![]() ![]() He originally described Minion as a nerdy scientist who turns out to be quite diabolical. He wanted to go through not exactly a storyboard, but just drawings of the different creatures and things that were going to be animated, just to give me an idea of the world of the whole thing. ![]() I think, at that point, they may have even had some of the sets built. I had read the script and then I was invited by Robert and Elizabeth, his wife who was producing, to come out to Austin. How was Alexander Minion first described to you? We had two daughters - they were, at this time, 11 and 6 - and seemed like a great opportunity to do a kids’ movie, and I was a big fan of Robert Rodriguez. I think this had to have been before I started Monk, which probably came right after this. Where were you in your life and career when this role came about? It weighs a ton, by the way, just so you know when you see it.” In light of the film’s milestone, Vulture called up Shalhoub to talk about his memories of playing a multi-limbed evil scientist. “I’m trying to get it in the right light,” he says, as he tries to take a picture. Maisel), yet Spy Kids rises to the top as a role he still treasures, as evidenced by his endearing eagerness to show off the bust of his character that he keeps at home. The beloved actor has an enviable résumé, ranging from cult films ( Galaxy Quest, Big Night) to Emmy-winning performances ( Monk, The Marvelous Mrs. Minion’s arc in the first Spy Kids culminates in him growing three extra heads thanks to his own invention, but Shalhoub plays everything so hilariously straight-faced that it only enhances the chaos around him. ![]() In a movie where its cast has to compete with the depths of Rodriguez’s wild imagination, Shalhoub remains an easy standout. Artificial thumb bodyguards? Sure, why not! The beauty of Spy Kids is that it knows no bounds. But Rodriguez’s fantastical dreamscape hearkens back to an era when four-quadrant popcorn movies could just be weird without having to explain themselves. Writing it out like that makes Spy Kids sound totally unhinged and … well, it is. On top of that, he also wants to build an army of intelligent-robot kids. The series’ first antagonist was Tony Shalhoub’s Alexander Minion, a former agent who uses a children’s show hosted by the eccentric Fegan Floop (Alan Cumming) as a front for his plan to mutate all spies into monsters so grotesque that I’m surprised I’m not still traumatized. The movie was groundbreaking for its portrayal of a Latinx secret-agent family - which Rodriguez had to convince the studio to include - and spawned a franchise that saw preteen siblings Carmen and Juni Cortez fight off a series of escalating maniacal enemies and nightmare-inducing baddies. In an anniversary that screams “Wanna feel old?,” last week marked 20 years since the release of Spy Kids, Robert Rodriguez’s candy-colored YA adventure film that made a generation of children wish Antonio Banderas was their dad. Photo-Illustration: by Vulture Photo by Dimension Films ![]()
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