],[620,366]]) .setLazyLoadMultiplier(2) .setClsOptimization("minsize") ; });
“I remember sitting in his trailer when he asked, ‘Would you run this scene with me?’ I obviously know how far [creator] Mike [White] will go with his White Lotus characters, but I was shocked when I heard Sam’s big monologue,” Richardson recalls. “I was like, ‘What is Mike on?’ So I read it with Sam, and he was still deciding if he wanted to do it for sure. He was like, ‘I dont know, man. Are people going to think Im a creep? Is this too much?’ And I was like, ‘Sam, I think you really have to do this.’”
Below, during a wide-ranging conversation with THR, Richardson also discusses why she went “method-lite” for her Don’t Die character, as well as why she’s still optimistic about the arts in the AI era.
Im sorry you have to spend Valentines Day on Zoom with me, especially while youre in Berlin.
Well, for this interview, we can be each other’s valentines.
Deal. Between the airplane message in Silicon Valley and you doing headstands on the Berlinale carpet, Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die’s marketing has reached a whole new level.
(Laughs.) I don’t know what happened to all of us yesterday. Its definitely a wild, batshit, unhinged movie, and were also like that in a lot of ways. Gore [Verbinski] and I definitely are. So our energies combined with the energy of the movie, and we were just unhinged yesterday.
There was some peer pressure? blogherads.adq.push(function () { blogherads .defineSlot( 'medrec', 'gpt-thr-article-mid-articleX-uid3' ) .setTargeting( 'pos', ["btf","mid-articleX","mid"] ) .setTargeting( 'viewable', 'yes' ) .setSubAdUnitPath("ros\/mid-articleX") .addSize([[300,250],[300,251],[620,350],[320,480],[620,366]]) .setLazyLoadMultiplier(2) .setClsOptimization("minsize") ; });
Ive never felt more energy from the photographers on a red carpet or press line or photo call or whatever theyre called than the photographers here at [Berlinale]. You do one thing thats wacky or untraditional, and they are like, “Do it 20 times now! Do it again, but on your head!” I fall easily into the trap of “dance monkey,” but I had fun doing it. I cant help who I am. Ive surrendered to it at 30. This is the way I am for better or worse.
I’ve been wondering why you weren’t in Kogonada’s A Big Bold Beautiful Journey. I thought you’d be in all his movies. Besides there not being an optimal role for you, is it because Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die shot at the same time?
Yeah, according to the internet, both began shooting in April 2024.
Actually, I do remember texting with Kogonada while we were both filming, but no one asked me to be in A Big Bold Beautiful Journey. And its okay. I forgive him.
Perhaps you could’ve played the bride at the wedding Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell meet at, but it’s such a brief part that maybe Kogonada didn’t feel like it’d be worth your time.
At one point, I had sent a headshot to Kogonada, and I think [Columbus co-star] Rory Culkin did as well. Our headshots were going to be a little Easter egg in the scene where [Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Kevin Klein] send Colin on his way, but I guess he cut them out. [Writer’s Note: Richardson proceeds to have a coughing fit that becomes a running joke the rest of the interview.] Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Choke to Death. I literally started choking on my own breath and words. Thank you for bearing with me. blogherads.adq.push(function () { blogherads .defineSlot( 'medrec', 'gpt-thr-article-mid-articleX-uid4' ) .setTargeting( 'pos', ["btf","mid-articleX","mid"] ) .setTargeting( 'viewable', 'yes' ) .setSubAdUnitPath("ros\/mid-articleX") .addSize([[300,250],[300,251],[620,350],[320,480],[620,366]]) .setLazyLoadMultiplier(2) .setClsOptimization("minsize") ; });
Of course. I’m guessing Zi more than made up for your Big Bold absence?
Yes, Zi was the perfect experience to have with someone like Kogonada, and it was also just a gift of a creative experience in general. I dont know if you know about the nature of how it all started and came to be, but it was pretty unique and independent and amazing.
All I know is that it was a response to all the rigamarole he experienced on Big Bold. He wanted to get back to something pure and without a lot of fanfare.
