Director Lorene Scafaria on Hustlers, motherhood, and letting Cardi B improvise

One of the fall’s most anticipated films, Hustlers is the kind of flashy, based-on-a-true-story drama that should pique the interest of moviegoers exasperated with franchise fare. Adapted from “The Hustlers At Scores,” a New York Magazine piece written by journalist Jessica Pressler, writer-director Lorene Scafaria helped make this a can’t-miss movie of the season by assembling a cast that includes Jennifer Lopez and Constance Wu, and the film debuts of chart-topping musicians Lizzo and Cardi B. What more could you possibly want from a movie? When we recently sat down with Scafaria, she told us about the joys of bringing this talented group of women together, and explained how motherhood became the thematic thread that connects Hustlers to her previous feature, 2016's The Meddler.