Being defeated by Earth.
In the process, he might offer humans the chance to rescue their own deteriorating world.
And he recognizes that humanity is worth investing in and worth saving."
Naomie Harris and Chiwetel Ejiofor in ‘The Man Who Fell to Earth’.Aimee Spinks/SHOWTIME
“She’s in a state of self-imposed exile in a way,” says Kurtzman.
“She’s just kind of on this hamster wheel of survival,” Harris explains.
“He has to learn what loss is, and then he learns what it is to connect.
Do look up: Faraday (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Justin (Naomie Harris) gaze skyward.Aimee Spinks/SHOWTIME
“And Faraday’s lonely because he’s cut off from himself.
He is totally disconnected from his feelings, from his heart.
So both of them have to learn to how to reconnect.”
Chiwetel Ejiofor and Naomie Harris in ‘The Man Who Fell to Earth’.Rico Torres/SHOWTIME
And that actually can be a real positive [thing].
What happens when a creature who doesn’t understand concepts like emotion or empathy begins to feel those things?
That was a really exciting dramatic idea to us.”
Depicting that transition required Ejiofor to deploy both his psychological and physical prowess as an actor.
Navigating that was really the daily work that Chiwetel and I did together."
A balance also had to be struck during production between Ejiofor’s and Harris' vastly different performing styles.
“Whereas I don’t like any of that.
“I tend to be in my head more and she’s very instinctive,” Ejiofor acknowledges.
“And that’s really great.
And so we never rehearsed until we actually got on set.”
We just didn’t want to present a one-sided argument.”
“I wonder how many people are willing to do that,” she adds.
Thomas Newton didn’t.
The Man Who Fell to Earthpremieres Sunday at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Showtime.
