Donald Glover has revealed that he spoke to Brad Pitt before taking on his character in the television remake of Mr & Mrs Smith.
Pitt starred opposite Angelina Jolie in the hit 2005 action comedy about a bored married couple who learn they are assassins hired by competing agencies to kill each other.
Glover co-created the new Prime Video version, which is an eight-part series offering a somewhat different spin on the story. He also stars as John Smith, who Pitt played in the original film.
Speaking at the premiere in London, Glover joked to the Press Association: “I’m just like Brad Pitt, just like him, I think he would say that too.”
He added: “I actually got to talk to him about it. I just wanted to make a character that felt like everyman, it’s on purpose their names are John and Jane, you kind of put the character on them.
“I wanted to make somebody that other dudes could watch and relate to because I feel like the entire series is just about relationships, at the end of the day.”
Donald Glover (left) and Brad Pitt
(Getty)
Glover stars in the Prime Video series opposite Maya Erskine, who plays his wife Jane.
The series will follow two strangers who land jobs at a spy agency that offers them a life of espionage, wealth and travel – but the catch is that they will have new identities in an arranged marriage.
Reflecting on how they balanced the comedy and action in the show, Glover said: “We tried really hard to make all the jokes really just stuff that actually would happen in a relationship.
“And then all the action… the mix of the extraordinary and the ordinary, that was most of the time with us, we were just trying to make it something that was relatable.”
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Glover, who releases music as Childish Gambino, also revealed that he is not sure when he will next release a new project.
He said: “Man, I wish I knew. I really do. If I knew I would tell you right now, but I don’t. I’m just making stuff right now.”
He released his last album, 3.15.20, in 2020 and was featured on an EP titled Swarm with Ni’Jah and Kirby last year. That release featured original music inspired by another of Glover’s Prime Video projects, Swarm, starring Dominique Fishback.
Mr & Mrs Smith is set to premiere on Prime Video on 2 February.
Additional reporting by Press Association