Alienis returning to the screen in a new format withAlien: Earth, an ambitious new series that expands the franchise into previously uncharted territory. Created byNoah Hawley, the series aims to combine the raw tension ofRidley Scott’s original film with the sweeping, character-driven prowess that the episodic format can explore. InAlien: Earth, a space vessel crash-lands on Earth, forcing a young woman and a group of soldiers to make a discovery that puts them face-to-face with the planet’s biggest threat. The series' all-star cast includesTimothy Olyphant,Sydney Chandler,Alex Lawther,Babou Ceesay, andSamuel Blenkin.
In the Collider Interview Studio atSan Diego Comic-Con 2025,Steve Weintraubsat down with Hawley, executive producerDavid Zucker, and the cast ofAlien: Earthfor a conversation about the show’s vision, its practical effects, and what it’s likestepping into one of sci-fi’s most beloved and horrifying universes. The cast dives deep into their favorite episodes in the series, their reactions to Hawley’s scripts, the sequences that presented challenges to them as actors, and why fans should prepare for one of the most intense entries in theAliensaga yet.
The Cast Share Favorite Movie Theaters and Cinematic Experiences
Chandler has the perfect Saturday routine.
COLLIDER:Before we get to talking aboutAlien,I’m obsessed with getting more people to see movies in movie theaters, and not on your phone. For each of you, do you have a favorite movie theater?
ALEX LAWTHER: Yes, I do. At the moment, I’m lucky enough to be working in Vancouver, and they have a cinema called the Cinematheque, and its program is so brilliant. It’s films that are no longer in cinema and old films, and classic films, and it’s exquisite. So, I highly recommend it.
BABOU CEESAY: The ArtHouse Cinema, Crouch End, London. It’s beautiful. It’s like an 80-seater and a 120-seater. It’s just wonderful. Excellent programming. Beautiful place.
SAMUEL BLENKIN: I couldn’t not mention the Prince Charles Cinema, Leicester Square, which I’ve been going to a lot. I’ve seen so many movies over the last couple of weeks. I went to seeIn the Mood for Love, the 25th anniversary, with the short film at the end. That was beautiful. But yeah, what a beautiful theater. It’s got an amazing history. Yeah.
TIMOTHY OLYPHANT: [Laughs] It’s terrible. All I can think is the Pussycat Theater. They show some really interesting stuff. The Village Theater in Westwood, California.
A lot of movie directors, if you’re not aware, bought The Village theater, and it’s under remodeling right now. I’ve seen some of the plans, and it’s going to be epic when it reopens.
OLYPHANT: I love hearing that.
Seriously epic.
DAVID W. ZUCKER: I don’t have reverence outside of Westwood. Right now, I try to go to any theater that doesn’t show a lot of commercials. That’s my goal.
I love AMC, but don’t go to AMC.
ZUCKER: Yeah, it is an issue.
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“What the f*** is a movie now?”
SYDNEY CHANDLER: I have one. The Alamo on South Lamar. One of the more original Alamos. And it’s about a 45-minute walk from my place, and so I like to, usually on a Saturday or Sunday, walk there, go see a movie at 12:00 p.m. I just saw28 Years Later. Amazing. I stayed to watch it again, then I walked back. I’m that cool.
You did back-to-back?
CHANDLER: Yeah.
CHANDLER: It was worth it.
HAWLEY: Nice. Yeah, I’m a West Village kid, so I like The Angelika in New York.
Collectibles, Comic-Con Finds, and Emotional Support Swords
The cast is on the hunt for a life-sized Olyphant collectible.
We’re at Comic-Con, and a lot of people here collect things. Do you collect anything? And if you go on the convention floor, what are you looking forward to bringing home?
CEESAY: Something fromDemon Slayer.
CHANDLER: Yeah! [Laughs]
HAWLEY: My son is 12, and I took him around yesterday, and he forced me to buy him an emotional support sword. So now he has that for the flight home.
BLENKIN: Okay, I’m immediately going to go buy myself an emotional support sword after this interview. That sounds too good to be true. I need one of those.
OLYPHANT: I don’t collect anything.
That’s totally valid.
OLYPHANT: Thinking about starting, though. I’m going to look around today and see if something might just spark. You know what I mean?
ZUCKER: I grew up with Matchbox cars, but I don’t think they sell them here.
They might, actually. They might.
