
In ‘Murderbot,' an anxious scientist and an autonomous robot develop a workplace-trauma bond
Alexander Skarsgård was initially worried 'Murderbot' would be too dark. The actor had come off a string of intense films, including 'The Northman' and 'Infinity Pool,' and he was looking for something more comedic. The title of the series, based on Martha Wells' popular science fiction books, didn't suggest it would be particularly funny.
'I wasn't familiar with Martha's novellas, so I just heard the title and I heard 'sci-fi,' ' Skarsgård says, speaking over the phone from Los Angeles. 'If you're not familiar with the books, you think it's probably going to be an incredibly testosterone-driven, tough guy android kicking ass in space. But I was pleasantly surprised when I started reading [the script]. I had never encountered a character like this.'
The actor was so struck by the titular character that he not only signed on to star in the Apple TV+ series but also joined as an executive producer alongside creators Paul Weitz and Chris Weitz.
'Talking to Chris and Paul and getting to know them got me even more excited,' he says. 'They're so brilliant, and their vision for the character and for the show got me fired up.'
Season 1, which began streaming in May, is based on 'All Systems Red,' the first book in Wells' futuristic series 'The Murderbot Diaries.' It follows a private security cyborg, known as a 'SecUnit,' who hacks its governing module, allowing it newfound autonomy. An eclectic group of researchers, led by Dr. Mensah (Noma Dumezweni), are forced to accept the SecUnit as part of a planetary mission, and it slowly begins to learn the way of humans. The relationship between Mensah and their SecUnit, who refers to itself as Murderbot, is charmingly awkward. The pair are forced to trust each other as the mission goes awry, leading to an unlikely friendship. In 'Command Feed,' the sixth episode released on Friday, Mensah saves Murderbot from destruction by reluctantly performing surgery on its wiring.
'Is that what they call trauma bonding in this day and age?' Dumezweni says of the scene in a separate interview over Zoom from New York, where she is preparing to star in 'Duke & Roya' on Broadway. 'Filming it was extraordinary because the special effects guys were amazing. It [Murderbot] was literally in front of me, but that obviously wasn't Alexander. It looked so real.'
'That dynamic was led by the script, and it was very interesting,' Skarsgård adds. 'It was clear that Mensah would be an empathetic character. And Murderbot is not used to being treated respectfully by humans or even being treated as a sentient construct. He's always been a piece of equipment. Noma and I talked a lot about it. It was a gold mine to explore because there's so much comedy in their differences.'
Leading a TV series is a first for Dumezweni, who has previously been cast in smaller roles. She wasn't convinced by the initial pitch at first because sci-fi hasn't traditionally had a lot of major roles for actors of color.
'Usually I'd come in and play the receptionist,' she says. 'I love to watch sci-fi. But I wondered: Who am I going to be in this sci-fi world?'
However, once she learned more about the world and the character, the actor changed her mind.
'It was an absolute joy to discover that there was nothing that Chris and Paul had to change to make it representational,' Dumezweni says. 'It's lovely not to have to fight for people's positions in the world based on their skin color.'
Both actors were drawn to the series in part because of its unique tone, which lands somewhere between action, comedy and drama. Murderbot is stoic but awkward and unaccustomed to human emotions, which it learns about by surreptitiously watching hours of soap operas. Mensah's Preservation Alliance team is composed of misfits, including David Dastmalchian's Gurathin and Sabrina Wu's Pin-Lee, who often confound Murderbot's expectations. The laughs don't come from intentional punchlines, but instead from situational circumstances and Murderbot's dry voice-over, as well as its disinterest in dealing with humans.
'The writing was so surprising and different and had such a unique tone from the beginning,' Skarsgård says. 'What works is that it has this instant combination of being a big, action-packed sci-fi show, but it's also a workplace comedy.'
Because the voice-over is essential to the story, getting it right took a lot of trial and error. Skarsgård says he worried about how it would be incorporated during shooting, particularly because Murderbot is so expressionless and not very verbose in many of the actual scenes.
