We interview Haley Lu Richardson, star of Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die, about how she joined the project and how her character’s journey mirrors her own.
When a Man from the Future (Sam Rockwell) enters a Norm’s Diner in LA, at the start of Gore Verbinski‘s Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die, to tell its patrons that the world is about to end and he needs volunteers for a mission to save it – in a speech that he claims to have already performed 116 times before to this exact same crowd – Haley Lu Richardson’s character Ingrid volunteers to help. “Absolutely not,” our team leader responds, explaining that he’s creeped out by her “real off-her meds vibe.” But though we can see where he’s coming from – Ingrid’s sporting a worn out, blue princess dress, with tear-stained make-up to match her current attitude – he’s one to talk, since his odd choice of outfit and tendency to ramble doesn’t exactly inspire trust.
Eventually, fate chooses for him in the best possible way, and Ingrid joins the team for the first time ever. “This is a weird f*cking group,” Man From the Future observes, and yet it might just be the group that makes his trip worthwhile. To say much more about Ingrid and her role in Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die would spoil your experience of discovering the best arc in the entire movie for yourself. Ingrid has a very peculiar allergy that becomes so relevant for our hero’s fight against AI, and thanks to Richardson’s raw, committed performance, her evolution throughout the film delivers its most poignant and meaningful scenes.
Ahead of the film‘s release in U.S. theaters, we sat down for a brief chat with Haley Lu Richardson, where we talked about how she joined the project, working with Sam Rockwell, and similarities between her and her character Ingrid. Read the interview, and watch a short clip of our chat, below!
‘You’re Going to Want to Do This’ – Haley Lu Richardson on Being Cast in Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die
Thank you for speaking with us, and for this fantastic film! How did you get involved in the project? How was this pitched to you?
Haley Lu Richardson: I think my agents actually didn’t pitch it to me. They just said, ‘Read this. We want you to do it, and you’re going to want to do it.’ And that’s a very rare thing to hear from them! [laughs] they’ll send me scripts all the time, and often it says, ‘We recommend a pass’. And it’s soul-crushing to get so many emails like that because I’m like, ‘When are you going to not recommend a pass? When are you going to send me something that’s great and inspiring?’ [laughs]
Rhonda [Price], my agent at Gersh, was a key role in helping get this movie on its feet. She also works with Sam [Rockwell]; she sent me an email and she was like, ‘Haley, you’re going to want to do this. Read the script immediately.’ I read it immediately, and read it all in one sitting, which is also rare; I just had just so much fun reading it! It was my favorite ride of reading a script I’ve ever felt, but it was also really unsettling and thought-provoking. I just felt like it was a really one-of-a-kind tone and script. And I think Matthew [Robinson], who wrote it, is a bit of a genius.
And knowing Gore, and the movies he’s made, I was like, ‘This is going to be good.’ And it’s also going to be one of a kind; it’s not going to feel like anything else. And then, obviously finding out Sam was the man from the future: it just made so much sense! When I read the script, Sam was already attached and everything, so I could envision him doing it.
It’s such a Sam kind of role role as well!
H.L.R.: There’s no one else that could have done this as good, or like this. He’s maybe one of the best actors alive.
I saw him on Broadway, when he did the play “American Buffalo”: it was a small cast, with a square stage, and the audience was all around it. I imagine it must have been a little bit like it was for you all, watching him do his monologue at Norm’s Diner.
H.L.R.: Oh, yeah! It was entertaining, and a masterclass in a lot of ways, just watching how he would go off and be physically so free, too. I know him and Gore rehearsed a lot – the choreography of it. But Sam really does play. There was one moment, when we were in the kitchen in Norm’s, and he just randomly grabbed a piece of Wonder Bread and started eating it while he was frantically talking. I was like, ‘Is that even real bread? Is that stale, nasty set bread?’ [laughs] But he was eating it like he was ravenous. He’s traveled from the future! He’s just so playful.
How Ingrid Inspired Haley Lu Richardson’s Own Healing Journey
You are so good in this film! And you made me cry at the end, which I wasn’t expecting at all. I love Ingrid’s evolution in the movie, and I was wondering if there are any parallels to be found with the journey you’ve been having lately, in terms of putting your true self out there, and showing it’s ok to be sad or to be vulnerable.
Can you see any similarities between your own journey and Ingrid’s? Did playing Ingrid change you in any way, or did your personal experiences inspire the role at all?
Haley Lu Richardson: Wow. Thank you for saying all of that; that means a lot to me. A very specific, unexpected way that the making of this movie affected my life, and maybe instigated that journey that I’ve been on personally, is that I deleted Instagram for the whole three months we were filming, and I was on my phone much less, to really try to connect to Ingrid more, and understand life without having that all the time. I wouldn’t bring my phone to set and everything, and honestly, that unlocked a new healing journey, and inner processing of pain and sadness and experiences, and looking at myself deeper.
I was writing – I wrote this poetry book that I released in November [“I’m Sad and Horny”] – and I wrote probably 75% of the poems in South Africa, while we were filming this movie. I was probably able to do a lot of that because I was more present and not distracted by this thing. [points at her phone] I was more inspired; I had more creative energy and time to do and feel all of these other things. Maybe that’s the way that Ingrid really inspired me: just not being on the phone, and being actually ‘in life’. I’m really thankful for that.
This interview was edited for length and clarity.
Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die will be released in US theatres on February 13, 2026 and in UK & Irish cinemas on February 20. The film will also be screened at the Berlin Film Festival in February. Read our review of Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die!