Why Don't Look Up's Oval Office Scene Was So Difficult To Get Right

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Don't Look Up director Adam McKay, editor Hank Corwin, and composer Nicholas Britell, talk about the most challenging part of filming the movie's oval office scene. The film was originally released in theaters on December 10, 2021, before landing on Netflix on Christmas Eve. Don't Look Up has since garnered a lot of attention since hitting the giant streaming platform, achieving a Netflix viewership record despite receiving mixed reviews online. The film was given a critic score on Rotten Tomatoes of just 56%. In contrast, the audience score was quite positive, scoring 74% and showing the film's popularity towards the viewers.

The oval office scene is the focus in the majority of Don’t Look Up’s trailers. The scene begins after the film’s opening credit scenes and features the two main characters Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) and Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio). They are joined by Rob Morgan’s Dr. Oglethorpe as they wait a long time to meet the fictional POTUS, played by Meryl Streep and her Chief of Staff, played by Jonah Hill. Streep revealed that this particular scene took two whole days, with the actors laughing and improvising during the now-popular scene.

Related: Why Adam McKay's Satires Are Getting Less Subtle (On Purpose)

In an interview with Variety, the trio behind Don't Look Up talks about the difficulty with filming the now-famous first oval office scene. When asked «Was there any sequence that was particularly tricky,» the film's editor Corwin responded with them all agreeing to the first oval office scene. Corwin says that it was the «litmus test» for how the film was going to play out, making it the most vital scene in Don't Look Up. McKay also adds more detail following Corwin's statement:

“Han