Emma Roberts’ new movie Space Cadet finds her training to be an astronaut, but science was not the actress’ “strong suit” in middle school.
“I remember having to do extra credit to pass seventh-grade science because cutting open the frog traumatized me,” Roberts, 33, told Us Weekly exclusively at the New York City Space Cadet premiere on Thursday, June 17. “I did not do well in that portion, and it counted for most of your grade.”
Roberts noted that she is “street smart” enough for a trip to space, but would be wary of the “science stuff.”
The actress plays the role of Tiffany “Rex” Simpson in the Amazon MGM Studios film, a Florida girl who has always had her eyes on the sky. After Simpson turns in an embellished (read: made-up) application, she gets accepted into NASA’s astronaut training program and “relies on her quick wits, moxie and determination to get to the top of her class,” per the movie’s official logline.
Roberts did undergo some real NASA training while preparing for the movie.
“I loved going in like the anti-gravity spinny thing. I don’t know what it’s called,” she recalled to Us. “My character had to be bummed out in that scene and I couldn’t stop laughing.”
While Roberts was a huge fan of the NASA aspect of the movie, her costar Desi Lydic (Dr. Stacy Kellogg) was not, telling Us that she would never go to space.
“It terrifies me. I don’t like being in elevators. I don’t like roller coasters. I’m not a thrill-seeking person,” she admitted. “I have so much admiration for anyone who would want to do that and especially the women who are entering into this field because it’s such a male-dominated space.”
In the movie, Roberts’ character focuses on making her big dreams into a reality — something she related to.
“I feel like my mom was always the one who was like, you can do whatever you want. No dream is too big, and I’m super grateful for that,” she said. “Now that I’m in my 30s and have my own son, you just have more of a sense of the reality of the world.”
Roberts explained that her mom, Kelly Cunningham, raised her “to believe that I was the best and could do anything,” which she wants to pass down to 3-year-old son, Rhodes. (Roberts shares Rhodes with ex-boyfriend Garrett Hedlund.)
“You don’t realize how rare that is until you get older,” she said.
Space Cadet premieres via Prime Video on Thursday, July 4.
With reporting by Andrew Nodell
