Rex had always dreamed of being an astronaut, but her life didn’t take the path one needed to be NASA bound in Space Cadet. However, when her best friend, Nadine, helps her adjust her resume to better fit what NASA is looking for, Rex is unexpectedly chosen as one of the recruits for the NASA astronaut training program. Rex now has an opportunity to prove herself and, while on paper she may not be the perfect recruit, she may be exactly what NASA needs.

Space Cadet is a quirky comedy fully of heart with a message of second chances and never giving up on one’s dreams, no matter the obstacles. Emma Roberts delivers a brilliant performance as Rex with fantastic comedic timing and an unexpected heart that brings depth to the party girl that Rex initially seems to be. The cast is rounded out with phenomenal performances from Gabrielle Union, Poppy Liu (Hacks), and Tom Hopper (The Umbrella Academy). Liz W. Garcia both wrote and directed Space Cadet, with Roberts also serving as an executive producer.

Screen Rant interviewed Space Cadet writer and director Liz W. Garcia. She discussed collaborating with Emma Roberts as an actor and producer. Garcia also shared what inspired Space Cadet and why she wanted the protagonist to be an underdog hero who has an unexpected skill set that does prove her value to NASA.

Emma Robert’s Character In Space Cadet Is “Listening To This Voice Inside, And She’s Right”

Garcia revealed that an article about the first NASA astronaut cadet class that was 50/50 men and women was a key inspiration for Space Cadet. She also shared why she wanted a protagonist who dreamed of being an astronaut but hadn’t spent their life preparing to become one felt more relatable as a heroine.

Liz W. Garcia: For me, the motivation came from reading a few years ago that NASA had its first class of astronaut candidates where it was 50/50 male female. So I started to read about who do you have to be to even get to that point, because tens of thousands of people apply, and then anywhere from a dozen to six are selected to even try to be an astronaut.So I just started reading about these incredibly competitive, driven, focused, accomplished people, which is admirable and exciting and feels like you can build a comedy out of a world of those kinds of people.

But also it made me think about, what if you’re not that person? What if you don’t know from the time that you’re in high school that you want to go to the college where you’re going to get the STEM degree and then you’re going to get the higher degree? That feels like more realistic, that feels like more of us, are like that where it takes a lot to have the audacity to think, I could be an astronaut. You have to have a lot of support around you, I think, to entertain any of those crazy dreams.

I mean, it just makes me think of what I do too, is that you have to be lucky enough to have people around you going like, No, you could maybe pull that up. It’s not so crazy to think that you might go to Hollywood, blah, blah, blah. But most people don’t have that. So I liked this heroine who maybe had had that early on, but now in her life, everyone’s like, No, no, no. But she’s listening to this voice inside and she’s right.

Garcia discussed the collaboration process with Roberts as an actor and executive producer. She explained how they would push each other in order to bring out the best in each other.

Liz W. Garcia: When you get to work with someone who is as experienced, funny, smart, and savvy as Emma, you are so lucky. People think, I think that directors, they think of them in isolation, but the reality is you’re only as good as the people that you’re surrounded by.

I was surrounded by incredibly talented, inspired people, starting with Emma, who’s just a very naturally funny, witty person who understood the movie that I wanted to make, wanted to make the same movie, and then we could push each other. She could be like, Couldn’t it look more like this? I could be like, Couldn’t you be weirder like this? And then we just wound up on the same page and it was so awesome.

The Protagonist Of Space Cadet Is “Someone Who Is An Engineer, A DIY Imagineer”

Garcia shared insight into Roberts’ character Rex. She explained not only where Rex’s dream of becoming an astronaut came from, but what unexpected skills she can bring to NASA, especially as someone who doesn’t fit the usual credentials of what the agency is looking for.

Liz W. Garcia: Rex is someone who grew up in Florida watching the shuttle launches, being hugely inspired by it being told by her mother. That’s a dream that you could achieve. But then when she loses her mother, when her mother passes away, her life takes this turn, and then 10 years have gone by and she hasn’t lived up to her potential. And she has this flash of thinking, maybe I could do this, maybe I could return to this dream. But she’s got no qualifications.

So the challenge for me then was to think about, Okay, well then she’s going to get to this training program and she didn’t go to college, let alone get a master’s degree, let alone have a career in STEM. So what does she realistically bring to the table? She’s someone who is an engineer, A DIY Imagineer, that might be Disney property, but she’s making stuff all the time in her life. She knows how to envision a better mousetrap. She also, as you said, critically believes in other people.

That’s a huge part of how these astronauts get selected actually, is that they have to be people who can work with other people, support them, bring out their strengths. And though that might look like you’re not a competitive, serious person if you’re hyping everybody up all the time, that’s actually one of her superpowers, and it’s what gets her so far and gets the respect of her peers.

About Space Cadet

Rex, a Florida party girl, turns out to be the only hope for the NASA space program after a fluke puts her in training with other candidates who may have better resumés, but don’t have her smarts, heart, and moxie.

Check back soon for our other Space Cadet interviews:

• Emma Roberts & Poppy Liu
• Tom Hopper

Source: Screen Rant Plus