Robert Rodriguez talks about new ‘Spy Kids' family
Director Robert Rodriguez talks about “Spy Kids: Armageddon,” the latest installment of his “Spy Kids” franchise set to be released on Netflix; introducing a new family to the series; and working with celebrities like Gina Rodriguez and Zachary Levi.
Video Transcript
ROBERT RODRIGUEZ: Right now, I just know a lot of families-- a lot of parents who were kids when they came out originally. And now, they have their own kids of their own. So it's a real legacy moment for them to watch this together with their kids. And like the "James Bond" series, you can just keep bringing it back because it's a story, ultimately, about family. The mission always makes the family stronger.
But then, the spy element makes it super exciting.
- It's a spy suit generator.
ROBERT RODRIGUEZ: Wish fulfillment for kids, that they just watch it and rewatch it over and over because they want that life. Well, I wanted to re-establish just a new family. It was important to, because it had been so long, to just kind of start the franchise fresh. I've known Gina for a long time, before she was even in "Jane the Virgin". And I was just a big fan. We've always wanted to work together. She was perfect for this.
Zach, I've known because he lives here in Austin. We've been looking for something that-- he was available, she was available, and they both knew each other already. They'd already been developing something together. So they already had a chemistry. They were so anxious to finally get to work together on screen that, when they just showed up, you could tell they'd been friends a long time, jumped right into it. And it was just magic. So there, it was-- I got so lucky with them.
The reason I was always able to get a great cast was because I would get calls from actors actually saying they wanted to be in them because they had seen Antonio. They saw, like, Robert Patrick in the first one. Because they wanted something for their kids to be able to see. They didn't have any work that they could show to their kids. So a lot of the actors that show up in these are ones that have just never been able to make a movie that their kids could watch.
And their kids are like, what do you do? Well, I act. Well, can I see something? [GROANS] Not really. For this one, they could make something. So they come in all smiles and have a great time. And it's just so joyful that they can actually share it with their family. So that's how we ended up with such a great cast.
