Alien: Earth creator on the element of the series that made bosses nervous
Noah Hawley was speaking in a wide-ranging interview for The Radio Times Writers' Room.
The first ever series in the Alien franchise, Alien: Earth, comes from creator Noah Hawley, and if viewers have seen any of his previous work, particularly in Fargo and Legion, they will know that he takes big swings.
That is certainly the case this time around, as while the show does include all the alien action and thrills you would expect, it primarily centres around the story of six hybrids – terminally ill human children who, in an experimental procedure, have their consciousnesses uploaded to synthetic, adult bodies.
Hawley spoke with us for The Radio Times Writers' Room, our interview series in which we get to know what makes writers tick, and revealed that this element of Alien: Earth was the one which made FX, the channel behind the series, most nervous.
When asked how he approached writing children in adult bodies, and finding that voice, Hawley said: "Well, I mean, it's whatever it is, five or six different voices, right?"
He continued: "But yeah, I mean, there were some nerves around it with FX in the early days. I think when we think of children in adult bodies, we think of Will Ferrell, right? And it's like, 'Well, I don't know. I don't think so.'
"I mean, children are actually quite graceful and noble and thoughtful and yeah, some are playful, and some have ADD and some whatever, but we have that that full spectrum. I think what was intimidating about it is that I'd never really seen it done before, and it was a lot to hang a series on something that you've never seen done before. But isn't that what makes it exciting?"
The hybrid characters are all given new names from Peter Pan by the figure behind the experimental programme, Boy Kavalier, a young genius played by Samuel Blenkin.
The actors playing the hybrids include Sydney Chandler, as the show's central character Wendy, as well as Adarsh Gourav as Slightly, Kit Young as Tootles, Jonathan Ajayi as Smee, Erana James as Curly and Lily Newmark as Nibs.
Elsewhere in the interview for The Radio Times Writers' Room, Hawley spoke about his work on Fargo and Legion, as well as his early work on shows such as Bones and The Unusuals, his film projects and his novels.
Noah Hawley's interview for The Radio Times Writers' Room is available to watch in full here.
Alien: Earth will premiere on Disney+ on Wednesday 13th August, with the first two episodes available to stream. A new episode will premiere each following Wednesday. You can sign up to Disney+ for £4.99 a month or £89.90 a year now.
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Authors
James Hibbs is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering programmes across both streaming platforms and linear channels. He previously worked in PR, first for a B2B agency and subsequently for international TV production company Fremantle. He possesses a BA in English and Theatre Studies and an NCTJ Level 5 Diploma in Journalism.
