Ken Jeong, Kristen Schaal, and Flula Borg Talk Parenthood, Romance, and Villainy In My Spy The Eternal City
Veteran CIA agent JJ and Sophie must prevent a terrorist plot while on a school choir trip to Italy in My Spy The Eternal City. Pop Culture Planet’s Kristen Maldonado spoke with Ken Jeong, Kristen Schaal, and Flula Borg about the parenthood, romance, and villainy in the My Spy sequel.
The sequel tackles the challenges of being a teenager with learning how to be a father. “JJ and Sophie's relationship, Dave Bautista and Chloe Coleman's characters, are so real and so authentic. It's a testament to their performances, especially Chloe. Chloe is one of the best actors working today. She really is the glue to the movie,” Ken Jeong told me. “They really just did an amazing job just capturing the challenges of being a teenager and then also the frustrations of a father that Dave's character was having.”
Even the cast was able to take away a new understanding of their own children. “If anything, I take away from their characters or, you know, parenthood as one gets older is all about listening and leading. [You] have to be flexible, but you also have to show guidance,” said Jeong. “Every parent and every child is different and it really is a incredibly nuanced and unique dynamic with every single kid.”
“What I loved about this movie too is that it really showed how being a parent is just having to completely change as soon as you think you've got it and you know what your relationship is with that kid and you've learned who they are. They are changing into a new phase of their journey to be an adult and you have to change too,” said Kristen Schaal. “Watching her love being a spy and then not being into that anymore, I'm like, ‘Oh, that is so relatable.’ I think any parent of an older kid watching this is going to be like, ‘Oh, this is really hitting home.’ And that's why it's going to be the number one movie.”
Meanwhile, this was a level up for Flula Borg who plays bad guy Crane. “It's nice. I've had a spectrum of villainy. I started out [in] Pitch Perfect 2. He's bad, but kind of nice and silly at the same time. Suicide Squad, I think he's bad, oh he's dead. Now it's like, oh, he's actually bad. He's actually an a-hole. Let’s see what happens,” said Borg. “It was very fun to ease my way into just full-on rudeness.”
While his character is a full on bad guy, we also get to see lighter moments, like his online dating profile. “You’re the first person to ask about that. I didn't really understand what was happening. Like, ‘hey, send us a couple of photos.’ Very vague. So I had one, a shirtless photo, and a couple of things. I didn't realize until afterwards what they were being used for,” chuckled Borg. “It was a nice surprise. I felt like I got rick rolled. It was great.”
When it comes to the potential for a third movie, they’re all in. “I think it's pretty clear that Ken and I are going to take over Hollywood. I'm sure meetings are getting set up,” laughed Schaal. “I'm hoping we would always be working together on some capacity. Maybe we have a falling out and you're trying to win me back. Maybe that's the case. I'm doing something crazy and we're trying to make each other jealous.”
“A huge wedding,” joked Jeong, with Schaal adding: “In Machu Picchu.”
My Spy The Eternal City is streaming on Prime Video.
