In the dark corridor and the instantaneous light of the fluorescent lights of “Alien: Earth,” you can get a small (but scary) glimpse of the 6’2 xenomorph lurking in the background. It’s like giving someone a chill, as anything standing in the way of a creature is guaranteed to tear and tear.
Stunt performer Cameron Brown has never played creatures before, but he finds himself working together to take on the role of one of the most beloved creatures in sci-fi. Brown spoke to Variety about his favorite stunts and how long it took him to enter the Xenomorph suit.
What was the first conversation with series creator Noah Holy about this Xenomorph iteration?
I received a note from Noah through the suit design and Weta workshop. I live in Australia and Weta is headquartered in New Zealand. It’s the other side of the world, opposite where Noah is. Many of my clues have gone through the creature itself. When the various elements of the suit began to gather, they were trying to let them know how this creature moved and interacted with the world.
Xenomorph has been on screen for almost 50 years. What did you see while studying how to portray that movement and body language?
After being cast, I went back and watched the first three films in particular. I was looking for clues for these three movements to try to continue precisely the legacy of the performers that had come before me. I’ve also seen “Alien vs. Predator” several times. There were really great moves that Tom (Woodruff Jr.) and the other actors there made, which influenced some of the choices I made. I looked up images on Pinterest and Google to find stills of manga, fan art and silhouettes that people imagined Xenomorph. I built these moments into the movement and tried to keep them as authentic as possible.
Which stunt stands out most against you during filming?
Outstanding is the Roadship Apartment Sequence (Episode 2) and the jump from the balcony. It was a pretty cool stunt to get performance, especially due to how much collaboration there was between all the departments. Everything was practical, from the exploding glass to the table I was landing. The chandelier behind it was a real explosion. The camera team essentially took a second or two, when Alex (Lowser) acted in the foreground where the whole thing disappeared, moving Dolly in turn. It was a truly special moment.
Episode 5 is a standalone episode centered around Maginot’s events at the moment leading up to the Prodigy City crash. How did the set constructed as replicas from “Alien” Nostromo affect the way Xenomorph works? It’s such a packed space.
Maginot is very confined and claustrophobic, and it wants to be a quadruped rather than bipedal. That was an instinct I had from the beginning. In episode 5 there is a shot I really like when Zoya Zavei (Richa Moorjani) is running away from Xenomorph. We did the entire scene in practically. Ben Ohanlon, the key stun trigger, was equipped with a slack line around the corner. There were a lot of quick release systems that allowed that to happen, then I put me on an air-driven ratchet, fired a button and shot it around the corner of my suit.
How long did it take to prepare your suits every day?
I had an incredible team of technicians who I was with on set every day. By the end of the show we had 20 minutes to get in and 20 minutes to get out. It was really well created because there have been so many innovations since the 70s and the first HR Giger Xenomorph suit. The suit I was wearing was completely modular. There were different legs, separate arms, different torso, different neck, and other head. Most of the time I was waiting and sat looking for the shot I needed. I was able to hang around my torso, arms and legs, and my neck and head apart to make it quite comfortable.
It’s interesting to be fragmented as the Xenomorphs in “Alien: Earth” interact with hybrids and humans in ways they haven’t seen before in the series.
In a later episode, Jayde Rutene was an actor in the suit. I went back to more advisory-like roles and helped guide her into her role as a creature. That’s something we often talked about when the script came out. That relationship is what it looks like between the xenomorph and the new. I have never seen these human consciousness in the composite.
What are your most proud moments as you tackle “Alien: Earth”?
It’s amazing to wear that outfit and wear a Xenomorph mask. I’m working on it as a performer and now I’m watching it as a fan, so I was just as impressed as I was working on it. I am truly pleased that Noah has trusted me to take on this role and help him create his vision for this world.
This interview was compiled and condensed.
