In Amazon’s new series Upload, Andy Allo plays Nora, woman working as a customer service representative — called an “angel” — at Horizen, a “digital afterlife” company. She ends up serving as the angel for Nathan (Robbie Amell), a young man who ends up in Horizen’s luxurious Lakeview afterlife following a freak accident. Over the course of the season, the pair develop a strong bond despite the fact that she’s alive and he’s, well, not, and while Nathan goes on quite a journey as he adjusts to his new reality, Nora goes on an emotional journey of her own not only regarding her relationship with Nathan, but with her father and his view on the afterlife as well.
Speaking with ComicBook.com, Allo spoke about how that relationship between Nora and her father is one that she was able to really connect to as she herself has a close relationship with her own father — including sharing a name.
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“Well, I mean in a way it was kind of easy,” Allo said about connecting to her character. “I’m named after my dad. He’s Andrew senior. He wanted a boy, but he got me. But wanted to name his son Andrew, but when I popped out a girl, he was like, ‘Well, she’s getting Andy anyway.’ So, my dad and I instantly… using that kind of relationship to draw upon and building from there. And I think Nora, her dad is all she has, especially after losing her mom. So, that’s such a relationship she’s clinging onto and connection that she doesn’t want to lose.”
In Upload, Nora is eager for her father to sign up for his own digital afterlife so that he can “upload” when he dies. However, her father doesn’t want to and, instead, wants to simply move onto what he believes comes after we die — a traditional heaven so that he can be with his late wife. It’s a real struggle for Nora, something that Allo said influences her relationship with Nathan.
“That’s such a motivating factor with wanting him to upload,” Allo said of Nora’s relationship with her father. “And she’s yearning for this connection in other things and so she’s desperately trying to find it with other people until she connects with Nathan and I think you get to see her grow in that sense as well. But I liked that in what Greg [Daniels, series creator] created and built is that her dad doesn’t believe in it. And so, you really get to see this struggle of her wanting this man that is in her life and she doesn’t want to leave her life. But who’s just desperately wanting to be with his wife who’s in heaven, heaven and not afterlife heaven. And so, we really get to see that conversation, which is really cool.”
“I feel like it influences her so much because that’s what she’s looking for,” Allo continued. “She saw her parents be this perfect couple. And the love they had was endless and timeless and has continued on. And so, to experience that, but now in this digital world where it’s like, ‘But okay, how can I do that when most of the people I’m talking to, they’re not even in person?’ And so that’s a challenge and something that I had to explore of what does that look like when all you’ve seen is this traditional relationship play itself out and you’re looking for this everywhere? But you’re in a world where it’s like you’re swiping and the only person I’m talking to is through a VR set and I have to wear gloves to touch. But at the core is this timeless love and connection that she’s really just craving and wanting.”
Upload is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
