David Jonsson is having his glow-up moment. After turning on the charm in last year’s rom-com “Rye Lane” and scaling the walls of the London financial world in the first two seasons of HBO’s “Industry,” Jonsson is exploding into the public conscious with his first studio film role in Fede Alvarez ‘s “Alien: Romulus.” As an early synthetic named Andy, Jonsson enters a long line of android characters throughout the “Alien” franchise , but in a recent interview with GQ UK , said his stands out from the rest.
Zoë Kravitz and Channing Tatum Scour the Criterion Closet, Take Home 'A Woman Under the Influence,' 'Paris Is Burning,' and Many More
“I wanted to make Andy, Andy,” Jonsson said. “I actually think it’s a disservice when I say I wanted to make him my own, which I have said before, and it’s not true. On the page, he’s this brilliant character. He’s got almost two sides to him, and he’s going through a bit of a coming-of-age. When I look at all the other synthetic characters in the franchise, Fassbender … you know someone who people always leave off? Winona Ryder [in ‘Alien: Resurrection’], and I thought she was brilliant. But when I look at all of those, they’re not like Andy. Andy’s unique in many ways, and I just wanted to embrace it. I try not to put any pressure on it and make it true.”
Part of Andy’s uniqueness is that he’s distinctly a synthetic, whereas other characters, like Ash in the orignal “Alien,” played by Ian Holm, were meant to blend in amongst the human crew. Because Andy was an early synthetic and retains his original chip, he still has ticks that get worked out in later models. At one point, David is implanted with an updated chip, stopping his ticks and providing him with an English accent reminiscent of David in “Prometheus” and “Alien: Covenant.”
“We did speak about that, by the way, and we did say that at moments — because of the nature of Andy’s switch, and him having the original chip put inside him — we wanted him to have that [accent], but at times, Rain [Cailee Spaeny] looks at him and she’s like, Is he still there?” Jonsson said to GQ. “That meant that you kind of had to have a different inflection, and not make it so sterile, so we played a bit with that as well.”
Brian Cox: Cinema Is in a 'Very Bad Way' -- and Marvel and DC Are to Blame
Earlier in the interview, Jonsson discussed the benefit of shaping his character on a set that was so focused around practical effects .
“I was worried, with this being my first studio film — and the first film in such a big franchise — that I would be acting with, yeah, tennis balls,” he said. “I’m not saying I won’t do it. If the right role comes along, gimme a tennis ball. Thank god, with this particular one, they took great pride in taking it back to form, and building everything. Which meant you [had] something right in front of you, you have something to look at, and take in. Of course, it’s not a real alien. But bloody hell, it’s built just like one.”
“Alien: Romulus” is in theaters now.
Most Popular
Comments / 0