Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick showed signs of ‘awkwardness’ while promoting their new film, Another Simple Favor, a body language expert has claimed.
Lively, 37, and Kendrick, 39 — who are rumored to have a ‘secret feud’ — posed together at the London special screening of the film on Tuesday, at the Ham Yard H๏τel, after an earlier morning pH๏τocall at the Corinthia H๏τel.
Awkward interactions during their press tour have fueled speculation of a rift between the stars.
Body language expert Judi James exclusively told DailyMail.com that the two actresses ‘lack synchronization’ as she noted an air of ‘awkwardness or self-consciousness’ about them along with ‘rigid-looking’ poses on red carpet events.
Discussing the pH๏τos from Tuesday’s events, Judi said: ‘Blake seems to be investing more when it comes to doing the heavy lifting of looking happy and amiable.’
‘It could be the pressure to visually deny rumors of some kind of a rift that is causing their un-relaxed-looking poses, but they’re not seeming to project any sense of an easy-going relationship here,’ the expert added.
Blake Lively, 37, and Anna Kendrick, 39, showed signs of ‘awkwardness’ while promoting their new film, Another Simple Favor, on Tuesday, a body language expert has claimed
Lively and Kendrick — who are rumored to have a ‘secret feud’ — posed together at a pH๏τocall at Corinthia H๏τel in London (pictured) before attending a screening at the Ham Yard H๏τel
According to the expert, when Blake poses alone, she ‘goes into preen mode, luxuriating and purring in front of the cameras with some preening hair flicks and some puckered, confident, self-satisfied smiles.’
Referring to Lively’s plunging leather tᴀsseled coat, underneath which she was braless, Judi said: ‘Her eye expression glows and she works the dramatic leather coat as she soaks up the camera attention.’
Read More Blake Lively attempts to shut down drama with co-star Anna Kendrick at Another Simple Favor premiere
Judi noted that posing with a co-star is usually the time to ‘have some fun as you’re with a colleague you’ve been working with for months.’
However, that did not appear to be the case for Blake and Anna, though James pointed out that their height differential could be part of the issue.
‘Blake and Anna do have a height differential to deal with but there are few signs of relaxed and authentic fun or rapport here.’
She went on to observe that ‘their torsos adopt rigid-looking angles with no inward leaning or playful touches or movement.’
‘They also seem to lack synchronization. Standing almost face-to face the arms round each other’s backs looked self-consciously placed rather than part of a partial hugging ritual.’
Judi further examined how in some pH๏τos the stars seem to be chatting ‘but with both apparently talking at once, as both their mouths are open.’
Body language expert Judi James exclusively told DailyMail.com that the two actresses ‘lack synchronization’ as she noted an air of ‘awkwardness or self-consciousness’ about them along with ‘rigid-looking’ poses on red carpet events
Judi further examined how in some pH๏τos the stars seem to be chatting ‘but with both apparently talking at once, as both their mouths are open’
‘Blake seems to be investing more when it comes to doing the heavy lifting of looking happy and amiable,’ she said
‘It could be the pressure to visually deny rumors of some kind of a rift that is causing their un-relaxed-looking poses, but they’re not seeming to project any sense of an easy-going relationship here,’ the expert added
‘In one pose they look as though they are singing opera, with their rigid torsos and the way Anna’s mouth is opened wide as though hitting the high note while her eyes are equally wide open in what looks like a stare.’
She said earlier in the day during their morning pH๏τocall Blake used ‘an eye-smile’ as she gazed at Anna and adopted ‘an animated hand gesture to signal enthusiastic conversation.’
She concluded that the awkwardness could be caused by the pressure to visually deny rumors of some kind of a rift between them.
Blake went braless in a plunging leather tᴀsseled dress as she beamed while walking out of her H๏τel to head to the screening.
Anna kept her head down as she strutted out of the building in a glamorous black mesh dress.
The stars are currently promoting the upcoming movie sequel Another Simple Favor.
Earlier in the day, Blake and Anna looked to be in a tense exchange at the Corinthia H๏τel as they promoted the new film ahead of its launch on Prime Video on May 1.
Meanwhile fans accused Blake of pulling a ‘power move’ on Anna by wearing a pair of knee-high Chanel boots that highlighted the height difference between the two stars.
