After years of waiting and build-up, “Fargo” creator Noah Hawley’s ambitious new entry in the “Alien” franchise, FX’s “Alien: Earth,” has finally arrived. The series, which is set in the same universe as the other “Alien” films, drops viewers right into a dystopian future where Earth is controlled by a handful of all-powerful corporations and the humans who find themselves at their mercy are repeatedly subjected to reckless biological experimentation and unnecessary danger.
At the center of the series are characters with opposing interests, perspectives and goals. There are a lot of them, and they are played by actors you may or may not have ever seen before. With that in mind, here is your guide to who’s who in the new, long-awaited FX series.
Sydney Chandler as Wendy
Sydney Chandler leads “Alien: Earth” as Wendy, a young, terminally ill girl who becomes the world’s first hybrid when she has her consciousness transferred into an adult, female synthetic body.
Chandler is the daughter of “Friday Night Lights” star Kyle Chandler. She previously portrayed The Pretenders lead singer Chrissie Hynde in FX’s Sex Pistols miniseries, “Pistol,” and Olivia Siegel, a young woman who goes missing, in the first season of Apple TV+’s “Sugar.” She earned her only film credit to date when she played Violet in Olivia Wilde’s “Don’t Worry Darling.”
Alex Lawther as CJ
Alex Lawther plays CJ, a conscripted combat medic who believes his sister, Chandler’s Wendy, is dead. His entire life is changed when he and his team of soldiers are sent to investigate a crashed spaceship containing alien creatures, including at least one bloodthirsty Xenomorph.
Lawther is one of the most recognizable members of the “Alien: Earth” cast. He is best known for playing James, one of the two misfit leads of the acclaimed British black comedy series “The End of the F***ing World,” and Karis Nemik, an impassioned rebel, in Disney+’s “Andor.” His other TV and film credits include Kenny in the memorable “Black Mirror” Season 3 episode “Shut Up and Dance” and King Charles VI in 2021’s “The Last Duel.”
Timothy Olyphant as Kirsh
Timothy Olyphant, one of TV’s busiest and most recognizable actors, stars in “Alien: Earth” as Kirsh, a science-minded synthetic who takes Chandler’s Wendy and the show’s other, young hybrids under his wing. Over the course of his career, Olyphant has portrayed more than a few iconic TV roles, including trigger-happy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens in FX’s “Justified” and Seth Bullock in HBO’s “Deadwood.”
More recently, Olyphant portrayed Cobb Vanth, a self-styled marshal in “The Mandalorian” and “The Book of Boba Fett.” He also had a small, recurring role this year as Clark Ross, an unscrupulous professional golfer, in the first season of Apple TV+’s golf dramedy “Stick.”
Essie Davis as Dame Sylvia
“Alien: Earth” counts Australian actress Essie Davis among its cast. She plays Dame Sylvia, one of the head scientists responsible for both creating and overseeing the show’s state-of-the-art hybrid program. Like Olyphant, Davis is an accomplished, recognizable performer.
She is likely best known for her wrenching performance as Amelia Vanek, a widowed mother who finds herself and her son haunted by a malevolent supernatural entity, in 2014’s “The Babadook.” On the smaller screen, she had a brief but memorable guest role in “Game of Thrones” as Lady Crane, a talented actress who takes care of Maisie Williams’ Arya Stark and pays a steep price for doing so.
Babou Ceesay as Morrow
British actor Babou Ceesay stars in “Alien: Earth” as Morrow, a cyborg who is unwaveringly loyal to his employer, the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, and consequently takes it upon himself to ensure that the company receives its alien and Xenomorph specimens. Viewers will likely remember Ceesay for either his turn as the villainous Pilgrim in AMC’s “Into the Badlands” or for his performance as Martin in the 2016 ensemble crime comedy “Free Fire.”
Samuel Blenkin as Boy Kavalier
Samuel Blenkin appears in “Alien: Earth” as Boy Kavalier, the narcissistic, reckless trillionaire owner of Prodigy, one of the show’s all-powerful corporations. Blenkin does not have quite as many screen credits to his name as some of his “Alien: Earth” co-stars, but he has made appearances over the past few years in a number of high-profile shows.
In 2022, he made a one-episode appearance as Will Shakespeare in Netflix’s “The Sandman,” and he played Avallac’h in “The Witcher: Blood Origin” that same year. Since then, Blenkin played Davis McCardle in the “Black Mirror” Season 6 episode “Loch Henry” and Prince Charles opposite Nicholas Galitzine and Julianne Moore in the Starz limited series “Mary & George.”
