Emma Roberts and Poppy Liu Talk Space Cadet, Manifesting Dreams, and Mom Friendly Set
Dreams come true in Space Cadet when a Florida party girl gets the chance to train in the NASA space program. Other candidates may have stronger resumes, but they don’t have her heart or spirit. Pop Culture Planet’s Kristen Maldonado spoke with Emma Roberts and Poppy Liu about the Prime Video movie, manifesting dreams, and having a mom friendly set.
In the film, Emma Roberts’ character Tiffany “Rex” Simpson has a dream to go to space. She has a really powerful scene where she discusses the idea that maybe our dreams are just our reality being reflected back to us. “I think about this a lot because, especially in our profession, [you’re] constantly interviewing for new jobs. There's a lot of exciting things, there's a lot of rejection. You're on your toes all the time. The perspective that I have is I believe very much the things that are meant for you are going to find you and, that if it doesn't happen, it wasn't meant for you in this lifetime. So I feel a lot of peace around [that],” Poppy Liu told me. “I don't know the big picture, but I have a lot of trust in it so I think that actually keeps me really grounded.”
Roberts agreed. “I feel the same exact way because there are times too where something doesn't make sense of why something didn't work out. Then all of a sudden, a year later, you're like, ‘Oh my God, if I had been there, doing that then this wouldn't have happened,’” she said. “There's a million examples of that through my life. I definitely think that there were certain things that I've manifested.”
When it comes to manifesting dreams, Roberts looked back on her big break leading Unfabulous. “The reason I wanted to become an actress as a kid was because I loved watching all the shows on Nickelodeon. All I wanted was my own show on Nickelodeon. I would just say that all the time and that ended up happening. Even my mom was like, ‘You know the odds of that were very, very slim. Like there were thousands of girls going up for that,’” she shared. “I just remember being so single-minded about it that I think a lot of times drive can get you further sometimes than talent. Just wanting something can get you a little bit further than other things. I always remember that when I'm really working towards something.”
Roberts called Liu a “comedic genius” and that her performance was even more impressive because she was seven months pregnant while filming. “The character wasn't pregnant initially, but then, by the time we were shooting, I was pregnant so Liz rewrote the character to be pregnant. I just felt like really cared for during a incredibly vulnerable stage of your life,” said Liu. “It seems like it's an intrinsic part of her personality. It's a lot to be seven months pregnant and on a film schedule, but the entire production was so accommodating.”
“We're all boy moms,” shared Roberts. “Poppy, Liz, and I are all boy moms so it's kind of funny. I looked around being like, ‘Oh my God, are we all moms?’ It's just so funny and it was really cool to be working on set and seeing Poppy seven months pregnant working, Liz Garcia wrote and directed the movie and has two boys that are young. I have a baby and I was like, ‘Wow, okay, look at us. I love this. I love this for us and I love this for our boys.’”
Up next, Roberts will reunite with Stampede Ventures who she worked with on Space Cadet for her next film Fourth Wall. It is a thriller about a former child star who is kidnapped and forced to recreate moments from her 90s sitcom. “Being a child actor obviously I could talk about that for a very long time, but I love the idea of taking a young woman that became famous on a sitcom and turning that into a thriller and almost genre bending that. I'm really excited for you guys to see it,” she exclaimed. “I think everyone's going to be really surprised. It's definitely very unexpected. The script is really special and very weird and I'm excited. I can't really say too much more about it because we're in the middle of doing a rewrite, but it'll be really awesome.”
Roberts continued: “I love this team. I was so excited to work with these producers again. They have great taste. [Space Cadet] was so much fun. Poppy and I had the best time. We love Liz, the writer-director, and it's a feel-good movie. I watch this movie and I'm proud to be a part of this movie. I'm excited for people to see it and watch something that's feel-good.”
Space Cadet hits Prime Video on July 4.
