‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith’ series delivers the action of the original, and little more

Mr. & Mrs. Smith are back in action. The 2005 movie starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie as married spies is now a TV show, debuting Friday on Prime Video. This time around Donald Glover and Maya Erskine star as secret agents in a fake marriage.

Francesca Sloane co-created the series with Glover. She tells ABC Audio that the movie and show are similar, but different, explaining, “I feel like in terms of taking it to television, and taking sort of this very campy popcorn date movie, and really kind of leaning into the characters and the humanity and the in-between moments while still having, you know, the big iconic set pieces and whatnot, that felt like a really big swing and really challenging and really exciting to try and do.”

It’s a delicate balance Sloane thinks they managed to pull off.

“We do have really great foot chases and explosions and shoot-’em-ups and all of that,” she says. “But at the end of the day, what matters to us most is sort of the heart between these two people and their relationship.”

The female half of the spy team, PEN15‘s Erskine, is not so sure she’d make a great spy in real life.

“I’m a horrible liar, so I don’t know,” she shares. “But if I were approaching it — like, I find acting and spying to be very similar. Like, they actually have a good crossover, and you’re playing other characters and you are observing people very closely. So, maybe.”

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