'How would we juxtapose that with an inner monologue that is more expressive?' he says. 'How do you find a fun and interesting balance between the way Murderbot speaks and the way he thinks?'
The voice-over became an evolving component of the episodes. On set, an assistant director would sometimes read the narration off camera if it felt relevant for the actors to hear during a particular scene. After filming, Skarsgård, Chris and Paul got together in Stockholm, New York and Los Angeles for several recording sessions to try out different versions of the voice-over lines.
'It was quite exhausting, but also quite fun creatively because you could see how much the tone of the scene changed when we tweaked the voice-over a little bit,' Skarsgård says. 'You could have a moment where there's no voice-over, and it's like a non-moment where nothing happens. But then just by adding a little commentary by Murderbot, it suddenly pops into a funny little moment.'
Although the series adheres to Wells' book, some aspects of the characters have been expanded. In the show, Mensah struggles with anxiety in a few vulnerable moments, which differs from her portrayal on the page. Dumezweni says she has observed some pushback from fans of the book about the changes, an experience she understands from playing Hermione Granger in 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child' when it opened in the West End.
'That's what you have to do in film and TV,' she says. 'You have to expand, not change. You have to fill in. I love it because only Murderbot can see what's happening to her in that moment. None of her team can see it until Episode 4. I love those moments. For me, they grow her.'
For Dumezweni, these scenes give Mensah a point of connection for the audience, as does the way Murderbot is 'autism-coded,' as some fans have noted. Skarsgård says the creators didn't set out to make the character overtly neurodivergent in the series.
'It's very clear when you read the novellas and the scripts that it is a character who is not always comfortable in settings with other people and can find interactions with humans tricky to navigate,' Skarsgård says. 'To me, it was a character we hoped would be relatable to people in the neurodivergent community, but also in a lot of fans in the LGBTQ community. Murderbot not having a gender or being subscribed to binary sexuality could be relatable, but it's natural to Murderbot. That was important — this is how Murderbot was created, and none of this [identity] is a big deal to Murderbot.'
At the core of the show is the concept of Murderbot's free will, something that gets more fully explored in upcoming episodes.
'It's now understanding it has free will truly and that there are choices to be made in the world,' Dumezweni says. 'Meeting these people gives it a chance to understand that not all human beings are idiots.'
'For me, the inner journey for Murderbot over the course of the season is about what to do with that autonomy,' Skarsgård adds. 'The character has unleashed something inside of itself by hacking the governing module and gaining this independence. The journey becomes: I have this autonomy now, but who am I? What am I capable of? What am I willing to do? What are my desires?'
Although 'Murderbot' has yet to be renewed for a second season, there is a lot of source material available. Wells has written seven books featuring Murderbot, and Skarsgård is excited about the potential for more episodes.
'I love Murderbot,' he says. 'I love playing Murderbot. Chris and Paul are not only supremely talented but incredibly nice and generous. If you talk to anyone who worked on the show, I guarantee that everyone had the time of their lives.'
The remaining four episodes will reveal the antagonist behind the attacks on the Preservation Alliance and whether they'll successfully be able to escape the planet. They also offer essential backstory into characters like Mensah and Gurathin.
'I can't wait for people to see each and every story,' Dumezweni says. 'And what Alex does in the last two episodes is amazing. I don't care if I'm in no more seasons, but Alexander Skarsgård has to carry on making seasons of 'Murderbot.' He does so much with the tiniest movement of his face. He is extraordinary and he honors the character beautifully.'
'Murderbot's job will get harder and harder trying to protect these very lovely but also quite naive and inexperienced humans,' Skarsgård says. 'It's not a spoiler to say that eventually Murderbot will care about these humans, but we didn't want to rush into that. We leaned in slowly. So much of the comedy results from the character's absolute reluctance to save their lives.'
