David Rysdahl on Alien Earth, Big Monsters, and Working with Noah Hawley

David Rysdahl sat down with Kyle Meredith to dig into FX’s Alien: Earth, the latest installment of the Alien franchise. Known for roles in Fargo and Oppenheimer, Rysdahl steps into a story that uses sci-fi horror as a Trojan horse for bigger questions — AI, environmental collapse, corporate greed, even the messy question of whether humanity deserves to stick around. Listen to the conversation now.

For Rysdahl, working again with creator Noah Hawley after Fargo meant playing more than just a scientist — he was embodying a piece of Hawley himself. “I do feel like I’m playing a part of Noah,” he tells Meredith. “Arthur is the conscience and the heart of Alien: Earth. Wayne in Fargo was that for his family, and Arthur is that in this story. Both are idealists who have their faith and their world shaken.” He laughed about Hawley sending him a one-line email — “You want to come to Thailand?” — and knew right then he was back in the deep end.

That deep end, of course, comes with the Alien franchise’s weight and a modern spin on terror. Rysdahl admitted the show made him rethink the present just as much as the fictional future.

Listen to David Rysdahl or watch it on YouTube chat about all this and more. Please take the time to like, review, and subscribe to KMW wherever you get your podcasts, and keep up to date with all our series by following the Consequence Podcast Network.

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