'No Hard Feelings' star Andrew Barth Feldman talks deferring Harvard, 'pretty naked' scenes

Andrew Barth Feldman had a lot to learn from Jennifer Lawrence.

Not about acting, necessarily, but important cultural touchstones such as “Star Wars Kid.” Lawrence, 33, introduced Feldman, 21, to the early viral YouTube video on the set of their R-rated sex comedy “No Hard Feelings” (streaming now on Netflix).

“I said something to him about it and he was like, ‘I don’t understand,’ ” Lawrence recalls. “I was like, ‘Oh, my God, you have no idea of a world before YouTube was a thing!’ ”

On the flip side, “I have a very singular obsession with the Disney parks, so I think she learned a lot about that stuff from me,” Feldman says. “I’m not the guy to go to about Gen-Z pop culture – I’m not even on TikTok – but I do know that Splash Mountain is becoming Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.”

'No Hard Feelings': Jennifer Lawrence discusses that full-frontal nude scene

Born and raised in Long Island, New York, Feldman caught the acting bug at 8 years old playing Mr. Bundles, the laundry man in “Annie.” He continued to do school plays and community theater until he was 16, when he made his Broadway debut in “Dear Evan Hansen” in the title role.

Here’s what else you need to know about the hysterical and charming scene-stealer:

Andrew Barth Feldman got his aunt's blessing for nude scenes

In the movie, Feldman plays an introverted 19-year-old named Percy, whose parents hire a woman (Lawrence) to help him come out of his shell before college. (Translation: Get laid.) Despite stripping down in multiple moments, the young actor has no nerves about watching the film with his family.

“I think it’s going to be OK. They’ve been so supportive from the very beginning,” Feldman says. During one of his first calls about his movie contract, “my lawyer was on the phone with me and my aunt. He was like, ‘We’ll deal with your nudity rider later.’ My aunt looks at me and goes, ‘Nudity rider?!’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, I think I’m going to be pretty naked in this movie.’ She thought about it for a second and said, ‘OK, well, it’s your body!’ (Laughs.) A pretty good show of support.”

He deferred Harvard to shoot 'No Hard Feelings'

Feldman spent a semester at Harvard University in fall 2021 studying theater, “but mostly writing and directing,” he says. He took a break to pursue “No Hard Feelings” and other projects, although “I’m hoping to go back soon.”

In the meantime, he’s writing “a bunch of musicals” with different collaborators, and also recently released his debut album, "Penn Station." He teased the project with new song “The College Breakup,” which began as a melancholy acoustic guitar ballad, but morphed into an early-2000s-style pop-punk anthem with the help of his producer, Ryan Sanchez.

“What I’m most excited for people to see and hear from me in the years coming is the stories that can be told with music,” Feldman says. “Hopefully my music, in whatever form that takes.”

He juggled Broadway and homework starring in 'Dear Evan Hansen'

Feldman was still in high school when he landed Evan, the warbling misfit made famous by Ben Platt. He lived at home during his yearlong run in the musical: tutoring during the day and performing on Broadway at night. The rigorous experience was both “painful and beautiful,” he says. On top of the role’s vocal and emotional demands, Feldman also lost his mom suddenly to cancer during that time.

“My amazing mom encouraged me to stay on Long Island while I was doing ‘Evan Hansen,’“ Feldman says. “Every Evan had the same driver, José, who’s a legend and would come pick me up. So I had these very long drives there to sort of put my brain in manual mode. Then I’d get home really late and build Legos before I went to sleep. It was really, really hard doing that (show), but without it, I couldn’t have done this movie.”

This 'Star Wars' villain is his favorite character

No one’s a bigger “Star Wars” fan than Feldman, who wrote a musical parody of “A New Hope” with his friend in eighth grade, which they later staged at New York’s 54 Below in early 2020. The actor’s Jedi-like dedication goes back to middle school, when he celebrated “May the Fourth” by dressing up as a relatively obscure villain from the prequel movies.

“On Star Wars Day, I went to school dressed as General Grievous,” Feldman says. “That guy is so weird-looking, and I had the full mask and Party City getup. And nobody else was dressed up! It wasn’t Halloween – it was just me.”

Yes, he knows he looks like Chef Linguini from 'Ratatouille'

In early 2021, Feldman starred as Alfredo Linguini in a virtual benefit concert of “Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical,” a crowdsourced show based on Disney/Pixar’s 2007 film “Ratatouille.” The actor has long been told he bears an uncanny resemblance to the gawky chef.

“I can’t remember the first time it happened,” Feldman says. “I remember people tweeting me about it long before the musical was ever a glimmer in anybody’s eye.” He even heard it from a recent co-star who had no idea about the streaming performance: “She tried to roast me saying, ‘OK, Guy from “Ratatouille,” ’ because she just thought I looked like him. Really, it follows me around!”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'No Hard Feelings' star Andrew Barth Feldman got aunt's OK for nudity