Why Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence couldn't say no to Netflix comedy 'Don't Look Up'

It's the end of the world as we know it, and on a recent afternoon, Jennifer Lawrence, Leonardo DiCaprio and director Adam McKay are feeling fine.

Speaking with The Times over Zoom from New York, where they were promoting the star-studded end-of-the-world dark comedy "Don't Look Up," the three were in good cheer as they contemplated the potential future extinction of life on Earth. Such is the cognitive dissonance of these times — and of "Don't Look Up."

Currently playing in theaters and set to hit Netflix on Dec. 24, "Don't Look Up" stars Lawrence and DiCaprio — along with a panoply of stars, including Meryl Streep, Jonah Hill, Cate Blanchett and Tyler Perry — as a pair of obscure astronomers who discover that a comet is on track to destroy the Earth in just six months. Overwhelmed by the enormity of what they've learned, the two set out to warn a world that really isn't equipped to handle such bad news.

Using the familiar cinematic premise of an impending asteroid impact as