If a stranger walks on the sidewalks of your city, you probably would not think of Google’s definitions ‘Douchebag’ and ‘taint’ will be high on the priority list. But hey – even foreigners sometimes want to fit in.
Welcome to Resident Alien, Syfy / USA Network’s new series that follows a shape-shifting alien (played by Firefly‘s Alan Tudyk) poses as a human doctor in a small town in Colorado. Although ‘Harry’ never intended to step on Earth, he crashes his spaceship and loses a device he needs to complete a mysterious mission. At the premiere of the program Wednesday, when the real doctor of the city died, Harry was drawn into society in ways he never expected, including assistance in the mysterious murder case of the beloved doctor. But in the last moments of the episode, we learn what Harry’s real intention is: to kill all people. Every last one.
Will Harry’s plans change once he’s befriended the city’s residents? Series Creator / EP Chris Sheridan (Family man) spoke to TVLine about this and more, including why Tudyk was the right man for the performances and what would come later this season.
TVLINE | Alan Tudyk is perfect in this role. Was it written with him in mind?
I really did not write it with anyone in mind. When we auditioned, we saw dozens of actors. I thought I knew what the character was until Alan came in. I know that should be what he does. It was not far from what I had suggested, but it was far enough that I felt ashamed that I did not think about it.
Alan came in and could do what other actors did not do, which was strange without being robotic, but also had enough humanity in him so that people would not think, ‘This man is from outer space.’ This is really a fine line. In many cases, the choice was to play it like a leading man, and once you do, you forget that it’s a stranger. Then there were actors who came in and only played the stranger, and once they did, you feel like it will never work, because it’s not a cartoon. Alan was able to run the line perfectly. He was one of the few who could take a stranger and be hysterical at the same time without feeling broad or funny. His humanity comes through because Alan himself has a lot of humanity. He is a good man and has good energy, and that comes through his performance. [Harry] takes some bad choices in piloting, so I relied on a little help from the actor to help the audience forgive for some of the things he does, and Alan was able to do it for us. (Read here what Tudyk had to say about the role.)
TVLINE | Can you tell us a little bit about the creature design for the stranger? Are these mostly practical effects, and is it actually Alan in the mask?
In the pilot, we did not have time to put Alan in the mask, except for one scene where we had to shoot. In Episode 2, we fit Alan for the mask. It takes a few hours [to get in the mask] in what has been a very long day. I asked him, “Would you be willing to do that?” because I felt we would get a better performance if he did it himself, and there was no doubt in his mind. He was like, ‘Of course I do.’
The mask is put on in pieces and then painted. Bill Terezakas, who created the sculpture and the mask, did such an incredible job. From the center of the face, he created silicone in a thinner layer so that the expressions that Alan has in his mouth and the lower part of his face get into the mask. Everything from the center of the face to the top is denser. All the eye movements, the pinches, the forehead … are all a 2-D digital cover. Alan’s acting really stands out to a large extent from the way Bill designed it. It really is a brilliant construction.
TVLINE | It doesn’t take long for Harry and Asta to form a friendship. Despite Harry’s discomfort, what brings them together so quickly?
Asta has walls and is locked up for everyone, but finds that she opens up in the pilot in a way she has not done with anyone else for a long time. Harry was there for her, and when she opens and gives Harry her positive energy, it hits Harry, who then drops his strange walls a bit. There is a moment [in Episode 1] where Asta gives him a compliment and says, ‘You did a great job,’ and that, in my opinion, is Harry’s beginning to gain knowledge of what it’s like to be human. He feels something warm at that moment, so he protects her in the pilot. This is the thing that is starting to connect them to each other.
TVLINE | At the end of the premiere, the alien makes it clear that he is a villain who wants to destroy humanity. What can you tease about Harry’s relationship to humanity, and will it change over time?
Harry comes to earth and does not care about people at all. Its alien species do not have emotions or feelings, but they must perform tasks. They look at us as if we were ants or the moth in the closet eating your crackers. When he comes down here and takes over the body, he realizes that he is actually infected with human emotions, and therefore he begins to feel these things that people feel … love, fear, hate, all these things he has never had .
One of the things I realized early on was that his journey is really that of a child. He’s the kid on the playground chasing another kid and when that kid starts crying, it makes the first kid feel bad and says, ‘Oh, maybe I do not want to do this again. I do not like how it feels when I make that child cry. ‘As Harry slowly begins to gain these human emotions, he slowly gains empathy as a child does. We’ll see Harry slowly start to learn what it feels like to feel human.
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