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Forbes
2 hours ago
- Forbes
Angel Studios' ‘The Last Rodeo' Gets Digital Streaming Date
Neal O'Donough and Mykelti Williamson in "The Last Rodeo." The Last Rodeo, a faith-based drama starring Neal McDonough, is coming soon to digital streaming. Find out when and where you can watch the movie at home. Rated PG, The Last Rodeo opened in theaters on May 23. The official summary for the film reads, 'A retired rodeo legend risks it all to save his grandson. Facing his own painful past and the fears of his family, he enters a high-stakes bull-riding competition as the oldest contestant ever. 'Along the way, he reconciles old wounds with his estranged daughter and proves that true courage is found in the fight for family.' Produced by Angel Studios (The King of Kings, Homestead), The Last Rodeo also stars Sarah Jones (For All Mankind), Mykelti Williamson (Forrest Gump, Heat) and Christopher McDonald (Happy Gilmore, Happy Gilmore 2) Graham Harvey and Ruvé McDonough — who produced the film with her husband, Neal McDonough. The Last Rodeo will be released on digital streaming via premium video on demand on Tuesday, July 15, as confirmed by a new listing on Apple TV. The film is currently up for pre-order for $19.99, which is also the film's purchase price. Since digital rentals are typically $5 less than purchase prices, viewers can expect to rent The Last Rodeo for $14.99. As of this publication, Apple TV is the only platform offering The Last Rodeo on PVOD. It is worth noting, however, that Angel Studios' faith-based hit The King of Kings only debuted on PVOD on Apple TV and Fandango at Home. How Did Audiences And Critics Receive 'The Last Rodeo'? The Last Rodeo has earned $14.6 million to date in North American theaters. The film had an estimated production budget of $8.5 million before prints and advertising, per IMDb. The Last Rodeo earned a 68% 'fresh' score from Rotten Tomatoes critics based on 37 reviews. The film also earned a 95% 'fresh' Popcornmeter score based on 1,000-plus verified user ratings. The RT audience summary for The Last Rodeo reads, 'With a punchy Neal McDonough on the saddle, The Last Rodeo is a wholesome ride for the entire herd.' The Last Rodeo arrives on PVOD on Apple TV on July 15.


Geek Girl Authority
10 hours ago
- Geek Girl Authority
MURDERBOT Recap: (S01E07) Complementary Species
Murderbot Season 1 Episode 7, 'Complementary Species,' finds our humans debating whether they should dump SecUnit in the middle of nowhere or keep it. Will it inevitably kill them or continue to protect them? The episode is also a clever meditation on the price of human life, and whether it's okay to take one if your own life hangs in the balance. 'Complementary Species' is bolstered by solid performances and a nuanced display of character dynamics. Plus, that cliffhanger will hopefully yield fruit in the form of narrative answers in the remaining three episodes. RELATED: Read our recap of the previous Murderbot episode, 'Command Feed' Murderbot, 'Complementary Species' We open with a flashback to the PresAux crew on Port FreeCommerce one month earlier. They're all having dinner while playing an honesty game. Everyone's airing their grievances, mending fences and forcing those skeletons out of the closet. Bharadwaj (Tamara Podemski) admits she told Pin-Lee (Sabrina Wu) that she had feelings for them. She apologizes to them for making them uncomfortable, which Pin-Lee accepts. Then, it's Gurathin's (David Dastmalchian) turn to share a deep, dark truth. Remember, we can talk about this! Gurathin discloses that he used to be a spy for the Corporation Rim. The Corporation Rim induced Gurathin to be addicted to a number of substances. Unfortunately, only they possessed the formulas for them. His job was to acquire sensitive information that the CR could use to destroy their adversaries and further their reach. Mensah (Noma Dumezweni) was his target. At this point, Gurathin considered ending his life. Then, he met Mensah. He told her everything — being a spy, his addictions. And Mensah forgave him. She supported his desire to leave it all behind. What a beautiful, understated performance from Dastmalchian here. Thankfully, Bharadwaj, Pin-Lee, Arada (Tattiawna Jones) and Ratthi (Akshay Khanna) still love him