Fatherhood sparked series
Becoming a parent gave writer idea for dystopian world where androids raise kids
Producer-director Ridley Scott is at it again. The father of such projects as Blade Runner, Alien and Coma has helped create a new dystopian landscape. This time it’s the androids who face a daunting task as they must parent human children in Raised
by Wolves, premiering on HBO Max Sept. 3.
It’s a brave new world created by Aaron Guzikowski, who says he got the idea when he became a father.
“The big spark that really helped me find my way into this world was the idea of the androids,” he says. “And I think it was when I had kids of my own, and just seeing technology kind of encroaching on them, for better or for worse.
“And also myself, just carrying this phone around all the time and just wondering someday maybe this phone is gonna carry ME around. Who knows where this is all going? And what does this mean for my kids?”
British actor Abubakar Salim, who plays the father android, says at first he had no idea how an automaton would act. But he was eased into the role by workshopping the voice and cadence with Scott, who directed the first two episodes.
“We had at least I think a good two or three weeks of rehearsing and working the actual character and making sure that we felt grounded with him,” says Salim.
“I mean a lot of that, of the evolution of the paternal instincts and everything came from — I guess for me the way of seeing it was no one really knows how to be a parent the first time, right? So that was what was quite exciting. It’s like how does an android — even though they have all this information — know to be a parent even though they have to work off the cuff?”
Scott had examined the script and responded to it, recalls Guzikowski.
“And apparently soon after he had read it, he had just started drawing pictures, storyboarding. So as soon as I had heard that, it was beyond exciting to me … Before I was even interested in making movies or TV or anything, I was obsessed with the stories that Ridley was telling. So it is a dream. It’s been great. And he hasn’t disappointed in terms of just his generosity, in terms of just being a great mentor, he’s been great.”
As for Scott, he relishes the challenge.
“I really do like creating worlds and try and make them as accurately as possible because in a way, it’s almost like an additional character,” he says.
“I enjoy the rock-and-roll of the whole process of making films and I find it very exciting, and I’m very fortunate to be able to do it and it’s a wonderful occupation.”
Guzikowski sees a thread between his work and Scott’s.
“There was a lot of exchange of DNA between a lot of the mythologies that Ridley has established in the past, and this new story,” he says. “But I think a lot of the rules that apply to these androids and the questions that they bring up are similar to going as far back to Ash from Alien in 1977. There are some similarities there.”
David W. Zucker, one of the show’s producers, says, “Aaron’s material came in as a spec [script] and, as Ridley always says, if it’s there on the page and he responds to it — which he did with this — then it just begins to gestate in his mind.
“The exciting thing was the first time Aaron and Ridley came together, both of them — being fine artists — Ridley was working on some of his visual inspiration for the piece, and started slowly sharing it with Aaron. And then before we knew it, the two of them were drawing right next to each other and evolving their ideas. So, it was a very exciting sort of collaboration, from start to finish.”
Danish actor Amanda Collin was cast as the android mother.
She says the first day on set with Salim, they weren’t quite sure what to do.
“Abu and I looked at each other and we’re like: ‘I think the first scene we’re just supposed to walk.’ And we looked at each other and we were like: ‘How, how do we walk? How do we walk as androids?’ And we just walked. And so little by little, stuff came along … and then you start to incorporate the whole animalistic kind of way of moving, and it was a great joy to just keep discovering the senses of an android.”