Roundtable Interview With Joel McHale On Spy Kids: All The Time In The World

While Jole McHale may best be known for his roles on popular television shows like Community and The Soup, the actor is starting to fill his resume with some worthy film credits. One of which is the new Spy Kids film, Spy Kids: All The Time In The World.

In the film McHale plays Wilbur, the husband to Jessica Alba‘s Marissa and the father to Rowan Blanchard and Mason Cook‘s Rebecca and Cecil.

Check out the interview below as McHale talks about a number of things, including what his reaction was to the 4D, what it was like to work with Robert at Troublemaker Studios, what it was like to play Alba’s husband and more. Also, be sure to check out the audio version as well, it’s a pretty entertaining and humorous listen and also features some info on the new season of Communtiy.

Question: What’s appealing about a project like this to you?

Joel McHale: The money. [Laughs] No, it’s to work with Robert Rodriguez. To work with him is something I can check off my bucket list. So there’s that and also, the Spy Kids franchise has done very well. Also, being able to do a movie that I can bring my kids to is great. Because you know, with the films I’ve done, it’s not like my daughter is like “daddy can we watch The Informant again?” This will be great for them though, they’re going to freak out.

Question: What was your reaction the the 4D?

JM: Well I have no sense of smell, so I felt discriminated against. [Laughs] It’s amazing how Robert can do Machete and films like that but then have this whole other side of his brain that taps into what kids like. With the 4D, that brings back that 50’s movie idea of it’s not only a movie, it’s an event. You get to participate.

Robert is great. I’m very blessed to have worked with him. He knows what he wants, there’s no yelling or screaming because he knows exactly what he wants. He has confidence in the actors and he’s working on a grand scale, with all the CGI and green screen, he’s also writing the music! He’s just really mellow and cool and it couldn’t have been a better experience. He’s a genius with the way that he built Troublemaker Studios and I would love to work with him again.

Question: How was working with Jessica Alba?

JM: It was great. She was really cool and down to earth. When you’re someone as talented as she is and you’re cool and smart, that’s some sort of world leader like class you’re in. She was great to work with and really professional. We talked a lot about or kids as well and swapped stories.

Question: What about Jeremy Piven?

JM: Great. I’m a huge fan of his and I’m a huge fan of Entourage. His nieces actually live two doors down from me, so we’ll all be caravaning to the premiere tomorrow. [Laughs]

Question: And the kids, Rowan and Mason? What were they like to work with?

JM: They were really good in the movie. Without them, the movie wouldn’t have worked so well. It’s huge for them, how old are they? 9 and 11? Getting these roles is great for them! At that age I was like “this shoelace thing is a real conundrum, why can’t I just have velcro?” But ya, they were great and their parents were really cool too. I actually know the parents of Rowan, they own a yoga studio that my wife goes to.

That concludes our interview but we’d like to thank Joel McHale very much for talking with us. Be sure to check out Spy Kids: All The Time In The World, now in theatres.

Also, don’t forget to check out the audio version below for the extended interview where McHale spends a lot of time joking around as well as talking about the upcoming season of Community.