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Will Shadley The Spy Next Door Interview

Jul 10, 2018

Will Shadley kicks butt alongside Jackie Chan in the new adventure movie, The Spy Next Door. Kidzworld sat down to talk to Will about nerdy characters, voiceover work and playing chess with Jackie Chan. Check it out!


The Spy Next Door is the story of a retiring CIA agent named Bob (played by Jackie Chan) who faces his toughest assignment yet when he’s brought in to watch his girlfriend’s kids. Will Shadley plays ones of those kids, the brainiac whiz, Ian. Kidzworld asked Will what it was like stepping into the character. “I like playing nerdy characters because they’re smart…and I guess I like being smart,” Will laughs. “Ian is basically a nerdy kid who becomes cool with help from Jackie (Chan)’s character, Bob.”


Revenge Of The Nerd

Playing a nerd is never easy, especially when there’s tough lines to memorize, but Will got lucky. He didn’t have to memorize “technical terms, but in one scene,” Will says, “Jackie’s character is making breakfast for us and I’m reading the stocks in the newspaper—how the market is down and everything.” Will may not understand the stock market yet—give him a break, he’s only 10-years-old!—but he is a master chess player. “I don’t know if Jackie plays,” Will says, “but I would love to have a chess match with him.”


On Jackie Chan

Jackie Chan is a great guy,” Will says. “He’s awesome, he’s really nice—everything everyone says about him and more. He helped me do the stunts—he would choreograph the scenes and he taught us some physical comedy.” You can check out Will’s moves in theaters when The Spy Next Door opens on January 15, 2010.




Will Shadley Fun Facts

  • Will has a pet bird named Sam. “He’s 21-years-old,” Will says. “He’s older than me! He can live up to fifty or one hundred years old.”
  • Will also has a dog named Roscoe—a rescue dog who’s a terrier mix.
  • Will got to meet kwlink 19709]Lucas Till[/kwlink] on the set of The Spy Next Door. “He’s a great guy,” Will says.
  • Will did voiceover work for a cartoon called Chowder on Cartoon Network. “I was the kid on the playground that everyone hates. He makes fun of Chowder—he’s basically his nemesis, but then we start to become friends.”
  • Will is a big fan of another famous Will! Will Smith is his movie idol and Men In Black is one of his favorite movies.

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