The Secret Headquarters Cast Talks Super Powers and Superhero Lair Must-Haves
What if you found out your dad was hiding a super heroic secret? That’s what happens to Charlie Kincaid (Walker Scobell) in Secret Headquarters when he finds out his dad Jack (Owen Wilson) is really his favorite superhero The Guard, protecting the world with the help of alien technology. Pop Culture Planet spoke with the cast at the Secret Headquarters red carpet premiere in New York City.
Michael Peña opened up about what encouraged him to join the cast of Secret Headquarters as the evil Ansel Argon. “I got one big reason. His name is Roman Peña. He’s my kid. We watch a lot of movies. I grew up with not a lot of money, but one thing me and my mom and my dad and my brother would always do is we would go watch movies every Sunday. We kept that tradition alive,” said Peña. “I became an actor somehow and [my son] loves movies. We love watching them together and so, of course, I want to be in movies that he actually watches.”
Jesse Williams got to embrace being a kid again with all this epic tech and gadgets they got to play with on set. “It was really fun to do something that I know my kids will enjoy watching. It brings out your inner child being on that set with all these devices and gadgets,” he gushed. “This is what my younger self would have thought was so awesome and you can live out all these creative aspirations. It made me feel like I was in a summer camp or amusement park.”
Jessie Mueller shared what it was like working with this exciting cast. “Oh, it was a gas from the beginning! Everybody just had such a good time. We were all down in Atlanta,” she said. “The kids are the star of this thing […] and Owen [Wilson] was a treat from the beginning. It’s just a fun family film.”
Both Williams and Momona Tamada discussed the most challenging parts of working on Secret Headquarters. “We did a lot of tactical arms training, weapons training, so I could lead this team throughout rooms, clear rooms, learn how to carry yourself in the way these paramilitary folks would. That was a fun challenge because it was pretty specific. You had to get it right,” said Williams, while Tamada shared: “I found the stunts really fun. The part that I found a challenge was Maya’s […] dialogue. It's very different from how I would talk in real life. It's a lot more complex […] so learning all these military terms and everything like that was definitely a bit of a challenge.”
Williams also opened up about the duality of his character Sean Irons. “When I read [the script], I thought it was the most interesting role for me to play because you do have a villainous appearance, but I'm not a villain to myself. I'm somebody who worked really hard when nobody else believed in me on verifying that this [alien technology] existed and I was right. I tracked it down and I walked up to it and it went to somebody else. I wanted all that energy for the world. To solve world hunger and to help people,” he said. “Instead some other guy used it and kept it to himself. Irons just wants to solve that problem. He wants to complete the mission. That doesn’t feel villainous to me. Some people might have to get knocked out of the way in the process and I think that’s why I find the third act, the ending, so interesting. It comes full circle.”
Muller hopes young people connect with the powerful messages of family in the film. “I hope that people feel like this is a real family and a real mom and a real dad trying to do the best they can. It's not perfect and things didn't turn out the way they wanted to necessarily, but I hope people relate to that,” she said. “Everybody makes mistakes, kids, parents, all of it, but it's about holding on to each other and supporting each other [and] loving each other.”
Secret Headquarters is streaming on Paramount+. See more from the premiere, below:
