MIAMI - Emma Roberts and Tom Hopper star in "Space Cadet," the new Prime Video film about a girl who does everything she can to get a job at NASA. This innovative romantic comedy has several surprises for the Latin audience, the main one being a special appearance by Sebastián Yatra.
The Colombian artist's presence in the film, written and directed by Liz Garcia, is part of his efforts to expand his artistic career by incorporating acting. This isn't Yatra's first time in a streaming production; in 2022, he starred in the Netflix series "Érase una vez, pero ya no."
Though his role in "Space Cadet" hasn't been widely publicized and brings an unexpected smile to Latin audiences, the most incredible part is that none of the actors in the scene with him knew who he was. This includes Roberts and Poppy Liu, who plays her best friend. The actresses, along with Hopper and Garcia, spoke with The Latin Times about their characters, the film, and, of course, Yatra.
Emma Roberts and Sebastián Yatra's Encounter
"When I saw him, I thought he was a very handsome guy, but he never mentioned he was a global pop superstar," revealed Roberts, who plays the lead role of Rex. "When we filmed the scenes, he was so down to earth and sweet. It was only after we hung out the entire day that we found out he's a major pop star," said Roberts.
"We just thought he was a hottie. And then we were like, wait, you're a huge pop star singer. So, yeah, he was really cool," added Liu.
@marcovanni10 Este 4 de julio se estrenará SpaceCadet, 🚀 la película en que participó #sebastianyatra🕺#éraseunavez @sebastianyatra #viral #fyp #perte #parati
♬ suono originale - Marco Vanni
The Story of Space Cadet
In Prime Video's Space Cadet, Rex has always dreamed of becoming an astronaut, but her life doesn't follow the path needed to sustain this dream. However, things take an unexpected turn when her best friend, Nadine, "helps" with her resume, and she is somehow accepted into the NASA space training program.
Although Roberts insisted that she never went "creative" with her resume to book a gig - "I have been acting since I was nine years old. It was impossible," she joked.- she did recommend to aspiring actors always to say they have all the skills needed for a part.
"Always say yes. You will have time later to prepare," Roberts said.
"The idea for the movie came to me a few years ago when there were a bunch of articles about NASA having its first class of astronaut candidates, which was 50% male and 50% female. I became interested in what it took to be one of those women. The more I read, the more impressed I was with how accomplished these women had to be, even to have NASA consider letting them try to be astronauts," Garcia explained.
"I liked the idea of seeing accomplished, competitive female characters. I felt like we hadn't seen that, and we hadn't seen a space movie encouraging girls and women to go to space like the boys had. I wanted it to be our time," expressed Garcia.
A Hot Nerd
For Hopper, whose next project is the fifth season of "Umbrella Academy," the role of Logan O'Leary was an opportunity to explore a man who changed radically because of his job.
"I needed to find what Logan was outside of just the nerdy bookie director of operations. Who is this guy? I landed on the idea that he was a party animal once. He probably had this other side of himself and has become rigid because of the job. So many people get trapped in what the job means, and the job becomes their identity. They lose themselves a little bit, and I think that's what happened to Logan. Then Rex is the catalyst that brings back the fun side of Logan that was buried deep inside. That's what I love about these kinds of relationships in movies—you can play with how people bring out the best in each other," Hopper said.
Produced by Jon Berg and Greg Silverman, with Emma Roberts in her first movie as executive producer, "Space Cadet" will premiere globally on Prime Video on July 4, 2024.
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