HAWLEY: I’ll have to go on a deep dive.
LAWTHER: What about yourself?
Oh, no, I’m not involved in this anymore. I used to collect. In all seriousness, I used to collect a lot of things, and I’ve finally broken the habit, but I have some of the large Sideshow Collectibles-type things. I have some stuff.
LAWTHER: You’re being very unspecific.
There is something I’ve recently gotten into. They make these quarter-scale and sixth-scale video game cabinets that actually work. So, you can get a Pac-Man machine or Dig Dug or Street Fighter, these mini cabinets that are exact replicas, and they’re amazing. I actually have a bunch of those.
OLYPHANT: I got Lebowski from Sideshow.
One of the figures?
OLYPHANT: Yeah, I got a little Lebowski.
Did they send it to you, or you bought it?
OLYPHANT: No, I went over there because they made one of me — that’s not what this is about — and they said, “Take whatever you want.” And they had a Lebowski. So, I went home with the Lebowski. I kind of love it.
So, in other words, you were lying a little bit when you said there’s nothing that you collect.
OLYPHANT: No, no, that’s not a collection. I’m just making conversation. I’m trying to connect with you, Steve, because you said you had some stuff from Sideshow, and it’s a problem, and I didn’t want you to feel bad about it. So, I said, you know, Itoohave something from Sideshow. It’s okay.
LAWTHER: Does that mean if we go to Sideshow, we can get a life-sized figure of you?
OLYPHANT: I hope so. Steve?
I don’t think they have one.
OLYPHANT: They don’t have a life-size.
Not a life-size. But they do have some figures.
OLYPHANT: It really looks like me. It’s way better than the one I made at home.
HAWLEY: And doesittake notes, or…?
OLYPHANT: Itgivesnotes.
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“In space, no one can hear you scream.”
I actually got some news for you. If this show ends up being a hit, which I think it’s going to be, there’s a good chance that figures will be made of a lot of you, or Funko Pops!, or other things. So, get ready because the merch is coming.
ZUCKER: Well, to take it back in time, the one thing I used to collect was the original Star Wars figures — that didn’t exist. You had to cut the box tops off the cereal boxes, send them in, and I think we had to wait six months. Then you got a total nondescript box, and you had your first four figures, which I still have. Collector’s items.
OLYPHANT: That was 78 years ago.
ZUCKER: You know, you really didn’t have to bring that up. I specifically didn’t say when that movie was released or how old I was at the time. So, thank you.
Bringing Hawley’s Vision of ‘Alien’ to Life
“That’s a real testament to his work that, as big as this thing is, the people, the characters start taking over, and it’s so delicious.”
A lot of people have now seen the trailer, and a lot more information is out there. One of the things that struck me about the first episode was the writing is really good, and all the performances, but it’s abigshow. What was the reaction for you guys when you started seeing the scripts and realized, “Oh wow, this thing is really taking on the material?"
CHANDLER: I’ll just say with Noah’s writing and having the ability to have eight hours of TV, you’re able to dive into so many different avenues, so many different storylines, and really expand the world. But honestly, the first 10 pages that I read, maybe even five when I got the first script, I saw the world. There were rules to it, and it was grounded, and there was so much detail to it that I knew that wherever you took it,it would still stay grounded and raw and real in the essence ofAlien.
CEESAY: And you may’t play the bigness, really. You can only work on that one little section at a time, kind of thing, and leave the bigness to Noah.
LAWTHER: Then there’s the delicious thing of when you get to see the episode back, and you’re like, “Oh, I wasn’t in that storyline, I forgot that scene was even filmed, or even in the story!” And you get to see these actors playing a scene, and you get to enjoy it as a fan of the show. Such is the pleasure of being part of an ensemble, I think.
OLYPHANT: It really struck me how grounded it was, as vast as it was, as big as it was, and thrilling and scary. The dialogue was so delicious. I think at the end of the day, it was immediately like, I just wanted to say those words. I want to do that scene. That’s a good day at work, shooting that scene. I can’t wait to get to it. My acting technique has really come down to just memorizing lines at this point, and even just memorizing the lines was really enjoyable. So, I think that’s a real testament to his work that, as big as this thing is, the people, the characters start taking over, and it’s so delicious.
