In We Can Be Heroes, it's up to the kids to save the world. The followup to 2005's The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl finds the heroes all grown up, with children of their own. When the Heroics find themselves abducted by an advanced alien threat, their children must step up to save them. Under the leadership of Missy Moreno, Sharkboy and Lavagirl's daughter Guppy and the rest of the Heroics' children might just have what it takes to rescue their parents.
Speaking to CBR, Missy actor YaYa Gosselin and Vivien Lyra Blair (Guppy) shared what excites them most about writer-director Robert Rodriguez's upcoming superhero film. They explained how Rodriguez made their filming experience fun, as well as how their roles broke them out of their comfort zones. They also discussed which superpower they would want, their favorite memory from set and more.
CBR: How did it feel to become a superhero or, in YaYa's case, a super leader?
YaYa Gosselin: Honestly, so incredible and so amazing. I feel so honored that I got to experience being a leader, because I think that's definitely something that I've struggled with throughout the years. I'm definitely not the leader alpha type. So really stepping into this character was really great for me, and I just had so [much] fun with it.
Vivien Lyra Blair: I mean, wow! I honestly never thought this day would come, especially not so soon. But it's just amazing that I get to play this amazing little girl with super powers! I think it's just, even though I don't have powers, I feel like she is at least a part of me now, and I feel like expressing that is really, really fun. I had a lot of fun working on that set as Guppy.
If you could have a superpower, what would it be and why?
Gosselin: My superpower would be healing people, because I feel like right now, that's... the best power of all right now. What's so funny is that I did an interview in Austin when we were filming, and I said that, not knowing that a huge pandemic was about to hit the entire planet. So I think that's really funny that that was my opinion then, and now, I'm even more opinionated on it, because, I mean, we're in the middle of a pandemic. So I think that'll always be my answer: to heal people.
Blair: And me? To talk to animals, completely all the way. I feel like being able to sense animals is such a great feeling, and I feel like it would be even greater to be able to talk to them and figure out what they need, what they want. I think it would be really helpful.
What was your favorite memory from filming this movie?
Gosselin: There were so many! You know, with 11 kids and Robert [Rodriguez] being the director, you just have so much fun every day. You don't even feel like you're working! You feel like you're just playing around with your friends. I think that one of my favorite parts of filming was probably working with Pedro [Pascal]. There were these three days that we just got to work on all of our scenes together, just us, and so it was just me, Pedro and Robert. Those are probably some of my favorite moments from set.
Blair: And me, this one wasn't actually on set, but I think the world deserves to know it because it's hilarious. I remember me and Hala [Finley] went to the mall and bought these cat masks -- these black cat masks -- and got some paint and we painted them gold and silver. Then we put them over our faces, put these black pants and other shirts on, like dark colors, like gray and black and brown. Then we literally jumped and, mid-jump, Hala's mom took a Polaroid of us.
Then we took off the masks and stuff, and then we'd run around in the daytime, showing everyone in the picture, like, "These are the ghosts of the hotel! Can you find them?" and then later that night, we put on the masks and the outfits and ran around and would chase. We got the addresses of all the other kids in the hotel room and ran around chasing everybody throughout their rooms. Then, the next morning, they were like, "What happened to the ghosts? I thought I saw ghosts!" And then we were like, "What ghosts? What are you talking about?" They were like, "You showed us a picture of ghosts!" We were like, "What are you talking about? That wasn't us!" Then my dad would play around and give people cookies and say that ghosts did it.
Then he put the masks out and said, "You are the ghost! Whoever puts on the mask is the ghost!" And then the next morning, we pretended to throw the masks away, and so then we pretended we didn't know what you guys were talking about. So then they thought the ghosts had shaped-shifted to pretend to be us and showed us the Polaroid! That was funny.
Directed by Robert Rodriguez, We Can Be Heroes stars Priyanka Chopra, Christian Slater, Pedro Pascal, Sung Kang, Boyd Holbrook, Taylor Dooley, YaYa Gosselin, Akira Akbar, Haley Reinhart, Andy Walken, Andrew Diaz, Brently Heilbron, Hala Finley, Isaiah Russell-Bailey, Lotus Blossom, Lyon Daniels, Nathan Blair, Vivien Lyra Blair, Adriana Barraza, Brittany Perry-Russell, Christopher McDonald and Dylan Henry Lau. The film premieres Jan. 1, 2021 on Netflix.