Haley Lu Richardson on ‘Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die’ Twist

[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 Verbinski‘s 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.”

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.”

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. I’m feeling mixed emotions right now because I’m 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 it’s actually crazy to hear that she tweeted that. Maybe I’m just really in tune with her, or maybe she’s 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.

“I remember sitting in his trailer when he asked, ‘Would you run this scene with me?’ I obviously know how far Brian Davids 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 don’t know, man. Are people going to think I’m 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.

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I’m sorry you have to spend Valentine’s Day on Zoom with me, especially while you’re 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. It’s definitely a wild, batshit, unhinged movie, and we’re 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? 

I’ve never felt more energy from the photographers on a red carpet or press line or photo call or whatever they’re called than the photographers here at [Berlinale]. You do one thing that’s 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 can’t help who I am. I’ve 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? 

Did it?

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 it’s 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.

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 don’t 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. 

Well, in the decade since we met on Columbus, we’ve maintained this beautiful friendship and respect for one another. Every time we meet for lunch or coffee or talk on the phone, we’d both share stories from what we’ve been working on and how we’re growing as artists and as people. Some of them have been a part of the big machine of the industry. It has its upsides and positive challenges, but it also has its soul-crushing bits that definitely distract from the reason why we both really love to tell stories. 

For the last few years, he’s been talking about wanting to do something that’s just truly independent and pure with a very small group. I’ve been waiting for it to be the right time and for him to have the spark of an idea, and then he asked me to come to Hong Kong [in October 2025]. I ended up learning a lot because all we had were our instincts, and that takes an immense amount of trust in your collaborators. It also really connected me to trusting myself more, which is super valuable in life and specifically with acting.

I can’t wait to see it. Were you able to read the Don’t Die script without your reps giving away the major spoiler in the movie?

Yeah, no one spoiled it for me. They were all really excited for me to read it because a great script, unfortunately, is rare to come across. My mom read it before me too. She read it the day that it was sent to me, and she was like, “Haley, I’m not going to tell you anything about it, but I know you’re going to want to do it. You need to read this right away.” So I listened to my mother, and she was right. Then I manifested that Gore would let me do it, and he did.

We’ll touch on the spoiler later. Does your mom usually function as your script filter/personal reader? 

My mom reads all my scripts and sends me emails titled, “Mom’s two cents.” She actually has incredible instincts. She’s right 98 percent of the time. It’s pretty cute and pretty helpful.

Your character, Ingrid, has electromagnetic hypersensitivity. She’s allergic to technology, especially cell phones and Wi-Fi. Thus, she’s a rent-a-princess for young kids’ outdoor birthday parties because they generally don’t have phones yet. Has this character and this movie altered your screen time at all? 

She definitely did while we were filming. I went method-lite and deleted Instagram for the few months we were in South Africa. I also never brought my phone to work. So instead of having four to six hours of screen time a day, I had maybe 15 to 30 minutes, and that was a really amazing, inspiring reset. Since then, I’ve definitely gone through phases where I’m sucked into the vortex. And next thing I know, three weeks of my life goes by and a third of it was spent on the phone doing shit. 

Part of what drew me to the themes of this movie and specifically to Ingrid was the fact that I’ve always had this awareness/deep resistance to social media in general. I do love my Instagram, and it does suck me in, but I definitely value being present and living my life so much more. My friends have said throughout my life how bad of a texter I am. It’s because when I’m hanging out with people, I’m rarely the person who’s checking texts. But I do think that playing Ingrid and the thoughts that this movie provokes have made me even more aware. That’s not to say I got a flip phone. I, unfortunately, still have an Instagram and a smartphone.

Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die is the most anti-AI movie to come out in the AI era. This technology is being imposed on us, and it’s a threat to most walks of life, especially creative ones. You already had reasons to worry as an actor, but as the author of a recent poetry book called I’m Sad and Horny, have you become even more opposed to AI? 

