Alien: Earth's Sydney Chandler reveals why the central characters had to be children
Chandler spoke with Radio Times alongside her co-star Alex Lawther.
Fans coming to new Disney+ sci-fi series Alien: Earth will no doubt be expecting to see the Xenomorph, plenty of action and some gnarly kills - all of which they will find.
However, they will also be following the story of six terminally ill children, whose minds are uploaded to adult synthetic bodies, making them hybrids.
The most central of these hybrids, Wendy, is played by Sydney Chandler, who spoke with Radio Times exclusively alongside her Alien: Earth co-star Alex Lawther.
When asked why the storyline of children in adult, synthetic bodies marries well with the Alien franchise, Chandler said that the creator of the show, Noah Hawley, had touched on it the day prior.
She then expanded: "Kids are, like, the most human, the most innocent, the most raw and real entity of humanity.
"And so to throw that into the world of Alien, where you're dealing with not only aliens, but questions of morality, questions of consciousness, especially in this one, innocence lost, 'Who are you?', identity - to bring children into that, it adds a very eerie and powerful factor to it, and it's really, really fun to play."
When asked how she then approached playing a child in an adult body, she said "I have no idea!", laughing.
"I really honestly relied on base instinct of what a child feels like to me and working with the rest of the cast," she continued.
"I found Wendy every day when I would work off of Tim's [Timothy Olyphant's] Kirsch, or your [Lawther's] Joe - I got more colours and pieces of who I was playing.
"And I didn't think about playing a child. I just played the truth of her on the page, just a human, whereas everyone else is telling her she's everything but."
Lawther plays Wendy's human brother, known as Hermit, while the rest of the hybrids are played by Adarsh Gourav, Kit Young, Erana James and Lily Newmark.
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.
Add Alien: Earth to your watchlist on the Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more.
Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
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.