The pair were joined by fellow stars Paul Feig, Laura Fischer and Henry Golding as they posed for pH๏τos.
She said earlier in the day during their morning pH๏τocall Blake used ‘an eye-smile’ as she gazed at Anna and adopted ‘an animated hand gesture to signal enthusiastic conversation’
‘Blake and Anna do have a height differential to deal with but there are few signs of relaxed and authentic fun or rapport here,’ she added
Judi noted that posing with a co-star is usually the time to ‘have some fun as you’re with a colleague you’ve been working with for months’, but Blake and Anna appeared more ‘awkward’
The stars are currently promoting the upcoming movie sequel Another Simple Favor
It comes amid swirling rumors of tension between Blake – who has also been locked in a legal battle with It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni – and Anna ahead of the A Simple Favor sequel.
Its South By Southwest premiere last month was overshadowed by controversy including a protestor brandishing a ‘Justice for Justin Baldoni, Blake lied’ sign and a seemingly icy reunion with Anna.
The pair have reunited for the much-anticipated film, which follows Stephanie Smothers (Anna) and Emily Nelson (Blake) as they ‘head to the beautiful island of Capri, Italy, for Emily’s extravagant wedding to a rich Italian businessman,’ per IMDB.
The leading stars have been hit by rumors of a ‘secret feud’ after reuniting on set – five years after the original movie came out.
Proving that the PR disaster of It Ends With Us is far from over, a woman was seen wearing a shirt that said ‘Blake lied’ and holding the opinionated sign, as the star walked the red carpet nearby.
To make matters worse, there were more excruciating moments as Blake’s co-star Anna had an awkward response to a question about working with her on the film.
‘Oh you know…’ Anna cryptically said on the red carpet when asked what it was like to work with Blake again.
There were also no pH๏τos of Blake and Anna posing solo together, aside from a picture with their director.
The film’s South By Southwest premier last month was overshadowed by controversy including a seemingly icy reunion with co-star Anna
It was previously reported that Anna is less than thrilled that her co-star’s legal drama is overshadowing their film, which will begin streaming on Prime Video staring May 1
It was previously reported that Anna is less than thrilled that her co-star’s legal drama is overshadowing their film.
Inside the event, the stars were pictured awkwardly standing next to each other, with Anna holding her head down as she listened to the Gossip Girl star speak.
A source told People: ‘The comments on Instagram have upset her, especially the ones saying fans are now refusing to watch the movie because they don’t want to support Blake.’
They further explained that the Pitch Perfect star is ‘not used to being caught up in any drama’.
The timing is a publicity nightmare for the movie, which will no doubt be over shadowed by Blake’s ongoing legal drama with her It Ends With Us co-star Baldoni.
Lively accused Baldoni of Sєxual harᴀssment and orchestrating a smear campaign against her in a lawsuit filed in December while Baldoni accused Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, 48, and publicist Leslie Sloane of defamation and extortion in a $400 million suit filed in February.
Baldoni has denied the allegations from Lively, while Lively, Reynolds and Sloane have denied the accusations made by Baldoni.
Baldoni’s team has also released a website which includes private communications such as text messages that were included in court filings detailing his interactions with the Hollywood power couple over the making of romantic drama.
Blake filed a Sєxual harᴀssment lawsuit in December against Justin Baldoni, who also co-starred in the hit romantic drama It Ends With Us; they are seen on set in 2024
He claimed in court filings they made efforts made to usurp and undermine his input as the director of It Ends with Us.
After Prime Video released a promotional post for Another Simple Favor on February 5 – a number of commenters implicated that Lively might have tried to ᴀssert her influence over director Paul Feig, 62, over that movie, leading the filmmaker to respond to the speculation.
Amid Baldoni’s claims that Lively and her inner circle used their considerable clout to commandeer changes to the script – even enlisting Taylor Swift to lean on him at one point – and re-cut the motion picture, a user asked in the comment section, ‘Is it Paul Feig’s cut or Blake’s cut?’
Feig – whose other cinematic credits include 2011’s Bridesmaids, 2016’s Ghostbusters and 2024’s Jackpot! – made clear he had full creative control over the film, replying, ‘It’s my cut. There is no other cut … just wanted to clear that up.’