Sophie Thatcher could star in ‘Mr & Mrs Smith’ after Billie Eilish turned down role
Yellowjackets’ Sophie Thatcher is in talks to star in season two of Prime Video’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith.
As reported by Deadline, Thatcher is in negotiations to join the show alongside Anora’s Mark Eydelshteyn, with them potentially set to play the titular pair of spies posing as a married couple.
The news comes after Billie Eilish was rumoured to have been approached for the role, also reported by Deadline, but her casting was never confirmed.
Prime Video’s serialised adaptation of the 2005 Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie movie was created by Donald Glover and Francesca Sloane.
Glover and Maya Erskine (who replaced Phoebe Waller-Bridge) starred in the first season as John and Jane Smith, aliases under which they pretended to be spouses and take on high-risk espionage missions, before ending up developing feelings for each other.
It’s thought that the new stars for the second season will take on brand new Jane and John roles, rather than replacing Glover and Erskine, with the show taking an anthology approach and bringing in new leads each season.
Season one’s finale ended with Glover and Erskine’s John and Jane trying to fight their way out of a shootout, and didn’t make it clear whether they survived or not – meaning they could potentially reprise their roles. Glover is confirmed to be returning as executive producer for the second season.
Mr. & Mrs. Smith received a three-star review from NME, with David Renshaw writing: “Though they lack the red-hot chemistry of Pitt and Jolie, the relationship between Glover and Erskine feels genuine. An episode midway through finds them free of their murderous day job and able to just hang out.
“It almost feels like a shame when the covert missions come back into play. And therein lies the problem with the new Mr. & Mrs. Smith; fans of both Atlanta and Pen15 have seen this couple do much more personal, unique and intriguing work elsewhere. In comparison, this all feels a little cold-blooded.”
Thatcher can currently be seen playing young Natalie in season three of Yellowjackets, the Paramount+ series about a group of girls whose plane crashed in the wilderness in the ‘90s, forcing them to turn to cannibalism to survive. Told across two timelines, it also follows the characters in the modern-day, and has a distinctive theme song. The new season has received mostly positive reviews from critics.
The actor also hit the big screen recently with sci-fi-thriller Companion, in which she stars as “emotional support robot” Iris opposite The Boys’ Jack Quaid, and A24 horror Heretic, where she plays a young Mormon missionary who falls afoul of Hugh Grant’s Mr Reed.
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Sophie Butcher
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