“Alien: Earth” has just concluded its first season, bringing the world originally imagined in Ridley Scott’s 1979 masterpiece to terra-firma for the very first time. (The original marketing materials for “Alien 3” teased that the sequel would be set on earth; it was not.) And creator Noah Hawley pulled it off, with larger set pieces that never betray the claustrophobia and nightmarishness of the film series, while also thoughtfully adding to the franchise’s dense lore.
As the show reached the finale, it pitted giant mega-corporations against one another (the newly introduced Prodigy was pitted against franchise favorite Weyland-Yutani) and set the Lost Boys, a group of children inhabiting robot bodies, against their captors. Where do the Xenomorphs (the sleek, acid-blooded creatures from the franchise) and the rest of this season’s alien menagerie fit into the conflict? Well, that would be spoiling things.
But it is safe to say that Arthur Sylvia (played by David Rysdahl), one of the scientists who was responsible for creating the Lost Boys, played a pivotal role in the final two episodes of the season, particularly when it came to his relationship with one of the new creatures, The Eye – a squid-like creature that can pilot a host. As Rysdahl told us, “My favorite character on the show is the eyeball.”
How these two characters intersect is one of the best elements of the first season – and one of its biggest surprises. If you haven’t watched all of “Alien: Earth’s” first season, turn back now.
This is an extreme spoiler warning. Turn back now or you’ll run the risk of being devoured by an unimaginable intergalactic terror.
What is Noah’s process? Did he tell you where your character was headed or did you discover it along the way?
I knew Arthur’s arc. I knew what would happen with Arthur. I really love the way that he wrote seven. I was like, Oh, wow – the hand-holding, we really, we got to a place of true fatherhood. He and I talked in our first meeting about this idea of going from a scientist, and then throughout the course of the season, I feel more and more like I’m a father. And what have I done? And then in that beach scene, he’s like, it’s very simple, I’m these two guys’ dad. And they’re struggling. And I need to support them. Little does he knows it’s his last moments on Earth. But I did not know the [final beats]. Noah didn’t know. That last little tidbit in episode eight was a surprise for all of us.
You knew Arthur would die but not that he would be resurrected?
Yes.
Well that must feel good, right, to know that you’ll potentially be back? [The show has yet to be officially renewed for season 2.]
Yeah, it’s always nice to have more work. And also, I love Noah, and like I said, the Eye is my favorite character. It is cool to think of it as a resurrection. Actually, I haven’t thought about that way, but there’s a sense that in this world of synths and hybrids and cyborgs, Arthur is really human. Now we wanted him to feel that way – he’s messy, he’s eating that egg salad sandwich in that first episode, he’s a human fully with all the foibles and the short sightedness of it. And then that humanity dies and that’s the sacrifice. And even the way in seven I thought a lot about Jesus actually dying, like the way my hands are out, and the sacrifice. Then there’s a resurrection a little bit but with a whole different life form, a life form that’s mirroring back, watching humanity. It’s this thing that is watching us, and we are seeing how silly we are through this. From its point of view, it’s gone throughout the whole cosmos, probably, and we’re a little mammalian species that thinks we own it all. They’re the things that were in charge.
Have you thought about how you’re going to approach this character going forward? Has Noah given you any indication?
We have talked a little bit about it. But my first thought was “Men in Black.”
Or “Weekend at Bernie’s?”
That joke has already been made. Those were the initial thoughts. I don’t want to say too much, because I think Noah’s still figuring it out, and I’m we’re talking about it, but Ijust like the perspective that the that the eye has on humans and how he finds us a little absurd. It’s a funny little thing that is super intelligent and finds us silly, and I think that’s going to be so fun to play.
What was your level of “Alien” fandom before signing on?
I grew up with parents that didn’t really show us these kinds of movies, but my cousin did. So I saw it at an early age. I think everyone, almost all the cast, talks about how they saw it little too early and how much it affected them. But I saw it when I was like 14 in my cousin’s basement, and the chest-burster scene terrified me. Little did I know. Honestly, if he told me that at that age, I would not have believed you.
I watched a lot of that scene, especially going into that beach scene, because when we do a moment like that, you’re working with all these puppeteers, you’re working over a course of a couple of days because you’re on the exterior of the beach and then you have a pallet that’s full of sand, and your chest up is you and then the bottom of you is all puppeteers. The performance is not just me. It’s this whole crew of people working on it, and which is what makes it so special. We all have the YouTube video of John Hurt’s death [from the original “Alien”]. We’re like, All right, because you want to pay homage while also making it fresh and real.
What was it like walking onto those sets for the first time?
You walk on these sets and first of all, you’re a kid at a candy shop again. Your creative juices are flowing. You’re on full play mode. And then the terror sets in of you could really screw this up. These people have worked so hard to make this beautiful set and then you really have to up your game to match it. So both of those things really – playful and a little terrified.
Have you seen the whole show? There’s so much that goes on away from your character, including episode five which is a full-on “Alien” movie.
Well, I’d read it. We all knew what happened and then I came on to shadow Noah a little bit as a director, so I got to watch him work behind-the-scenes. And that was really cool. Just people smoking in that 70s set. And then if you’re not in something, you’re not thinking about your character, you get to play fully in this realm of, I’m watching Noah do his work. I’m not worried about when I have to go on set and do my thing. Episode five was nice that I wasn’t in it. I could, I could shadow him the whole time.
What was that like?
It’s like that first time when I was 14 in my cousin’s basement, this sense that the possibilities are endless. These are bugs that have been around the universe and I find them also to be the most fascinating characters in the show, and the human idiocy, especially in that lab. I’m like, Oh, we’re making so many mistakes. We are not respecting these aliens or what they can do, and the aliens just want to survive. From their perspective, they’re on this ship being taken as test subjects, if the other way it was around, if we were humans on the an alien ship, you’d be on the human side. What’s cool about this show is you’re slowly changing perspective into alien, into hybrid, and it’s all helping us refocus and reexamine what it means to be a human on this earth.
Can you talk about your relationship with Noah and how it’s evolved from “Fargo” to “Alien: Earth?”
I’m really grateful for the relationship. I was a fan of “Fargo” and “Legion,” and then when I had the chance to audition for “Fargo,” I’m from Minnesota, so I felt like I could do my dad’s accent pretty well and then having that first Zoom, he’s a guy that knows pretty quickly what he wants. And the Zoom was 10 minutes. And I was like, Oh, I hope that went well. And then I got the role.
He’s a very intuitive person. He’s somebody who sees deeply into people, and I felt like I was playing his warmest side. He’s a father and loves his kids, loves his wife, a great husband. And so in both of these shows, I feel like I’m playing Noah’s heart in a way. I think that there is a similar arc to both characters, a man who’s loves his work, love his family, and then as a crisis of faith, and things happen to him. I think Wayne has the most optimistic body armor, because he’s just going to win because he’s, he does not going to allow the universe to put him down. But, you know, Arthur really starts to go through an existential crisis of what he’s done and what he owes. In some ways, that is why he dies. If he had, just left the island, it’d be okay. He wanted to die, but his conscience wouldn’t let him do that. He cares too much for these Lost Boys.
The full first season of “Alien: Earth” is on Hulu right now.
