In space, no one can hear you scream – or so the “Alien” tagline goes. But what happens if the source of that scream comes to Earth?
It’s been more than 45 years since Ridley Scott set a new standard for science fiction and horror with “Alien.” Numerous sequels and crossovers with the “Predator” films later, and it’s clear that life cycle of the xenomorph is far from over. “Fargo” creator Noah Hawley has taken on the challenge of grounding the storied film franchise with FX’s upcoming series “Alien: Earth.”
“If you have a story about monsters coming to Earth, the question is, ‘Will humanity survive?’ And the next question is, ‘Well, does humanity deserve to survive?'” Hawley, joined by executive producer David Zucker, told reporters at a screening of the series’ first episode in West Hollywood in May.
“It’s one of the interesting features of the movies — especially Jim Cameron’s movie, where he has that line from Sigourney [Weaver] to Paul Reiser where she says, ‘I don’t know which species is worse. You don’t see them f**king each other over for a goddamn percentage.’ So this idea about humanity and the terrible things that we do to each other, it really opened my mind as to the types of horror that would populate the show — not just body horror or creature horror, but also the moral horror of what people do.”
The series imagines a future Earth where Weyland-Yutani is vying for control of the world, split among four other corporations. One of the strategies is through a race to create immortality. While Weyland-Yutani has sought its answer in space and its aliens, an upstart company named Prodigy has created a hybrid being by transferring the consciousness of a child into a synthetic, suped-up adult body.
“I thought about the moment at the turn of the 20th century where you had Edison and Tesla and Westinghouse, and you weren’t sure who was going to control electricity,” he said. “So I thought if we had that kind of moment in which it’s a contest between cybernetic enhancements and AI and transhumanism, and like any technology race – you don’t remember who the competitor to Xerox was, right? So that was exciting to me, to explore that.”
Zucker, who’s also the Chief Creative Officer of Scott Free Productions, added, “This is the first adaptation of any film that Ridley has done that we’ve ever undertaken. And in all candor, we were approached many times; there was no interest on our behalf. . . . Ridley was really, I think, enthralled by being able to relaunch the franchise, and he’s excited about the extension of it, but it really required somebody who could take the essence . . . and find a way to take viewers on an entirely different experience.”
Although plot-specific spoilers are off the table, check out a few of the surprises that Hawley was able to address at the premiere screening:
1. A “White Lotus” connection
(HBO) Tayme Thapthimthong as Gaitok on “The White Lotus”
Gaitok, is that you? Imagine my surprise when I looked up at the screen and saw the man, the myth, the really lousy “White Lotus” security guard himself in “Alien: Earth.” In the series, actor Tayme Thapthimthong plays one of the soldiers who’s called in when the USCSS Maginot spacecraft crash-lands on Earth.
“I really loved working with him,” said Hawley. “His work was split up just because of the strikes. He did the bulk of his work pre-strike, and then when he came back, in that interim, he was cast in ‘White Lotus’ in a much larger role. And I don’t know if you noticed for [my series], he had a mohawk, and he did not have a mohawk on ‘White Lotus.’ I had a lot of conversations about his hair because obviously we need to have continuity. And so that’s why, at a certain point, he never takes his helmet off.”
Thapthimthong’s casting makes sense since the series was filmed in Thailand, where he had lived and served in the Royal Thai Army.
2. The care and feeding of stomach-turning aliens
(FX) “Alien: Earth” poster
Noah Hawley understands that one of the scariest aspects of the xenomorph is its smile. “I just have a point of view,” he said. “With the xenomorph pointy teeth or flat teeth, I’m like, ‘Oh, flat teeth is so much worse.’ First of all, it gives a weirdly human smile. And second of all, that’s gonna hurt much more than the pointy teeth.”
“My hope is that people who watch the show will never do anything comfortably again.”
Pondering extraterrestrial dentition is just one of the byproducts of working on the series for more than five years. Hawley has had to become the xenomorph expert now that he’s tasked himself with transporting it to our planet.
“Certainly in the films that I reference, which is mostly the first two films, we never really see these creatures within an ecosystem, right?” he said. “They’re always sort of an apex predator existing in a space with no other wildlife, really. And I was interested in that idea of if you’re going to bring these creatures to a terrestrial environment, how are they going to change it? How are other creatures, bugs and any of it going to interact with them?”
The Maginot is a science vessel that has collected alien samples though, and that means the xenomorph is not the only creature that’s made it to our planet. This was another piece of the puzzle when it came to maintaining the horror and ick factor from the original movie.
“The thing with the creatures, it’s like, is it the same?” said Hawley. “Is the repulsion hitting me in the same place, or the anxiety or the dread of it? One of the things that you can never reproduce in an audience that has seen an ‘Alien’ movie is the feeling you had the first time you saw the life cycle of this creature in that first film.
