How Donald Glover and Maya Erskine put on the hottest affair on TV (without having an affair)

In their version of ‘Mr & Mrs Smith’, Maya Erskine and Donald Glover are an ordinary couple juggling espionage and marital troubles. Together, they chat with Annabel Nugent about marriage, deciding on the right risqué jokes – and why they would hate for anyone to watch their show just because of ‘representation’

In my sights: Donald Glover and Maya Erskine as married spies in ‘Mr & Mrs Smith’ (David Lee/Prime Video)

When it was announced that Donald Glover and Maya Erskine would star in a TV reboot of the spy romcom Mr & Mrs Smith, everyone cracked the same joke: “Careful you two!” Who could forget the affair that shook Tinseltown when Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie famously fell in love on the set of the 2005 original? (Jennifer Aniston might like to).

So, were Glover and Erskine’s partners concerned? “God, no!” Erskine cackles. The 36-year-old, best known for her funny, visceral Emmy-nominated comedy series Pen15, looks over at Glover – an Emmy winner himself and co-creator of the brilliant drama Atlanta. (He’s a Grammy winner, too, thanks to his other career making music under the stage name Childish Gambino.) In fact, they did get married (to other people) around the making of the show. “So it definitely had an impact on us both,” Erskine jokes, having asked Glover’s permission before divulging news of their respective nuptials.

The news comes as a shock concerning Glover, who at 40, shares three children with his partner of eight years, Michelle White. In 2018, he told The New Yorker he isn’t the marrying kind; the year before telling The Hollywood Reporter he doesn’t believe in marriage. Today, a newly married man, he shoots me a knowing grin that says, “What can I say?”

Watching Mr & Mrs Smith, which Glover also co-created, you can see how the show might encourage one to be more optimistic about a stuffy institution with a 50 per cent success rate. Glover and Erskine play two wannabe spies matched up in a fake marriage to complete high-flying, high-risk missions assigned by an unknown entity they call Hihi. Somewhere along the way, between the explosions and assassinations, the fake intimacy turns into something real.

Sprawled on the loveseat next to one another, the two actors have, in person, the easy rapport and comic timing of an old married couple. Glover reclines so far back on the sofa he’s practically horizontal, and on the floor are a pair of discarded black stilettos; Erskine’s bare feet are tucked beneath her on the pillow. If it weren’t for their chic, matching black outfits (Glover wears an Eighties-style bomber jacket reminiscent of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and Erskine a slim pencil skirt), the two would look ready for a cuppa and an episode of Gogglebox on the telly before bed.

It’s funny to think, then, that they were almost never together at all. It was originally Phoebe Waller-Bridge strapping on Mrs Smith’s gun holster opposite Glover. She exited the series in 2021, later saying that it had been an amicable split – the result of quote-unquote creative differences. Today, Glover calls them “process differences”. In the UK, he says, “You guys don’t have writers’ rooms. You do a lot of stuff that is singular, and Fleabag is obviously the product of a very singular experience”. By contrast, he has “been put through the comedy writing army of 30 Rock, which is based on jokes and fear a little bit, like, ‘Are you in the joke room? Are you in the story room?’” He compares his process to something like an assembly line. “Also, Phoebe had a lot going on, so that was pretty much it.”

Anyway, moving on! He’s with Erskine now. And the whole thing has worked out so well that they even talk about farting together – a big step in any relationship and one that erupts, hilariously, in the show. “It took forever for any girl I’m with to fart, or even use the bathroom,” Glover laughs. “And then when you go on vacation together, what do you do? You go in the lobby,” Erskine adds, shaking her head. “It’s a whole thing.”

Their take on Mr & Mrs Smith is worlds away from the original – galaxies even. It’s more intimate than all-out sexy; more tender than tawdry. All they share is a love of explosions and a name. Still, Glover sought out Pitt before taking on the role of John Smith. “Not for his blessing,” Glover says. “More for his take.” What did he say? “He asked what percentage he gets,” he deadpans. “Nah, but it’s always helpful to know what you’re in for and the role was personal to Brad on some level because he got married afterwards, so I just wanted to know.” Did Erskine speak to Jolie? She bursts out laughing. “Yeah, ‘Hey Angie!’” she quips. “No, I don’t have her number, but I respect and admire her work.”