anyway. RELATED: Alexander Skarsgård Goes Rogue in Murderbot Trailer After this confession, Gurathin and Mensah have an aside. He gives her the cold, hard truth: She's naive. Also, this expedition isn't a good idea. Mensah counters that they'll have a SecUnit with them. However, that makes Gurathin feel worse. He doesn't trust the Corporation Rim, and knows better than anyone what they're capable of. MURDERBOT Season 1 Episode 7, 'Complementary Species.' Photo courtesy of Apple TV+ Pack It Up In the present, Murderbot (Alexander Skarsgård) orders our crew to finish packing so they can depart in the hopper. Leebeebee's employer is undoubtedly close. Our titular bot can't believe its risk assessment module didn't clock the late Leebeebee as a hostile. Gurathin should probably spend more time in the med bay as he's still pretty injured, but there's no time for that now. SecUnit barrels into the habitat, its helmet on, and orders the crew to pile into the hopper before they lose their lives. Not by it, of course. Whoever employed Leebeebee has it out for the PresAux gang. RELATED: David Dastmalchian Joins Apple TV+ Murderbot Adaptation Later, in the hopper, Ratthi strikes up a conversation with Murderbot to assess its current state. Its inner monologue tells us that the group's 'unwarranted' distrust and fear of it is getting on its nerves. It saved their lives. Why can't they be more grateful? You heard it here first — exploding heads saves lives. Leaving on a Hopper Ratthi admits, in his amiable, disarming way, that the crew is startled. He not-so-subtly wonders if Murderbot was aiming for Gurathin's head, not Leebeebee's. SecUnit states that if it wanted Gurathin dead, he would be, well, dead. So, there's that. Arada asks Ratthi if SecUnit showed any remorse for killing Leebeebee. Well, not exactly. Mensah lands the hopper in a new location on the planet. Murderbot decides to check the perimeter, which is its favorite thing to do — and a means of getting away from the humans. Before it goes, it remarks that Gurathin's body temperature is spiking. Bharadwaj adds that he has a fever. He needs medical care. RELATED: New TV Shows This Week (June 15 – 21) After it leaves, the PresAux team engages in a moral debate. Pin-Lee states that, yes, Murderbot defended them. However, what if it turns on them? It seems inevitable at this point. Mensah counters that she's more concerned about the humans trying to kill them. Mensah adds that it spent years in forced labor and subjugation. Of course it wants autonomy. Wouldn't you? MURDERBOT Season 1 Episode 7, 'Complementary Species.' Photo courtesy of Apple TV+ Fine Outside, SecUnit wonders what might happen if it stays in the woods forever, just binge-watching its favorite shows. It could allow itself to shut down organically. It admits that it's quite confused at the moment. Meanwhile, Gurathin asks Mensah if she has a crush on Murderbot. I mean, it does look exactly like Alexander Skarsgård… Then, SecUnit reunites with Mensah. She asks it how it's doing. Our sentient construct had hoped it wouldn't have to answer inane questions since it confessed to hacking its governor module. However, it decides to opt for a very human response: 'Fine.' RELATED: On Location: The Lighterman in Apple TV+'s Slow Horses The others venture outside. Pin-Lee inquires about Murderbot's security methods. It rattles off a retort about Pin-Lee's mission to litigate the Corporation Rim to hell, proving it listens in on their conversations. Also, SecUnit is extra sassy in this episode, and I love it. We Can Talk About This Mensah makes an executive decision — they're gonna hash this out now. We can talk about this. The group, sans Gurathin, encircles SecUnit. They join hands. SecUnit refuses to partake. Mensah asks it to lower its helmet. She explains that she wants the team to 'get past the violence.' She believes that SecUnit removing its helmet will convince the group that it's trying to help. This does the trick. We see its face again. MURDERBOT Season 1 Episode 7, 'Complementary Species.' Photo courtesy of Apple TV+ After this, SecUnit orders everyone to board the hopper. Suddenly, a two-headed creature bursts from the ground, launching itself at the hopper. Murderbot trains its weapon on the beast. However, another, different creature emerges from the other side. And just when our crew thinks the monsters will kill each other, they start mating. Arada is fascinated. She remarks that they're 'complementary species.' RELATED: On Location: The Phoenicia Diner on Apple TV+'s Severance Gotta love it when two alien creatures f*ck on top of a ship. Once the lovers depart, the PresAux team heads back outside. They discover egg sacs on the side of the hopper. Mensah says they can leave them there for now. Please Remain Calm (or Don't) Suddenly, a top-of-the-line SecUnit launches itself toward our SecUnit. It jammed our bot's threat assessment module. 