Alien Series Adds Two Black Mirror Stars to Cast
The highly anticipated Alien TV series from Fargo and Legion creator Noah Hawley is officially kicking off production in Thailand this week. Most TV and film productions have shut down due to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, but FX's Alien is moving forward by filming without any of its actors who are part of SAG here in the United States. Actors that are part of other unions around the world can take part in productions, including those in the UK's acting union, Equity.
With that in mind, Alien has cast a couple of actors from the UK in lead roles, two of which previously appeared in Netflix's Black Mirror. According to Deadline, Alex Lawther and Samuel Blenkin have joined the cast of the Alien series as main characters. Lawther, who also starred in Netflix's The End of the F*cking World, is playing a soldier named CJ, the show's male lead. Blenkin is playing a CEO named Boy Kavalier, another main character. The new cast members also include Essie David and Adarsh Gourav.
Prior to the start of production this week, only one cast member for the Alien series had been revealed. Sydney Chandler is starring in the series as one of its leads, but Chandler is a member of SAG-AFTRA. The Don't Worry, Darling actress is not currently a part of the production due to the strike.
When Does the Alien TV Series Take Place?
The new Alien series is actually a prequel to the first movie, taking place in the decades before Sigourney Weaver's Ripley fought the extraterrestrials. It's set about 70 years from now.
Hawley's Alien story is also the first entry in the franchise to set its story on planet Earth, rather than on a ship or far-away planet.
"It's the first story in the Alien franchise that takes place on Earth. It takes place on our planet, near the end of this century we're currently in – 70-odd years from now," FX CEO John Landgraf said. "I hope they will feel like it's faithful to the franchise they love but also a brave and original reinvention of that franchise."
"Setting it on Earth is really interesting," he continued. "We have to think forward about the future of the planet in terms of the environment, governance, technology and create and design a version of the planet in the future ... Noah wants to do that in a distinctive and original way."