Timothy Olyphant Joins New Alien Series From FX

The series reunites Olyphant with Fargo creator Noah Hawley.

By Jenna Anderson

After Disney+'s The Mandalorian and FX's Justified, Timothy Olyphant is headed to another major television series. On Monday, it was reported that Olyphant has joined the cast of the upcoming Alien television series, which is in the works for FX. This will be the latest collaboration between Olyphant and Alien showrunner Noah Hawley, after he appeared in Season 4 of FX's Fargo.

It is not confirmed what role Olyphant will be playing, although reports hint that he could be playing Kirsh, a synth who is the mentor and trainer for Wendy (Sydney Chandler).

What Is the Alien TV Show About?

Alien is described as a prequel to the beloved film series, set roughly 70 years in the future, but years before Sigourney Weaver's Ripley. It is the first story in the franchise that takes place on Earth. 

"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 previously said of the series. "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. 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."

Who Is in the Cast of the Alien TV Show?

The ensemble cast of the Alien series includes Chandler, Alex Lawther as CJ, Samuel Blenkin as Boy Kavalier, Essie Davis as Dame Silvia, and Adarsh Gourav as Slightly. 

"It's set on Earth of the future. At this moment, I describe that as Edison versus Westinghouse versus Tesla," Hawley explained to Esquire back in 2022. "Someone's going to monopolize electricity. We just don't know which one it is ... In the movies, we have this Weyland-Yutani Corporation, which is clearly also developing artificial intelligence-but what if there are other companies trying to look at immortality in a different way, with cyborg enhancements or transhuman downloads? Which of those technologies is going to win?"

"Alien is a fascinating story because it's not just a monster movie; it's about how we're trapped between the primordial past and the artificial intelligence of our future, where both trying to kill us..." Hawley added. "As Sigourney Weaver said in that second movie, 'I don't know which species is worse. At least they don't f-ck each other over for a percentage.' Even if the show was 60% of the best horror-action on the planet, there's still 40% where we have to ask, 'What are we talking about it, beneath it all?' Thematically, it has to be interesting. It's humbling to get to play with the iconography of this world."

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h/t: Deadline

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