As one of Ryan Murphy’s favorite actors in his “American Horror Story” franchise, Emma Roberts was sawn in half, played a cruel witch and the last girl facing a serial killer. a cult.
When offered the opportunity to play a NASA intern who dropped out of college in rom-com “Space Cadet” appeared, she jumped at the change in tone.
“This movie feels nostalgic, in some ways, for the early 2000s, but also fresh and fun,” Roberts said in an interview.
Roberts executive produces and stars in the film, which premieres Thursday on Prime Video. She is Rex, a young woman who had big dreams of becoming an astronaut as a child, but whose adult reality took a different path. Rex is working as a bartender when she is accepted into a NASA trainee program. The film co-stars Tom Hopper, Poppy Liu from “Hacks” and Gabrielle Union.
The script reminded Roberts of “Private Benjamin” and “Legally Blonde,” and she was excited to play “the underrated female character who ends up surprising people in unexpected ways.”
It was his previous work on “American Horror Story” that made writer-director Liz W. Garcia confident that Roberts could play Rex.
“The genre itself may be horror, but she always has a wink,” Garcia said. “This is a Hollywood blonde thing and plays with this archetype. Emma was really interested in the idea of having a Goldie Hawn moment for herself, leaning into physical comedy. and something a little higher. She really was, after all, brilliant.
In a Q&A, Roberts talked more about “Space Cadet” and other topics, including being a mom to a boy, producing and her book club.
ROBERTS: Yes, I feel like we’re feeling each other the effects of strikes more now than last year, which is ironic. Between the strikes and COVID, we have been living through strange and unprecedented times. I am so grateful for the TV show I executive produce, “Tell Me Lies,” which just finished filming its second season. With “Space Cadet,” I’m excited to release something that I think will make people smile and laugh and, hopefully, feel a little inspired.
ROBERTS: I’m really excited for people to see season two. It’s more unexpected than people think. Our showrunner, Meaghan Oppenheimer, is amazing. She really took this show to a new level. With TV shows, it’s fun, especially in season two – to turn everything upside down. I think we definitely did that and I can’t wait to see people’s reactions.
ROBERTS: We love the space. Our thing is he puts on his pajamas and then we go out and look at the stars before he goes to bed, and he says, “There are so many stars.” There’s this childlike wonder about space at any age, but I don’t hear many girls saying they want to be an astronaut. I would love to hear more girls, or even young people in general, say this.
ROBERTS: My mother has a sister. I have a sister. Like, we’re all like sisters, mothers, daughters. There are so many girls out there. I was convinced I was having a girl. I was like, “I know this. It’s intuition. I’m having a girl. They said it was a boy and I thought, “Huh?” but I love it. I definitely had to improve my basketball and football skills. I was a little rusty, so I’m trying to dig deeper. I will say that I saved a lot of money on clothes as a mom to a boy, because you can just throw it into anything. I see little girl stuff and I’m like, “Oh my God.” I would be broke if I had a daughter because everything is so cute.
ROBERTS: I was really impressed with her. I’m still impressed with her. I mean, everything she does is impressive. She is a mother. She is a businesswoman and now an actress. She also has “The Kardashians,” which I watch. My jumpsuit under the dress is SKIMS, actually, if we’re being honest. I simply love her. We’re doing a show called “Calabasas” with I. Marlene King (creator of “Pretty Little Liars”), and we’re all executive producers. We’re both from Calabasas (California), which is really funny. She’s so fun. She’s up for anything, I’m so excited to work on something else with her.
ROBERTO: It’s funny. You never know when he’s going to ask you to do something – which I love about him – and then you see his name pop up on your phone and you’re like, ‘OK, what are we doing?’ It’s always a yes for Ryan. His stuff is always so inspired and the worlds he builds are uniquely his.
ROBERTS: It’s been seven years and it’s been incredible to watch the community grow. It makes me really happy when people stop me on the street and say, “Emma!” And I’m like, “What are they going to say?” And they say, “What should I read?” I love curating, even for my friends, especially in the summer or when they go on long trips. I’m like, “OK, where are you going? What is your vibration? How long is the flight? I will recommend three books for you to take.” This brings me a lot of joy.
ROBERTS: You know, I would. I thought maybe short stories or something. Maybe when I’m about 70, and I don’t care what people think, I’ll write a memoir (laughs). Yes, I would love to do something. I want to write children’s books. My mom and I talked about doing this together and I think it would be really, really fun, especially now that I have a son who loves to read.
ROBERTS: He can read “Goodnight Moon” from cover to cover, and I’m very proud. My biggest achievement so far is that he likes to read. That makes me happy.
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