In this episode of Girls On Film, Anna Smith talks to the creator and showrunner of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Francesca Sloane.
Mr. & Mrs. Smith is a series inspired by the 2005 film by Doug Liman and Simon Kinberg. It stars Maya Erskine and Donald Glover as two lonely strangers who land jobs working for a mysterious spy agency, and are given new identities in an arranged marriage as Mr. and Mrs. John and Jane Smith. The eight-part series explores their relationship as they take on each new mission, with an all-star supporting cast including Parker Posey, Paul Dano, Sharon Horgan, Michaela Coel and more.
In this conversation, Francesca discusses the conception of Mr. & Mrs. Smith and how she moved from being offered jobs ‘cleaning in her underwear’ in LA to being the showrunner of this series. She speaks to Anna about subverting gender roles in this reimagining of the 2005 film starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, and turning Donald Glover into a ‘Bond Girl’ figure. She also talks about the unique experience of leading a writing room made up exclusively of women of colour, and how the plot of the series came to interrogate questions of race and visibility.
Mr. & Mrs. Smith is available on Prime Video now.
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Girls On Film is an HLA production.
Host: Anna Smith
Executive Producer: Hedda Archbold
Producer: Charlotte Matheson
Audio editor: Emma Butt
House band: MX Tyrants
This episode is in partnership with Prime Video