[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Role Play.]

The Big Picture

Kaley Cuoco loved being an action star in ‘Role Play’ and wants to do more of it. The chemistry between the married couple at the center of the story was crucial in making the movie work, and it came naturally between Cuoco and Oyelowo. David Oyelowo enjoyed the comedy that came with playing this character and will continue to do more of it with his upcoming Apple TV+ series ‘Government Cheese.’

The action flick Role Play, available to stream on Prime Video, follows a seemingly ordinary suburban married couple who split their time between careers and their kids, but who find themselves spending less time with each other and in need of spicing things up. Reality is quite often not what it seems and in actuality Emma (Kaley Cuoco) is a deadly assassin for hire, which is a detail Dave (David Oyelowo) was unaware of until some revelations come to light. While Dave continues to learn things about his wife, including how useful her skills can be, Emma’s double life shakes up the complacency that’s become all too familiar.

During this interview with Collider, co-stars Cuoco and Oyelowo shared a laugh about their character dynamics and talked about the fun of playing a badass mom, the importance of the chemistry between their characters, a particularly memorable improvised line, the meta nature of their role-playing date night, and how Emma would feel about teaming up with any of Cuoco’s previous characters (i.e. Cassie from The Flight Attendant or Ava from Based on a True Story). Cuoco also revealed what she’s doing next while Oyelowo gave a bit of insight into his upcoming comedy series Government Cheese and said he’s now inspired by his co-star to do more comedy.

Role Play Emma has a wonderful husband and two kids in the suburbs of New Jersey. She also has a secret life as an assassin for hire, a secret that her husband Dave discovers when the couple decide to spice up their marriage with a little role play. Release Date January 12, 2024 Director Thomas Vincent Rating R Runtime 100 minutes Writers Seth W. Owen

Kaley Cuoco Said She Loved the Opportunity to Be An Action Star in ‘Role Play’
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Collider: Kaley, you’re kind of an action star in this. Is that a title you feel with? Do you want to do even more of that?

KALEY CUOCO: Yes, I’m totally addicted. That was one of the things I loved about this, to have an opportunity to play something that way and do some choreographed fight scenes and play a badass, but at the same time, play a mom. It was really enticing. I loved that element.

David, you get to do a lot of fun stuff in this too. What was the moment for you that you were most looking forward to shooting and that was the most fun?

DAVID OYELOWO: The moment when my character Dave decides he’s going to save the day and just how clueless that is, but it’s a typical guy thing to do. He hasn’t quite got his head around the fact that his wife being an assassin means she’s gonna be just fine. It’s like, “Listen, you need my help. I’m getting on a plane. I’m here for you, babe.” That, to me, was the most fun thing, just how clueless of a choice that is.

Because things get so crazy very quickly, was finding the chemistry between your characters to justify what they’re doing one of the most important things in making this work?

CUOCO: Absolutely. We had chemistry from the minute that we met. We were instant buds. We believed in the same things. He loves his family, and I love mine. There was a lot of conversation about that. We were very fun together from the start. As we shot and scenes became more lighthearted and we were bouncing off each other, it just worked. You can’t plan for that. You can put two actors together and do a million rehearsals, and it’s either there or it’s not. The same way in a real relationship, it’s either there or it’s not. We had an immediate friendship/kinship that I believe was really a big part of this movie.

OYELOWO: As actors, if you’re getting to play an extreme situation, like if your wife decides to shoot you, you’re gonna spend the rest of the movie trying to have a conversation about that while all this other stuff is happening. That, in and of itself, is also a fun thing to play.

David Oyelowo Revealed the ‘Role Play’ Moment That He Improvised
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David, when your character officially hears from his wife that she is actually an assassin, his reaction is, “Oh, jeez,” which just struck me as so funny. Was that always his scripted response? Did you ever shoot a more extreme reaction to that?

OYELOWO: No, that was an improvised line and I think that’s probably what I would say. “Oh, jeez.” It’s a very Canadian response. How do you respond to that? It just seems so crazy, which of course, it is. That was one of the things that was fun to have on the set. We would do that version, we would do a more grounded version, we would do a bigger, more comedic version, and we just trusted Thomas [Vincent], our director, to go into the edit and find the tone of the film.

How did you feel about this guy choosing Jack Dawson as his role-playing alter-ego? Was that your suggestion? Did you try making other suggestions?

OYELOWO: That was always on the page. But of course, it’s a lot of fun. That scene in the bar, those moments, was another really fun thing to play because it’s two actors playing a married couple, and the couple are playing alternates to themselves within a movie. The meta nature of that was a lot of fun to play, and it just shows how bad Dave is at the whole thing, to even say Jack Dawson.

Should Kaley Cuoco’s ‘Role Play,’ ‘The Flight Attendant’ and ‘Based on a True Story’ Characters Team Up?
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Kaley, you played a character that became a CIA asset in The Flight Attendant. By the end of this movie, your character really should be in the market for a new line of work.

OYELOWO: That’s a good way of putting it.

Could you ever see Emma and Cassie team up together? Do you think they would get along? Would your Based on a True Story character be a better match?

CUOCO: Oh, my God, you’re blowing my mind right now.

OYELOWO: We know from The Flight Attendant that she can do it.

CUOCO: I would say no, that would not be a good match-up. We’ll leave each one in their respective places. But I guess I have an affinity for these types of characters and this type of ever-shifting tone.

They’re all great fun, so I totally get why you’d want to play them all.

CUOCO: Thank you.

Do you guys know what’s next for you? Do you have something lined up in the New Year?

CUOCO: I’m gonna go back to Based on a True Story for Season 2. We’re gonna start that [in 2024]. I’m really excited about that. I had a great time on that show. David has 400 films coming out, so he has a lot of junkets. He actually doesn’t know what movie we’re promoting right now.

OYELOWO: I have no idea. What’s this film again?

CUOCO: He’s very confused. He’s playing it off really well, but he’s not sure.

David, it was announced that Simone Missick will be playing your wife in Government Cheese, which sounds like an interesting series for Apple TV+. What made you want to tell that story?

OYELOWO: Government Cheese is a half-hour comedy that we’re doing, that is an irreverent, metaphysical, quasi-religious comedy. It’s another opportunity to flex that muscle. As actor, you’re just looking for all sorts of different opportunities to tell all sorts of different stories. I can’t wait to do that one.

David Oyelowo Said He’s Ready to Compete For Kaley Cuoco’s Comedy Crown
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You’re so brilliant at drama, but are you trying to lean a little bit more into comedy?

OYELOWO: I’m coming for Kaley’s crown. That’s all I care about. I’m incredibly competitive. I know that she’s this comedic icon, so I decided I’m gonna do a film with her, I’m gonna learn everything from her, and then I’m gonna apply it going forward in my career. No more Selmas in my future. It is now all Cuoco comedy.

CUOCO: He doesn’t need a lesson in anything, this guy. Not in anything, let me tell you.

OYELOWO: I’m having fun. As actors, we wanna keep bringing the changes.

CUOCO: I just wanna play the same thing, over and over again. Speak for yourself, David. You might wanna reinvent yourself, but I don’t.

Cuoco comedy should just be a subgenre now.

CUOCO: There you go! You heard it here.

Role Play is available to stream on Prime Video. Check out the trailer:

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