“But I can’t do it with these creatures, so let’s introduce new creatures where you don’t know how they reproduce or what they eat, so that you can have that ‘I’m out’ feeling multiple times a week,” he continued. “Some of it is just what’s the worst thing I could think of, and that’s the fun of it – if you’re a person who thinks this kind of stuff is fun. It’s not just what’s the design of the creature and who do they kill and what do they eat? But then you have the opportunity of [asking] how do they reproduce, and that’s gonna be gross.”
Gross might be an understatement. It appears that Hawley is aiming for all-out revulsion.
“With what we call the ticks, specifically, that are featured in this hour, I will be adjusting the design until they tell me I absolutely can’t do it anymore, because it’s every element of it, from the skin texture to sound design,” he said. “It all goes to the ‘get into your nightmares’ part of it. Mostly, what my hope is that people who watch the show will never do anything comfortably again. They’re like, ‘Should I eat that? I should probably pick that piece of bread up and look what’s under it.'”
Mission accomplished if Zucker is any gauge. “I only have so much stomach capacity,” he admitted. “There are certain things I cannot watch anymore, and I hope he doesn’t go too much further, but I can say firsthand that he accomplished it far beyond anyone’s expectation.”
3. Following in Ripley’s footsteps
(Patrick Brown/FX) Sydney Chandler as Wendy in “Alien: Earth”
The first hybrid from Prodigy’s research facility is Wendy (Sydney Chandler), who has the manufactured body of a robot but retains her human consciousness that was transferred from her own childhood body. Hawley always knew he wanted his central character to be a woman.
“It was never a question. I always saw ‘Fargo’ as a female franchise because of Frances McDormand, and ‘Alien’ is the same because of Sigourney. There was never a moment where I thought, ‘Oh, the lead of “Alien Earth” should be male.’
“And the question is if you take a girl and you put her into this synthetic body, is she going to choose human or other? It becomes about the push/pull between why be human if this is what humans do to each other? But there’s such a beauty to the human experience. So that’s the tension that I feel like elevates it above just who lives and who dies.”
4. Timothy Olyphant as you’ve never seen him before
(Patrick Brown/FX) Timothy Olyphant as Kirsh on “Alien: Earth”
Timothy Olyphant plays Kirsh, Wendy’s guide and mentor, who is difficult to read. Sure his shock of white hair (and matching eyebrows) feel a little off, but there’s something else afoot. Turns out that Kirsh is an android, known as synths in the “Alien” universe. This marks the second time that Olyphant and Hawley have worked together after the actor appeared as a Mormon U.S. Marshal in “Fargo.”
“When we were shooting that fourth season of ‘Fargo,’ I said, I think I have something for you that’s very different, the sort of android of the ‘Alien’ world – from Ian Holm to [Michael] Fassbender,” said Hawley. “The funny thing about the movie ‘Alien’ is that you don’t suspect that Ian Holm is an android. You just think he’s British, so there’s that element to it where there’s something erudite or aloof about many of the androids.
“And I thought Tim’s Americanness was really interesting to put into that role, and just like with Jon Hamm, I thought, ‘Oh, there’s a constitutional sheriff in there. There’s a dark character in this leading man.’ I felt with Tim, I’d love to see what he does, because he can be so still in general. One of the other things I love about him is he plays both sides of the moral spectrum, and where he’s most interesting is when you’re not sure which one he is. Like, is he a good guy or a villain? We definitely explore that in this season.”
5. A very personal cameo
(FX) “Alien: Earth” creator Noah Hawley on the set in Thailand
As if Gaitok weren’t enough of a surprise, another unexpected but familiar face also shows up in the premiere. As Wendy recalls her childhood, we see flashes of memory that include a brother, CJ (Alex Lawther), and a father who’s played by . . . Noah Hawley. The series creator insists that he didn’t initially intend to take on that role.
“I’ve never done it before. It was not my goal,” he said. “I have this maxim where I always talk about trying to combine maximum creativity with maximum efficiency. My son had asked if there was a role for him. . . . I wanted to see this brother/sister relationship. I wanted a flashback. But I wasn’t going to write scenes for it, because I just wanted the emotional feeling of it.
“And so I thought, ‘OK, well, he could play Alex at a young age, but then what am I going to do? I’m going to cast some day player to come in [to play the father]? He’s never acted before. . . . And I was like, it’s just easier if I do it, if I get down on the floor with him and improvise, and I can make him relax. And so in some ways, it felt like the best way to direct him was just be there with him. There was something nice and metaphorical about being my lead actor’s parents, like I’m the dad. So no, don’t look for a lot of me in the show, but I was trying to create an emotion and something that really felt lived in and authentic, and so that’s how that came about.”
FX’s “Alien: Earth” will premiere on Tuesday, Aug. 12, with the first two episodes available to stream on Hulu at 8 p.m. ET and on the FX linear channel at 8 p.m. ET/PT, and on Disney+ internationally.
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