Timothy Olyphant is heading back to familiar territory. The Justified star has signed on to play a major role in FX’s upcoming Alien series, reuniting him with showrunner Noah Hawley after starring in the fourth season of the latter’s crime anthology, Fargo.
FX has yet to disclose details about his character, but Deadline reports that he will play Kirsh, a synthetic — much like Ian Holm’s Ash in Alien — and mentor to Wendy, a meta-human hybrid with the mind of a child and the body of an adult. Wendy is portrayed by Don’t Worry Darling‘s Sydney Chandler.
The show will also star Alex Lawther (Andor) as a soldier named CJ, Samuel Blenkin (The Witcher: Blood Origin) as Boy Kavalier, a CEO, as well as Essie Davis (The Babadook) as Dame Silvia, Adarsh Gourav (The White Tiger) as Slightly, and Kit Young (Shadow and Bone) as Tootles. Ridley Scott, director of the original Alien movie, serves as executive producer on the project.
While story details are lean, the new Alien series is set before the events of the film and its sequels and prequels, and is the first story in the franchise that takes place on Earth, around 70 years in the future. As such, it won’t feature Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley or any other familiar characters other than the Xenomorph.
Production began four days after the start of the actors strike, without the SAG-AFTRA members, including Chandler. It’s expected to resume sometime in early 2024, with all scripts completed before the WGA strike in May.
Olyphant has been an FX staple for more than 10 years. In addition to Justified and Season 4 of Fargo, he served as a series regular on the second season of Damages, and most recently starred and executive produced the miniseries Justified: City Primeval. The actor’s other notable roles include Cobb Vanth from The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett, as well as Scream 2, Santa Clarita Diet, and Daisy Jones and the Six.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
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