“Atlanta” returns after four years with a “tighter” script
Series creator and actor Donald Glover and his cast and crew present the third season of “Atlanta” after a four-year break. (25th March)
AP
Donald Glover knows he’s no Brad Pitt, and in his new “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” series, he doesn’t even try.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the actor and series co-creator talks about the atmospheric new show that “will be different for a lot of people.”
In the eight-part series, which premieres on Amazon Prime Video early next year, Glover stars alongside Pen15 star Maya Erskine. The “Atlanta” actor said he hopes to see a strong response to the series.
“You can still go back and watch the old film, but this one has a different feel. People will definitely be shocked,” he said. “I just know how much people love each other. So if everyone says, ‘Eh,’ we haven’t done a good job.”
“I hope some people say, ‘This is better than the original,’ and others say, ‘This is much worse,'” he continued.
Co-created by Glover and “Atlanta” writer Francesca Sloane, the series follows Glover and Erskine as the titular spy couple, originally played by Pitt and Angelina Jolie in the 2005 film of the same name.
The plot in the reboot is completely different and is closer to the spy thriller.
In the film, the couple realize that they are both spies working for rival agencies and have been hired to kill each other. In the series, two lonely strangers sign up for a mysterious spy agency, unaware that their new identities would be a married couple.
The arranged marriage is put to the test on high-risk missions throughout the series.
“I had never seen the film, which I know was sacrilegious,” Glover told the outlet, adding that he decided to give it a try after a producer friend acquired the rights. “I saw it and honestly said, ‘I don’t understand it.’ I mean, I understand why it’s iconic because of the people that are in it – it’s just two great people in this situation. But I didn’t fully understand the story. I called my brother and he was like, “This is just a great date movie.” It’s about boys versus girls. What else do you want?’”
Glover said he wanted a deeper look into the show that was about marriage and relationships.
“Why do people still get married? “Half of them end in divorce – what’s the point?” Glover said. “Let’s make a show that’s about relationships, but from that perspective you should focus more on what marriage really is and trust, teamwork, loneliness and all that stuff. I just wanted it to be something that resonated with people right now because in. Why do we feel lonely in a time of plenty?
Phoebe Waller-Bridge was originally set to play Mrs. Smith and serve as an executive producer before leaving the role due to “creative differences.”
Now that Erskine is in the role, she told the publication that she jumped at the chance to play a more sympathetic version of Jolie’s character.
“I tend to play characters that feel like rejections of society, and my Jane felt like it was the rejected version of Angelina Jolie,” she said. “Angelina and Brad are untouchable in the sense that you can’t recreate that, and Donald and I are just so different that it was exciting to play a couple that you might recognize as your friends or as yourself.”
But Erskine emphasizes that the series is still a spy thriller.
“You get to have your cake and eat it too, because you get to see the explosions, the chases, the fight scenes and the sex, but you also get to see the nuances of a relationship, with the fart jokes and what it’s like.” “I live with it “I’m dating someone and getting annoyed by the noises in their mouth after we’ve been together for six months,” she said.
Glover also apparently watched “The Golden Bachelor” and compared the reboot of “Smith” to the reality show.
“You watch ‘The Golden Bachelor’ and it’s a completely different show than the regular show (‘Bachelor’) – you really care about these people and because they’re older, it feels like something like that happens won’t happen again,” he said. “Sorry, I watched The Golden Bachelor last night so it’s a mystery to me, but you get what I’m saying. It’s really about their relationship and can they trust each other? That’s all there is to espionage.”
All eight episodes of Mr. & Mrs. Smith will be released on Amazon Prime Video on February 2, 2024.