'Please remain calm,' the enemy says as it kicks Murderbot. The crew attempts to defend themselves and protect Murderbot. Ratthi throws a spear. Arada shoves the hostile, and Pin-Lee kicks it. Murderbot multitasks here, simultaneously attacking the other SecUnit while protecting the humans from it. MURDERBOT Season 1 Episode 7, 'Complementary Species.' Photo courtesy of Apple TV+ Then, the enemy SecUnit fires on the egg sacs, taking some of them out. The two-headed creature returns. It rips the SecUnit's head off before grabbing the remainder of the egg sacs and burrowing back underground. The gang celebrates. Seccy does it again. RELATED: Read our Murderbot recaps Next, Gurathin collapses. His fever is rising. The PresAux team decides to return to the habitat to get him proper medical care. (They're also still a month out from the Corporation Rim arriving to take them home.) Murderbot believes this is unwise. The habitat will be crawling with hostiles, especially since it killed Leebeebee. Mensah makes another executive decision. They're going back to the habitat whether it likes this choice or not. It can join them or stay. They take care of their own (even Sanctuary Moon haters like Gurathin). Murderbot drops new episodes every Friday on Apple TV+. TED LASSO Season 4 Is Officially a Go at Apple TV+ Contact: [email protected] What I do: I'm GGA's Managing Editor, a Senior Contributor, and Press Coordinator. I manage, contribute, and coordinate. Sometimes all at once. Joking aside, I oversee day-to-day operations for GGA, write, edit, and assess interview opportunities/press events. Who I am: Before moving to Los Angeles after studying theater in college, I was born and raised in Amish country, Ohio. No, I am not Amish, even if I sometimes sport a modest bonnet. Bylines in: Tell-Tale TV, Culturess, Sideshow Collectibles, and inkMend on Medium. Critic: Rotten Tomatoes, CherryPicks, and the Hollywood Creative Alliance.
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
Renowned '90s Actress, 67, Appears to Be Aging in Reverse in Tribute to Co-Star
Renowned '90s Actress, 67, Appears to Be Aging in Reverse in Tribute to Co-Star originally appeared on Parade. Actress Michelle Pfeiffer is known for her beauty—both inside and out. The 67-year-old Batman Returns stunner, who is also the founder of the fragrance line Henry Rose, took to social media today to wish a happy birthday to another iconic beauty, Nicole Kidman, who turns 58 on June 20. Both actresses—known for their timeless beauty and talent—star alongside Elle Fanning in the upcoming Apple TV+ series Margo's Got Money shared a lovely photo of herself and Kidman, both defying the odds by still looking radiant while laughing (ladies, what's your secret?). In the caption, the Hairspray star wrote, 'Happiest of birthdays to the brilliant, beautiful, and hardest working woman in show business… @nicolekidman! 🤍 I am so grateful for your friendship over the years and hope you are showered with love today!' Fans loved seeing the two film icons together in one photo. One wrote, 'Two of my all-time favorite actresses,' while another shared, 'OK but you both literally never age.''I think somehow Michelle ages in reverse—my goodness,' wrote one fan, capturing what many were thinking upon seeing Pfeiffer's post. Clearly, the key to aging in reverse is laughing, celebrating others—and maybe a little help from good genetics. 🎬SIGN UP for Parade's Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox🎬 Renowned '90s Actress, 67, Appears to Be Aging in Reverse in Tribute to Co-Star first appeared on Parade on Jun 20, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade on Jun 20, 2025, where it first appeared.