ZUCKER: I think, amongst what is rather extraordinary in what Noah’s crafted here, that hearkens back to the original in the spirit of what Ridley designed, is that it is a very analog world, which is, I think, what you’re reaching to. That brings an authenticity to it, and it brings a relatability to it, especially ashe’s had to envision Earth in its future, but still capture sort of the aesthetic of the original. That’s really, truly an incredible feat.
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Collider comes face-to-face with a Xenomorph and Facehugger on the Bangkok set of FX’s ‘Alien: Earth.’
So, you get the keys to the kingdom for this one. How much had you figured out in terms of the full story and where you ultimately wanted to go with this before you started really committing to the eight episodes of the first season? For example, withLegion, I felt like that was such a perfect beginning, middle, and end. You seem, with your writing, to always know where you’re going, unlike some shows that are middling their way through. Can you talk a little bit about how much you figured out?
HAWLEY: I do a lot of closed-ended storytelling, limited series. I mean, a novel, I guess, is a closed-ended story. The end of a story is what gives it meaning, right? So, on some level,in order to understand the story I’m telling, I have to know where it’s going. Now, that doesn’t mean I know how long it’s gonna take to get there, or even that as I get to the end, it’s gonna end exactly how I thought it would. But it is good to think several steps ahead as to where you want to go. And as an ensemble storyteller, I think that’s the excitement of having multiple points of view into a story and all these storylines that bounce off each other. The other thing is, when you have a Xenomorph, you gotta kill some people, and so you need a lot of characters, so I can systematically kill them off one at a time. Sorry.
Designing New Horrors and Reinventing the Alien Creatures
“What I’m trying to do is make you feel every feeling you felt when you watched that first movie.”
Speaking of Xenomorphs, one of the things about the world ofAlienis the alien. Talk a little bit about what you wanted to do in the show in terms of creatures and enemies. What can you tease about that?
HAWLEY: The great thing about theAlienmovies is that you have monsters, but the people are also monsters — some of them — and a lot of it has to do with class, which is really interesting in those first two movies. As the income level goes up, the morality tends to go down.
Sort of like the real world right now.
HAWLEY: It’s our biggest problem, I feel like. But as far as the creatures go,what I’m trying to do is make you feel every feeling you felt when you watched that first movie. And the only way to do it, because you know the life cycle of the creature now, because there’s no discovery there, was to introduce some creatures that you don’t know what they eat or how they reproduce. Those discoveries can give you that feeling of genetic revulsion that you got from watching that movie the first time.
Claustrophobia, Slime, and Sheep – Oh My!
“That’s the stuff of nightmares.”
So you see the shooting schedule in front of you. What day do you have circled in terms of, “I cannot wait to film this," and what day is circled in terms of, “How the F are we gonna film this,” in a spoiler-free way?
LAWTHER: Yes, sometimes they were sort of all the same scene, actually. There was one that sort of started as, “I can’t wait to film this,” which was something involving a Xenomorph, but then I didn’t realize how long those scenes take. So, what I thought was maybe a couple of days shooting was then weeks, because of the technicality of things like that, and the amount of slime involved. It takes a long time. I’ve never been on a job that’s lasted six months before, which is a weird thing, but as a freelancer, that’s just been the case for me. I think there’s an amount of stamina that you have to learn over the course of that time, whether it’s with an extraterrestrial or not.
CEESAY: I don’t like enclosed spaces very much. I don’t wanna go as far as saying I’m that claustrophobic that I don’t want people to know it in case they can use it against me — that’s the stuff of nightmares. But Noah certainly did use it against me. [Laughs] My character just kept ending up in very tight spaces. One of the times this thing shut and took a while to open. It was essentially a coffin. I mean, I can’t even describe it as anything else. So yeah, I had those days when I knew I was gonna be crawling through something really small, or I was gonna be locked in a box. Those days, I had a dread looking forward to it. Thank you, Noah.
HAWLEY: No Babous were harmed in the making of this show.
BLENKIN: I’m trying to think of a way to describe mine without it being a spoiler, but I’m pretty sure you get a glimpse in the trailer, in the first episode, of one particular character who was my favorite character to work with, no offense guys, who might be of the kind of sheep variety. I could not wait to work with this sheep. And some of the stuff that goes on with this sheep was similar to Alex — simultaneously the most fun and the most kind of insane. It also takes quite a long time when you’re working with a live sheep.
CHANDLER: It’s Victoria, right? Victoria the sheep steals the show.
