SYFY’s Resident Alien kicked off its delayed third season last week, having been off the air for a year and a half. How did the cast celebrate the return? By attending the TCA Winter Press Tour in Pasadena, the pressure was somewhat eased by the show’s arrival on Netflix, where it debuted in the top 10. “I watched them,” revealed Alan Tudyk, who stars as Harry, the titular alien, who was taken aback by the growth of his character via a recent binge watch. “He has emotions now. Season 3 is sort of the teenage years of Harry, and he really falls in love. He’s left the nest a little bit from mom, and he’s fallen in love with the Blue Avian that’s played by Edi Patterson this season It’s very different from how he was in the beginning because now he has access to all of that and it’s hitting him for the first time. He comes from a species that doesn’t have emotion at all. On their planet, nobody has emotion, so he’s becoming more human, and now he’s feeling love.”
(Todd Williamson/Syfy)
“One of the big themes of this season [is] people looking inward a little bit at themselves and trying to figure out who they are as a person,” shared showrunner and executive producer Chris Sheridan. “One of the themes is our past impacts our present so strongly, and when it’s negative, the only way to really get past it is to face it head-on. All the characters go through this journey this season where they’ve got to deal with stuff from their recent past, or in many cases the stuff that happened to them as a child, and they’ve got to look directly at that and do something about it in order to grow as a character and as a person and get beyond that to find peace. All the characters are going through that. It’s a really strong theme this year for all of them, so we’ll be able to explore a lot of things that have happened to all of them in the past, and some of it is pretty messed up. But it’s going to be exciting.”
“Chris gave me a lot of freedom out of the gate to create someone the likes of which I hadn't seen before, certainly not in a Black character,” Corey Reynolds revealed of his role as Sheriff Mike Thompson. “The thing that drives Mike and what we felt was important for the audience to know, just so they could feel comfortable with some of his dysfunction, is he's a deeply insecure person. When people are insecure, they do really ridiculous things to overcompensate. He sees the opposite of insecurity as just overwhelming confidence, you know? If he can project his will, I think that’s how he can hide his insecurities. Elizabeth Bowen, who plays Deputy Liv on the show, she's been a great conduit for the audience to get to know Mike because if she can accept him and love him regardless of how messy he is, I think it gives the audience permission to feel the same way about it.”
Production on TV shows moves pretty fast, with rehearsal time often limited or nonexistent. “We all show up with our own preparations,” Sara Tomko said of the process, who plays Asta Twelvetrees on the show. “When we get there, they tell us where to land, but we ultimately have such an amazing chemistry as a cast that every take felt different, felt fresh. It always feels that much fun to work together. And I think there's things that you can't quite even put into words until you're there and you're doing it and you're like, oh man, this is magic.”
There are a few sci-fi legends that have guest starred on Resident Alien, including Terry O’Quinn (Lost) in the first season as Peter Bach and Linda Hamilton (The Terminator) as General Eleanor Wright this season. “Both Linda and Terry are incredible people and they’re fans of the show,” shared Alice Wetterlund, who plays D’Arcy Bloom. “Terry, especially, was a fan of the show before he was on, and he’s so gracious, which is great when you meet somebody like him, and you’re like, ‘He could be a total jerk.’ But he’s nice and wonderful, and so good to work with. I really appreciate the showrunners, and Chris, and the writers, and the casting for including people like Terry, Linda, George Takei, Nathan Fillion, [actors] integral to the sci-fi world. As a sci-fi fan myself, that’s one of my favorite things. It’s known as fan service, but I think it’s done with great care on this show and it just makes me so excited.”
The exciting Season 3 premiere is now available to stream on Peacock and new episodes air Wednesdays at 10/9c on Syfy.