Noah Hawley on Fargo, Legion and Alien: Earth – The Radio Times Writers' Room

Having started out in songwriting and novels, Hawley got a job as a staff writer on procedural drama Bones, and wrote the script for 2006 romantic comedy film The Alibi.

He then went on to create two network series for ABC, The Unusuals and My Generation, both of which only lasted for one season, before he found a home in cable TV with FX.

His first project for the broadcaster was Fargo, the ongoing anthology series based on the Coen brothers' 1996 film of the same name. That series achieved critical acclaim, and opened the doors for Hawley to take on more opportunities.

Since then, Hawley has created the surreal, off-beat Marvel series Legion, which was also lauded, and the 2019 psychological drama film Lucy in the Sky, which starred Natalie Portman.

Now, he brings us perhaps his biggest work to date - Alien: Earth, the big-budget sci-fi/horror series set in the world of the Alien franchise, which first kicked off with Ridley Scott's masterpiece back in 1979.

The series follows a group, led by Sydney Chandler's Wendy, of the first ever hybrids - children whose minds have been uploaded to synthetic, adult bodies.

When a spaceship crash lands with a host of alien creatures on board, including the iconic Xenomorph, the hybrids jump into action to save those trapped in the wreckage and recover the specimens.

Throughout our chat, Hawley spoke about his interest in writing to others' established tones and voices, his early conversations about Fargo and whether it could return, and how he came to cast Aubrey Plaza in Legion, in a role originally written for a middle-aged man.

He also shared details of some of his biggest projects that didn't come to pass - a Dr Doom film and a new Star Trek movie - and how Alien: Earth was directly inspired by Ian Holm's role as Ash in the original 1979 film.

Asked for the original kernel of his idea for the show, he said: "Well, it was Ian Holm, really, is what it was. It was the fact that you're over an hour into this movie, which you think is a monster movie, and then suddenly Ian Holm is an android.

"And this idea, suddenly this is a movie about we're escaping our past, in which we were food, into the future, and that now the future is trying to kill us, right? This monster we created is trying to kill us. And the thought, 'Well, that's a really interesting place to tell a story.' And obviously, the various filmmakers have [Michael] Fassbender and Winona Ryder, every movie has its synth.

"And I just thought, 'Well, what if we're in a moment in which, yeah, we have these synthetic bodies, but we also have a corporation that's trying to enhance biological bodies with neural implants and cyborg body parts? And then what if we have this trans-human story as well?'

"And that kind of led me, for whatever reason, to, 'Well, what if they're not adults? What if they're kids?' And then that was right to Peter Pan, and now you have a show."

You can watch the full video at the top of this article right now, and look out for more trips to The Radio Times Writers' Room soon.

In the meantime, you can also catch up with our previous chats with Mark Gatiss, who spoke all about his work on Doctor Who, Sherlock and his new show Bookish, and Harry and Jack Williams, who spoke about their shows The Missing, The Tourist and new Prime Video thriller The Assassin.

Alien: Earth is now streaming on Disney+. You can sign up to Disney+ for £4.99 a month or £89.90 a year now.

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