Adarsh Gourav as Slightly
Adarsh Gourav plays Slightly, another hybrid created by Blenkin’s Boy Kavalier, who joins the group of lost girls and boys led by Wendy in “Alien: Earth.” His role in the FX series is Gourav’s most notable to date. Previously, the Indian actor portrayed Gaurav in two episodes of Apple TV+’s “Extrapolations,” Jason in “Die Trying,” Jugnu Ganchi in Netflix’s “Guns & Gulaabs” and Ankit Pandey in Prime Video’s “Hostel Daze.”
Jonathan Ajayi as Smee
Smee, a close friend of Gourav’s Slightly and a fellow synthetic hybrid, is portrayed in “Alien: Earth” by actor Jonathan Ajayi. Prior to his turn in the new FX sci-fi series, the 29-year-old English actor played Wes Harper in four episodes of the BBC original “Vigil” and Lucky in the Luke Evans-led 2024 crime thriller “5lbs of Pressure.”
Erana James as Curly
New Zealand native Erana James first garnered mainstream attention for playing Toni Shalifoe, a plane crash survivor who finds herself stranded along with a number of other passengers on a deserted island, in the short-lived Prime Video original series “The Wilds.” Now, three years after that drama was canceled, James has a recurring role as Curly, another synthetic hybrid who reveals herself to be more ambitious than she initially lets on, in “Alien: Earth.”
If you find yourself watching “Alien: Earth” and wondering where you know James from, you probably watched “The Wilds.”
Lily Newmark as Nibs
British TV veteran Lily Newmark has a role in “Alien: Earth” as Nibs, another female hybrid who was saved from her terminal illness by having her young, childlike consciousness transferred into an adult synthetic form. Outside of “Alien: Earth,” Newmark scored her first recurring screen role in 2017 when she appeared as Ryenne in four episodes of NBC’s “Emerald City.”
In the intervening years, Newmark has appeared as Ruthie in multiple episodes of Netflix’s “Sex Education” and Eve Milton in the British medical crime drama “Temple.” She also portrayed Helena Rostova in Paramount+’s Ewan McGregor-starring historical drama series “A Gentleman in Moscow” last year.
Kit Young as Tootles
Kit Young stars in “Alien: Earth” as its final hybrid, Tootles, whose scientific interests make him an eager lab partner for Olyphant’s Kirsh. Prior to his turn in “Alien: Earth,” Young caught the attention of TV viewers for his performance as Jesper Fahey in Netflix’s “Shadow and Bone.” He also played the twins Rafal and Rhian in director Paul Feig’s 2022 Netflix fantasy film “The School for Good and Evil.”
Sandra Yi Sencindiver as Yutani
Sandra Yi Sencindiver plays one of the most powerful figures in the entire “Alien” universe in “Alien: Earth.” The South Korean-born, Danish-American actress stars in the FX series as Yutani, the head of the infamous Weyland-Yutani Corporation, whose interest in the Xenomorphs has wreaked havoc since the events of the very first “Alien.”
Sencindiver has had a few noteworthy TV roles over the years. In 2024, she played Yuji Lee in the first season of Netflix’s “Geek Girl.” Her other screen credits include Enjoiner Rue in Apple TV+’s “Foundation” and Lady Amalisa in the first season of Prime Video’s “The Wheel of Time.”
Adrian Edmondson as Atom Eins
English actor, comedian and multi-hyphenate performer Adrian Edmondson plays Atom Eins, the steady right hand to Samuel Blenkin’s Boy Kavalier, in “Alien: Earth.” For his part, Edmondson has had a long, storied career.
In the 1980s, he played Vyv and Edward Didgeridoo Catflap in the British sitcoms “The Young Ones” and “Filthy Rich & Catflap.” Non-U.K. viewers, meanwhile, will likely remember him best for his roles as Denys Porlock in Netflix’s “3 Body Problem,” Lenny in HBO Max’s “Rain Dogs” and Sir Roger Hollis in MGM+’s “A Spy Among Friends.” “Star Wars” fans may also recognize him for his limited but memorable turn as Captain Peavey in “Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi.”
David Rysdahl as Arthur Sylvia
“Alien: Earth” does not mark actor David Rysdahl’s first collaboration with showrunner Noah Hawley. The two previously worked together when Rysdahl played Wayne Lyon in the fifth season of Hawley’s “Fargo.”
The actor also portrayed Nathan in the “Black Mirror” Season 6 episode “Mazey Day,” Mike in the 2020 supernatural drama “Nine Days” and Lars in the 2022 Hulu original thriller “No Exit.” In “Alien: Earth,” Rysdahl plays Arthur Sylvia, a human scientist overseeing Prodigy’s hybrid experiments who also happens to be the husband of Essie Davis’ Dame Sylvia.
