The leading actor of Resident Alien talks about the series’ biggest twist with Harry’s marriage to Isabel.
Five weeks into Resident Alien and critics agree that the SYFY series is a hit. A show about a stranded space alien trying to keep his identity hidden — while simultaneously trying to accomplish his mission to end humanity — it’s refreshing to see actor Alan Tudyk take the lead in a role he was destined to play.
Thus far, it’s in Harry’s struggles to be human and odd attempts at fitting in that compel audiences to tune in week-to-week. Yet, it’s often the show’s writing and engaging cliffhangers that make Resident Alien work. Especially, regarding last week’s where we learn that despite his growing relationship with Darcy the human Doctor Harry Vandershpiegel is in fact, married.
In a final conversation with The Workprint, Tudyk shares his enthusiasm about the secret reveal that was set up in the last episode: his Character’s revelation that he’s married.
“Oh, it’s fantastic. I love that he’s just such fun — I think it’s in episode 3 where Isabel shows up and he’s like… ‘How did you get in my house?’ and she’s like, ‘I have a key. I’m your wife!’ You see that whole idea of, what? There’s no pictures of her anywhere! He didn’t have anything to go on. So of course, this was a possibility. One he didn’t see it coming.”
Indeed, from almost every media outlet’s reception, no one saw this twist coming. Weeks ago we spoke with Tudyk about the intricacies of his process of creating the character but back then, we didn’t expect how deep Harry’s relationships would be explored regarding his humanity in relation to others. It’s a deeper foray into the understandings of the intimacies of being human for Harry. A challenge the alien is utterly unprepared for as we learn:
“It’s really fun to play because of the level of intimacy those two characters have been husband and wife. it’s a problem for Harry. He’s just immediately exposed and has a whole other side of human interaction that he has to become familiar with very fast.”
The storyline pays off thanks to some brilliant writing but also, Tudyk’s finesse at making intimacy feel strange. He also shares with us that despite his longstanding career in film and television, this was Alan’s first time filming a sex scene on camera.
“This was my first sex scene ever on camera. And it’s appropriate that my orgasm involved me slightly crossing one eye and sounding like a dying dolphin.”
Resident Alien is on Syfy Network every Wednesday at 10 pm EST. We’ve got reviews of each episode this season, along with a few more interviews with the cast.