Lily [Kravetz] did all of the art in the book with me, and she’s been my best friend since we were 11. We felt so proud upon having the book released because it’s something that AI could never make. Whether people like it or not, we can always feel proud of that fact. All of the things that I’ve experienced as a human — heartbreak, joy, growth, shame, coughing fits — are things that AI could maybe try to replicate, but it would never understand the nuances and the actual lived experience. The way that Lily did the art is symbolic on such an inside level, and only she and I would know of these experiences. So it’s just something artificial intelligence would never understand. 

But, yeah, I have a lot of feelings about AI. Sometimes, I fall into the trap of avoidance because they’re overwhelming feelings. Still, I’m a very hopeful person, for better or worse, and I really believe strongly in my gut that there will always be people who value the irreplaceable human experience and connection through art. AI will continue to develop and get stronger, but I have to believe that there will always be people who prioritize human expression and human … What am I trying to say?

Human ingenuity? 

What does ingenuity mean? 

Inventiveness, creativity …

Yeah, exactly. Therefore, as long as people value that, I will always have a space to do the thing I love. I’m holding onto that hope.

You’re a noted friend to all felines, so how do you feel about the cat imagery in the film? 

Zazie [Beetz] and I both love cats so much, and we love the big cat centaur/weird, large glitter-spewing penis thing. We just love it. It might be the best character in the movie. I don’t necessarily think that it makes cats look bad. If anything, the movie makes us look bad. (Laughs.) I think Ingrid says something toward the end of the movie about this “warped, twisted, worst version of us,” and we, unfortunately, are responsible for starting all this.

I thought I had been through some bad breakups, but for Ingrid to be told by her boyfriend Tim that he’d rather live in a virtual reality coffin than actual reality with her, just brutal. 

Yeah, Tim is the only human she’s ever been able to connect with or be with, physically and emotionally, in her life. So for him to fully do a 180 and abandon her in the most vile, disturbing, insane way, it’s pretty rough.

Let’s get into the major spoiler of the movie. It’s revealed that Ingrid is actually the mother of Sam Rockwell’s “The Man from the Future.” He’s trying to safeguard this AI superintelligence right before it launches so that it doesn’t kill your character many years later. How would you describe the day where you cradled Sam Rockwell in your arms as if he’s your son?

As if? He is! (Laughs.) When he disappeared in my cradled arms, the rest of the cast was having the easiest, most fun day of their careers. They were walking around, smiling and hugging each other, while I was having this crisis, this psychotic break and this deep panic. So I definitely felt like a crazy person that day because everyone was so emotionally regulated and happy and chill, and I physically looked like an insane person. Normally, when you have a really intense, emotional, crazy scene like that, the other people around you are also in that headspace. So there’s this energy around you that you can rely on, but much like Ingrid in the scene, I felt totally alone and on the exact opposite page of everyone else. 

[Major spoiler question continues.] There are a lot of clues like when she wants to watch the sunrise with Tim (Tom Taylor). Or when The Man from the Future goes off on her for not getting out of the way of the falling car. Did you and Sam feel like you didn’t have to leave any added breadcrumbs because the script already had enough clues baked into it? 

Yeah, the script already had the perfect amount of clues. The first time I read it, I was just so interested to learn more about Ingrid as the movie progresses. She’s truly mysterious. She comes off like she doesn’t care, but it’s obvious that she deeply cares. She’s at a very critical emotional time in her life, and you just want to know why. 

As far as her and “The Man from the Future,” I’ve named him Derek. I feel like I’m allowed to name him because I’m his mom. There’s a weird relationship between Ingrid and Derek, and you don’t know why he’s so opposed to her going on the mission at the beginning. You don’t know why he seems to care about her when he doesn’t really care about anyone else. I then had this interesting revelation when I first read the script and was realizing in real time that Ingrid is his mom and she’s pregnant with him during the mission. I had this weird realization hit me where I was like, “Of course, she is!” It was almost like I already knew it instinctively. 