Maya Erskine and Donald Glover in ‘Mr & Mrs Smith’ (David Lee/Prime Video)

Part of the reason Glover cast Erskine is because she was so different to Jolie. “There’s an appeal in having people think, ‘What the hell is this?’” says Glover. “No disrespect but if you cast Idris Elba, you know what you’re getting – and I feel like when you see us in these roles, you have no idea.” Others were interested in the part, too. Post-Phoebe exit, “there were a lot of people who wanted to be Jane”, Glover says, hiking up his eyebrows. He can’t name names because he doesn’t know if they’d be OK with that – but what he can say is they were big names. “Big,” he repeats.

The casting of Erskine and Glover feels somewhat special, too. Not to bang on about representation – a word Glover tells me he “kinda hates” – but would a Black Mr Smith and a mixed-Asian Mrs Smith have been cast 10 years ago? “Probably not,” says Erskine. Glover agrees. But both aren’t so fussed with that side of things. “I don’t want people to enjoy something because it aligns with their politics,” says Glover. “That feels gross and makes the story less fun.” Later, he adds, “I would hate it if people were watching our show for those reasons.” Erskine jumps in to say, “Those people tend to not even watch it. They’ll just be like, ‘Yay! Diversity!’ and then go back to their phones.”

Donald Glover as Earn Marks in his Emmy-winning series ‘Atlanta’ (FX Networks)

Besides, anyone watching the series for those reasons may very well be put off by its risqué jokes. Erskine and Glover routinely had conversations about whether they wanted to “go there” with certain lines, she tells me. “Not because we’re offended or anything, it’s more like: is it worth it?” – which, Glover adds, “I think is the way better conversation to be having as opposed to: is this wrong or right?”

It’s not like race doesn’t play a role in the series. Both Glover and Erskine agree it would’ve been stupid if it didn’t. “I hate that about a lot of shows where they’ll put people in there and then not acknowledge they have a race at all,” says Glover. “You know, if there’s a Black Mark Zuckerberg, it’s having an effect on stuff.” Erskine nods, “Just plop them in – like, There! Representation!”

I know how to enjoy myself and I know who I am. I don’t get as angry about things

Donald Glover on turning 40

Mr & Mrs Smith is the biggest show Erskine has ever made. And the first since she became a mum to her son Leon in 2021. “That was the challenging aspect for me, being away from my kid for that many hours,” she says. “But it was clear to me that this was a job I wanted to do because they were people I respect and admire.”

Glover also hit a milestone recently, turning 40 last year. He’s embracing it. “Man,” he sighs. “I actually feel way better, happier and cooler than I’ve probably ever felt – I know that sounds so People magazine…” But it’s the truth. “I know how to enjoy myself and I know who I am. I don’t get as angry about things.” He misses his sons a lot when he’s away for work. “They make me feel wanted, like I have a real purpose here.” Erskine nods along next to him. Besides, he beams, it’s cool that at 40 years old, he can look back at events and say, “I was there when that happened”.

Co-creators Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle as 13-year-olds in the hilarious ‘Pen15’ (Alex Lombardi/Paramount)

The man in front of me is a long way from the man who once posted to Instagram a series of handwritten notes on a hotel pad: “I’m afraid people hate who I really am. I’m afraid I hate who I really am.”

Erskine and Glover are just two newlyweds with a lot to say about love. “What feels good is when you come home and your girl has made you your favourite dinner, and you’re wearing sweats and you feel good, and comfy. Like I can be as weak as I want with you.” That’s the love on display in their show. The version you see on TikTok, those videos of “me and bae!” – that’s not a real relationship, they say. Fortunately for their partners, Mr & Mrs Smith isn’t a real relationship either – but it’s fun to watch all the same.

All eight episodes of Mr & Mrs Smith are available to watch on Prime Video on 2 February