Secret Headquarters' Michael Peña And Jesse Williams Describe The Moment Owen Wilson First Came To Set - Exclusive
It might be one of the best feelings in the world when your Hollywood heroes meet your expectations. And when it comes to Owen Wilson, his castmates describe the actor as just as chill as you might expect based on his usual on-screen demeanor. Despite being renowned in the Hollywood world, Wilson is about as humble as they come, and he brought that energy with him to the "Secret Headquarters" set.
Finally, we're seeing Wilson in a true superhero capacity, and the actor took his duties quite seriously. Wilson plays Jack in the film — a superhero in the traditional sense, but a less than super dad to his kid Charlie (Walker Scobell). As Jack tries to remedy his relationship with his son (while trying to save the world), Captain Irons (Jesse Williams) and Argon (Michael Peña) try to destroy it. Though the actors have quite a rivalry going in the film, their off-screen relationship couldn't be further from that vibe.
During an exclusive interview with Looper, Jesse Williams and Michael Peña described the iconic moment Wilson came to set and gushed about how cool the actor is behind the scenes.
A superhero on and off the set
Owen Wilson has a larger-than-life personality on screen, but it turns out that his off-screen persona is no different. Michael Peña recalled Wilson's introduction, saying, "The first time, he made such a big entrance. People ask me, 'What is Owen Wilson like?' I'm like, 'Exactly the way you think he's like.'"
While everyone tends to say "Don't meet your heroes," it's always nice when someone people look up to is just as lovely as fans would have guessed. "He comes in, he's got such a distinct voice, and you catch yourself watching him, and you're like, 'Wow, that's Owen Wilson doing his thing, dude, and he's really good. Wow, this is amazing,'" Peña added. "I'm a huge fan [of] 'Bottle Rocket,' 'Rushmore,' 'The Royal Tenenbaums,' and those kinds of movies."
The fun with Wilson didn't stop on set, though. Peña noted, "Going to Topgolf with Owen Wilson, you're like, 'What? This is insane. This is awesome.'" If these guys ever need a plus one to their golfing shenanigans ...
It isn't just Peña that Wilson charmed. Jesse Williams parroted Peña's sentiments. "He's a great guy, a really great guy off set, and being able to be on set with him and watch him do his thing, like Michael said, it was one of the 'aha' moments: 'Oh, wow. We're really doing this — in a cool environment,'" Williams said. "I wouldn't expect my first time working with Michael Peña or Owen Wilson would be in this style of movie, with this great group of kids where it's such a combo of genres. It all was a pretty, pretty brilliant assembly."
"Secret Headquarters" is now streaming exclusively on Paramount+.