Maya Erskine is trading her bowl cut and rolling backpack for a Glock and a bulletproof vest. The actress, who is best known for co-creating and starring in the Hulu comedy PEN15, will be starring opposite Donald Glover in Amazon’s Mr. and Mrs. Smith series.
Glover casually dropped the news on Thursday in a bizarre interview with himself (???) for Interview magazine. It was a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it slip of self-promotion in an otherwise seemingly pointless interview in which the Atlanta creator asks himself questions like, “What do you think of ‘cancel culture?’” to which he replies, “Yuck. Can we not?” as if he isn’t in full control over what he and himself chat about. Of Erskine’s casting, Glover said, “She’s dope. It’s exciting. I really love the show. I’m writing the finale now.”
Mr. and Mrs. Smith is a remake of the 2005 Doug Liman action film of the same name. That version starred Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt—arguably the two most attractive people walking the Earth in 2005, but we digress—as a suburban married couple who learn that they’re both assassins working for rival firms who have been contracted to kill each other. Famously, it was also the movie that birthed Brangelina (the most iconic celeb couple name, rivaled only by Bennifer), providing months of tabloid fodder as rumors swirled that Pitt was cheating on America’s sweetheart, aka Jennifer Aniston, with his co-star.
Erskine is set to step into Jolie’s stilettos as the Mrs. Smith to Glover’s Mr. Smith. Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge was initially cast as the female lead but left the project last year because of unexplained creative differences. She and Glover first revealed plans for the remake in 2020, conceived by Glover and with Waller-Bridge on board to star and executive produce. According to Glover’s Interview interview, the two remain on friendly terms. Waller-Bridge, for her part, has a massive deal with Amazon said to be worth around $20 million a year, and will next be seen in 2023’s Indiana Jones 5.
The role of Mrs. Smith is a far cry from Erskine’s character on PEN15, in which the 34-year-old and her co-creator/co-star Anna Konkle play painfully awkward middle schoolers alongside an ensemble of actual child actors. Erskine is brilliant in her devotion to the bit, nailing the self-consciousness and shame of being 13 with a performance that perfectly straddles the line between humor and heartbreak. We suspect it’ll be great fun to watch her tackle something so different with Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