OLYPHANT: She really does.
BLENKIN: Incredible actor.
OLYPHANT: Stroke a genius, Noah. Little docile thing. Look what you did to her, Noah. [Laughs]
HAWLEY: I’m not going to say the joke that’s in my head.
Is there anything that you guys want to add?
OLYPHANT: I had a good time every day. I couldn’t wait to show up. I mean, really, technically, I say, “Do I have to show up by that point? Can we make it a little later? Do you really need me then?” But then once I show up, every day was a ball.
LAWTHER: And we were in Thailand for that amount of time, as well.
OLYPHANT: The whole experience was very special, wasn’t it?
LAWTHER: Yeah, yeah.
OLYPHANT: It was fun being there with you guys.
CHANDLER: I found being able to film [Episodes] 1 and 2, and then 3 and 4, and then 5 and 6 to 7 and 8 wassohelpful because my idea of Wendy, when we started Episode 1, changed and transformed so much. So, to have that time with these characters for that length of time, I’ve never done a show this long. That was really, really cool.
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“As we shot this, my experience became more and more fun as we went.”
During the first season of every show, you learn so much about the making of the show and the infrastructure, and putting it together. What were the big lessons you took away from making the first season that, if you are fortunate enough to make a second season, will advance it and help you?
HAWLEY: Well, it’s just time, really. Action takes time, creatures take time. Working as practically as we did with the special effects, explosions,everything takes time, and time costs money. So, that’s the thing, is, if you wanna scale it up, you just have to be really realistic with our corporate partners as to what it’s gonna cost to make something this big. But when you do it, and you feel it, and you feel it on the screen, it’s worth every penny.
ZUCKER: I’d say it was kind of affirming. What you learn series after series is that it’s all about the people. To be able to deliver and accomplish something of this magnitude and this ambition, to have a cast that is as kind and connected and passionate for the material, and also, because of the franchise itself, have the craftspeople and the artisans who are similarly so enthusiastic and dedicated to the project, that’s what lifts this to the heights that, hopefully, Noah envisions for it, and they’re able to help realize.
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For everyone, the first season is eight episodes. Which is your favorite episode of the eight, and which is the episode you cannot wait for fans to see?
CEESAY: Five.
BLENKIN: That’s it. I’m excited for five as well.
CEESAY: Oh, good. I love that episode.
CHANDLER: I’m stuck between seven and eight. I can’t sayanythingabout it, but yeah, seven and eight.
OLYPHANT: I haven’t seen them. So I can’t waitfor meto see them is the answer to your question.
BLENKIN: Five. Five is a serious piece of work. It’s great.
ZUCKER: I’m gonna go for what Noah said, because even though this is an ongoing series, to land that plane, even at the end of a first season, I would say eight. It’s kind of extraordinary. Because you have to find a way of delivering on the promise of the adventure of that season, and at the same time find a way of giving something to the audience that’s irresistible to come back, on top of what they’ve already gone through. So, that one still astounds me.
OLYPHANT: I’ll tell you what else. As we shot this, my experience became more and more fun as we went. More and more delicious as we went. It was great. We were all kind of living fairly amongst each other, and saw each other a lot. There was a lot, as the scripts started coming in, where we would generally get together and be like, “Did you read that? I mean, come on. Oh my God, guys.” It really started that wonderful experience that does not happen very often. Certainly, it hasn’t happened that often to me. When you watch TV, it doesn’t happen that often.Each one has this cumulative effect of you’re just getting so engrossed in these people and the drama. So, that was a lovely feeling that each episode got a little more fun to show up to.
ZUCKER: I mean, in the spirit of Tim, I have to say, by the end of the season, I felt much more conflicted about how I felt about him than I did at the beginning.
OLYPHANT: Personally? Personally, you’re talking about. Yeah. Well, sometimes I have to do some things so it’s easier to say goodbye. You know what I mean?
HAWLEY: Well, I don’t have to choose. It’s all one story. What I would say is thatthe story works from beginning to end. So, what I’m excited about is for people to see each week, see it build, watch it build, and it pays off in the end.
OLYPHANT: You’re stealing my answer.
HAWLEY: Well, you didn’t say it. You were talking.
OLYPHANT: That sounded like my answer.
HAWLEY: You haven’t even seen the show. I don’t know why you’re even here.
