Noah Hawley and FX's ALIEN Series Starts Production Without SAG-AFTRA Cast Members
Noah Hawley’s FX Alien series has started production in Thailand but it’s currently shooting without any SAG-AFTRA actors in the production due to the strike.
As of right now, we know the movie stars Sydney Chandler as the female lead. She will be joined by Alex Lawther (The End of the F*cking World) as the male lead, a soldier named CJ, with Samuel Blenkin (Black Mirror) as another main character named Boy Kavalier, a CEO. Additional cast members include Essie Davis (Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries) as Dame Silvia and Adarsh Gourav (The White Tiger) as Slightly.
I should clarify that Chandler is not shooting right now. They are only shooting parts of the series that involve non-union actors. According to Deadline, “three of the cast are SAG-AFTRA members and it’s understood the production has reworked its shooting schedule to delay their participation for as long as possible. Some of the other main cast are members of UK acting union Equity.”
The story for Hawley’s Alien “takes place before Ripley. It’s the first story that takes place in the Alien franchise on Earth.” It’s also been revealed that it will be set near “the end of this century we’re in — so 70-odd years from now.” It will also be the first Alien story set on Earth.
The project will blend “both the timeless horror of the first Alien film with the non-stop action of the second, it’s going to be a scary thrill ride that will blow people back in their seats.“
Hawley previously talked about the series, saying, “It's about how we're trapped between the primordial past and the artificial intelligence of our future, where both [are] trying to kill us. It's set on Earth of the future. At this moment, I describe that as Edison versus Westinghouse versus Tesla. Someone's going to monopolize electricity. We just don't know which one it is."
He went on to share, “It’s a story that’s set on Earth also. The alien stories are always trapped… Trapped in a prison, trapped in a spaceship. I thought it would be interesting to open it up a little bit so that the stakes of ‘What happens if you can’t contain it?’ are more immediate.”