A select group of journalists submitted questions before a virtual press conference over Zoom for Netflix’s dark comedy “Don’t Look Up”. The panel included Director Adam McKay, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Jonah Hill, Tyler Perry, and Kid Cudi, moderated by astronomer Amy Mainzer.

On her character: There were so many places to take things from, because there’s so many preposterous people who’ve put themselves in public places recently. And shamelessly. It was fun to put together this character that was just pure id, just what her appetite wanted. And about amassing power, money, more power, and more money, and that’s pretty much- and nice hair and nails to top it off. But no fellow feeling. Unfortunately, that is the cost of being a public servant now, that you really have to make a big sacrifice. Your family makes a sacrifice, and you have to be willing to do that. It’s amazing that we get good people to do it. We need them right now more than ever.

On facing a possible armageddon: There are a lot of chilling moments. One just – I don’t know why – but it really hit me was the scene in the bar with Tyler and Cate when everything’s going to shit outside. And she says, “I just want, you know, to get drunk and talk shit about people.” I know lots of people like that, that’s not an unusual reaction. But it kinda chilled my bones. And then the one where they’re in the car and Timothée Chalamet proposes an idea to Jen and she goes, yeah. And it’s so clear, there’s just no way it’s ever gonna happen. You know, but it’s just that glimmer of the human dream where we hope something good is going to happen, even though we know something bad is. And that’s sort of the kernel of truth of this is that we push this information away. Smart people, people who don’t have a scientific background, everyone pushes it away, because it’s just too painful.