While most productions shut down due to the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, some still attempt to forge ahead. Deadline reports that Noah Hawley‘s “Alien” prequel series for FX commenced shooting in Thailand earlier this week, albeit without any SAG-affiliated actors on set. That means Sydney Chandler, the only confirmed cast member up to this point, isn’t on set, as her reps confirmed. But other actors affiliated with Equity, the British acting union, are. Let’s meet them, shall we?
READ MORE: FX Head John Landgraf Confirms Noah Hawley’s ‘Alien’ Series Is In “Active Preproduction,” Will Star Shooting This Year
Deadline confirms that Alex Lawther, of Netflix‘s “The End Of The F*cking World” is in Thailand shooting the series at Bangkok’s Studio Park. Other confirmed new cast members include Samuel Blenkin, Essie Davis, and Adarsh Gourav. Hawley started filming scenes with cast and crew on Wednesday without any SAG-affiliated actors because Equity actors were told they could be sued for breach of contract if they walked out in solidarity with their American colleagues. And Hawley apparently had the entire show scripted before the WGA strike started on May 2, with sound stages booked and ready for shooting before the SAG-AFTRA strike kicked off last Friday. So good thing for Hawley and his crew that only three cast members belong to SAG-AFTRA. No word on who the other two are besides Chandler.
So it appears Hawley plans to shoot everything in the series not involving SAG-AFTRA members and then return to Thailand after the strike resolves to film the rest. Hawley’s “Alien” prequel takes place before the events of Ridley Scott‘s original 1979 film with Sigourney Weaver, and it’s the first story in the “Alien” series to take place on Earth. Scott is also on board as an executive producer on the series. Outside of taking place in the same universe, Hawley’s series has no relation to Fede Alvarez‘s upcoming “Alien” film for 20th Century Studios with Cailee Spaeny and Isabela Merced. That movie wrapped shooting earlier this year.
Given its shoot location and its cast of mostly non SAG-AFTRA members, Hawley’s series serves as an example of a production that may move ahead amid the ongoing guild strikes with little issue, at least for now. Reworking a shooting schedule to delay the participation of SAG actors works for now, but there’s no telling when the strike will end. And are Hawley’s completed scripts of the entire series a likely story? Maybe, maybe not. But with a reported 400 Thai nationals employed for the show’s production and most of the studios in Bangkok booked as well, it makes sense on some level for Hawley to move ahead with shooting. But the effects of the strikes still loom over production nonetheless.
So Hawley will have most of his “Alien” series shot by the time the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes (hopefully) resolve. That puts him ahead of the likes of Season 3 of HBO‘s “The White Lotus,” which planned to shoot in Thailand before the writers strike halted development. And technically, Hawley remains in solidarity with both WGA and SAG-AFTRA works on strike because he’s following both union’s restrictions; plus, the DGA isn’t on strike. But it still feels a little strange for FX to be shooting a series with Hollywood in such a contentious state.