When we did the scene where the weird creepy AI boy is revealing it to Ingrid, I felt that too as Ingrid. So there was a deep subconscious draw or connection to this strangely dressed, rabid man that comes into Norms. It was more than just, “Fuck it. I’ll risk my life to follow this crazy person because I’m depressed and heartbroken and alone in the world.”

Did you and “Derek” (Rockwell) talk about The White Lotus since he got the last-minute offer to join season three while you were filming?

First of all, I love that you’re on board with Derek. And yes, he got that part offered to him when we were in South Africa. I remember sitting in his trailer when he asked, “Would you run this scene with me?” And I was like, “Sure!” I obviously know how far Brian Davids Mike [White] will go with his White Lotus characters, but I was shocked when I heard Sam’s big monologue. I was like, “What is Mike on? How could this possibly fit into anything? What is happening?” So I read it with Sam, and he was still deciding if he wanted to do it for sure. He was like, “I don’t know, man. Are people going to think I’m a creep? Is this too much?” And I was like, “Sam, I think you really have to do this.”

So you heard his monologue for the ages before Walton Goggins did. 

Yes, I’m Walton’s stand-in. (Laughs.)

I’ve loved all of your recent answers to questions about whether you’d be willing to come back for more White Lotus. Your response is basically, “How is this even a question?” 

Yeah, it’s just one of those shows that really hits people. It’s so fun, and Mike is just really smart. So, yeah, returning would just be a no-brainer.

As season three was airing, did you hear the fan theory about Portia potentially being Carrie Coon’s character’s daughter?

Yeah, my dad sent me some article about that, and it was literally all rooted in the fact that we had the same haircut. It was literally that simple. I was like, “Yeah, that’s how genetics work. If you have the same haircut, that’s how [blood relation] works.” (Laughs.)

I regret to inform you that I’m only halfway through Ponies, but as soon as I heard you were being teamed up with Emilia Clarke, I just knew the two of you would be a perfect duo. I particularly love the moment where you mock her character for asking if she can ask a question. That’s been a pet peeve of mine for decades.

Well, I regret to inform you that I am, in real life, one of those people that says, “Can I ask you something?”

Wow. 

I’m really sorry. That’s why it was extra hilarious that I said that line because I truly have been that person. I’m very sorry to everyone I’ve ever done that to and to everyone I will do that to moving forward. It’s redundant and annoying.

A friend of mine used to do it every time we hung out, and despite repeatedly telling him how unnecessary it was, he kept doing it for over a decade.

And even if you said no, he’d still ask it anyway. 

Exactly!

It’s really stupid.

I have one last question regarding your book. Was the title I’m Sad and Horny inspired by that famous Phoebe Bridgers’ tweet where she said, “I’m sad and horny,” after watching the show Normal People during the pandemic?

Oh my God, Phoebe Bridgers said, “I’m sad and horny”?

Yes, and then Paul Mescal responded, which led to a whole thing between them.

Oh my God, I did not know about that. I’m feeling mixed emotions right now because I’m such a Phoebe fan. I just love her music so much. Phoebe’s music makes me sad and horny, and it has really helped me accept my sadness inside, which also makes my horniness deeper in a weird way. (Laughs.) Honestly, Phoebe is a crucial part of the emotional, physical, psychological development in my life. So it’s actually crazy to hear that she tweeted that. Maybe I’m just really in tune with her, or maybe she’s inspired me so much that I think like her now. I don’t know.

I hope this example of two great minds thinking alike leads to a team-up someday.

I would love to collaborate with Phoebe 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.

Who would’ve thought that my last question about a 6-year-old Phoebe Bridgers tweet would tie your recent work together so well?

It’s your human ingenuity, as I google ingenuity. Thank you for asking great questions and for putting up with my choking.

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Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die is now playing in movie theaters.