Get Smart: Original Series Stars Talk About New Movie

Unless you’ve been locked in a telephone booth somewhere, you’re well aware that the new Get Smart movie is being released in theaters this week. It’s a remake of the classic spy-spoof television series that stars Don Adams, Barbara Feldon, and Edward Platt.

The new movie stars Steve Carell as Agent 86, Anne Hathaway as Agent 99, and Alan Arkin as the Chief. Others in the film include Dwayne Johnson, Terence Stamp, David Koechner, Terry Crews, Masi Oka, Nate Torrence, Ken Davitian, Dalip Singh, Bill Murray, and Patrick Warburton.

As we discussed several months ago, most of the castmates from the original series have passed away while others were either not invited to participate or opted not to.

Dick Gautier, who played Hymie the Robot, was initially going to play the President of the United States but that fell through when James Caan became available. Gautier was offer a smaller role and he opted not to take part.

Feldon was reportedly offered a role in the new movie but decided to pass as well. Though she wasn’t part of it, the 76-year-old actress has faith the movie will be a good picture. At the recent TV Land Awards, she said, “I think it’ll be interesting to see how you do that show, which was a 1960s show, and translate it into 2008. I think the cast is just spectacular, every one of them; Alan Arken as Chief, and Anne Hathaway — she’s just ideal, so lovely. And Steve Carell could be, could be Don Adams…his personality, I’m a great fan of Steve Carell.”

Bernie Kopell, who played the evil KAOS agent Siegfried in the original series, has a small part in the new film (Stamp is playing Siegfried in the movie). We asked Kopell about the movie and here’s what he had to say…

Incidentally, Kopell and Adams share a record for having appeared in five out of six incarnations of Get Smart. The late Adams starred in the original series, 1980’s The Nude Bomb feature film, the 1989 Get Smart, Again! made-for-TV reunion movie, and the 1995 spin-off series with Andy Dick. Kopell appeared in all of those except for Bomb but does appear in the new movie (albeit in a different role). Stay tuned!