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David O. Russell Says Blake Lively ‘Has Magic in Her’

When we ran into David O. Russell at last night’s Ghetto Film School event honoring the director, he was most excited about one of the other guests who hadn’t yet shown up. “My friend from Gossip Girl will be here tonight,” he said. Russell was referring to his cameo opposite Blake Lively on the season finale of Gossip Girl, a role as himself that he almost didn’t take. “My first thought was to say no, because I’m afraid I’ll look foolish. Fortunately it did not work out that way, at least in my mind. It was fun, they allowed me to sort of massage the scene a little bit … which is actually a scene I’ve had many times with assistants who haven’t read material they’re supposed to have read.” As for Lively, Russell took a cue from Baz Luhrmann and had nothing but effusive things to say about the actress. “It was fun. She’s a live wire — a lively wire. She has magic in her that I think I didn’t really realize,” he said. “I thought she was unrecognizable in The Town. I thought she was like a 40-year-old woman, unrecognizable. I think she has a lot that she’s going to surprise people with.”

Now that he’s moved on from the video-game adaptation Uncharted, Russell is prepping The Silver Lining Playbook, which will reteam him with his The Fighter star Mark Wahlberg. It’s been rumored that Russell is courting Angelina Jolie for the female lead, and Russell admitted, “You know, Angelina would really be awesome. I think Angelina would love to be in it, but I don’t know if that’ll happen because of some conflicts in scheduling and other stuff. But I love her and I’ve loved talking to her about several projects … I think that she’s a loaded weapon and ready to be deployed.”

Now that he’s moved on from the video-game adaptation Uncharted, Russell is prepping The Silver Lining Playbook, which will reteam him with his The Fighter star Mark Wahlberg. It’s been rumored that Russell is courting Angelina Jolie for the female lead, and Russell admitted, “You know, Angelina would really be awesome. I think Angelina would love to be in it, but I don’t know if that’ll happen because of some conflicts in scheduling and other stuff. But I love her and I’ve loved talking to her about several projects … I think that she’s a loaded weapon and ready to be deployed.”

David O. Russell Says Blake Lively ‘Has Magic in Her’