‘My Spy The Eternal City’ Interviews: Dave Bautista, Chloe Coleman, Ken Jeong, & Kristen Schaal On Reuniting For The Spy Sequel

Dave Bautista and Chloe Coleman are more than co-stars, they’re like best friends. That was pretty obvious after 2020’s family-friendly spy comedy My Spy, in which the ex-WWE star plays JJ, a CIA super-agent who is tasked with taking care of a then-9-year-old Sophie, played by Coleman. Four years later, Bautista and Coleman are reunited for the sequel, My Spy The Eternal City, and honestly it’s like they never spent any time apart.

In the sequel, JJ is now Sophie’s stepdad, but as she’s become a teenager she is looking for more independence. That’s threatened when JJ becomes her chaperone on a school choir trip to the Vatican, where they must deal with her growing interest in boys…and a nuclear bomb plot.

I had the chance to speak with Bautista and Coleman about My Spy The Eternal City, and right away you can tell how close they are. They praise one another to the moon and can practically finish one another’s sentences. Bautista talks about how close-knit the cast and crew of My Spy are, which is why he’s always so eager to return. Coleman talked about growing up along with Sofie, having to be mean to Bautista, and the possibility of more sequels where Sofie becomes the better spy.

Along with the two leads, I also got to spend a few minutes with Ken Jeong and Kristen Schaal, who return as JJ’s boss Dave and his favorite CIA analyst, Bobbi. There are big developments in their characters this time around, and Ken and Kristen can’t stop laughing about it! This interview was a lot of fun, too.

As a huge fan of Bautista since his WWE days, it’s been wild to chart his growth as an actor. While the My Spy films aren’t the size of Dune or Guardians of the Galaxy, I think they show better than anything he’s done just how well-rounded he is. It was a blast to finally get to speak with him, and I’m only upset I didn’t get to ask him about the power bomb he does in the movie!

My Spy The Eternal City is streaming now on Prime Video.

 

Travis Hopson
Travis Hopson has been reviewing movies before he even knew there was such a thing. Having grown up on a combination of bad '80s movies, pro wrestling, comic books, and hip-hop, Travis is uniquely positioned to geek out on just about everything under the sun. A vampire who walks during the day and refuses to sleep, Travis is the co-creator and lead writer for Punch Drunk Critics. He is also a contributor to Good Morning Washington, WBAL Morning News, and WETA Around Town. In the five minutes a day he's not working, Travis is also a voice actor, podcaster, and Twitch gamer. Travis is a voting member of the Critics Choice Association (CCA), Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA), and Late Night programmer for the Lakefront Film Festival.