Based on Martha Wells' bestselling Hugo and Nebula Award-winning book series, Murderbot is a sci-fi comedic thriller about a self-hacking security construct who is horrified by human emotion yet drawn to its vulnerable clients.
Murderbot (Alexander Skarsgård) must hide its free will and complete a dangerous assignment when all it really wants is to be left alone to watch futuristic soap operas and figure out its place in the universe.
Last month, we got to speak with Skarsgård and creators/writers/directors/producers Chris Weitz and Paul Weitz about working on the series. We started by asking the show's lead about finding the humanity in a character called "Murderbot."
"We wanted a contrast and a juxtaposition between the name of the character and the way we designed the look of the character. We wanted a tough name like Murderbot, who looks like he could definitely beat you up, but it's a fun contrast when you actually meet it," he explained. "It's not a testosterone-filled fighting machine. It's a very socially awkward android who wants to be left alone to watch Sanctuary Moon."
The Weitz brothers, who have collaborated on multiple projects including the seminal About a Boy, are no strangers to sci-fi, with Chris having written Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Did that experience help prepare him for Murderbot?
"Yeah, I think that learning from Gareth Edwards about science fiction world-building that incorporated live-action and CGI so well was a real roadmap for us, visually," the filmmaker confirmed. "Also, knowing that there is an intensely motivated fandom that is waiting on any clue as to what it is you're going about, and that really closely prize their head cannon of things and that you need to try and make them understand you're a fan as well."
He continued, "[It's about] understanding that the way to popularise something like this is to take what people are really into or really love about it and bring it to the world rather than saying, 'We're going to get rid of all these dumb elements and make it more like stuff that's succeeded.'"
Skarsgård's father, Stellan, is currently stealing the show in a Galaxy Far, Far Away with Andor. While Alexander has yet to join a Star Wars project, he's no stranger to genre fare thanks to the likes of True Blood, Godzilla vs. Kong, and Infinity Pool.
What was it about Murderbot that made it such a good fit for his first full-blown sci-fi? "I'm a child of the 80s. I grew up watching Star Wars. It's a bit of a dream to be part of a sci-fi project. I wanted to wait for the right one," the actor revealed. "I've read a couple of things over the years that weren't quite for me, but this felt perfect."
"Tonally, it was something I was drawn to. It was so idiosyncratic and different and unexpected. I had no interest in playing a more generic or derivative character. This felt like something I hadn't seen or read before," Skarsgård concluded.
Murderbot's ensemble cast also includes Noma Dumezweni (Presumed Innocent), David Dastmalchian (Oppenheimer), Sabrina Wu (Joy Ride), Akshay Khanna (Critical Incident), Tattiawna Jones (The Handmaid’s Tale) and Tamara Podemski (Outer Range).
The series premieres on Apple TV+ on May 16. You can watch our full Murderbot interviews with Alexander Skarsgård and Chris Weitz & Paul Weitz—where we get heaps of interesting insights about the show—in the players below.