When it comes to Amazon Video’s The Expanse, there is always a great deal of talk about James Holden (Steven Strait) and the choices and decisions that he makes on behalf of the Rocinante crew. However, you can’t really talk about the Roci crew without discussing two of its key members, Naomi Nagata (Dominique Tipper) and Alex Kamal (Cas Anvar).
From the outside looking in — Naomi and Alex couldn’t be more different. Naomi is a Belter engineer who seems to be haunted by her past. In contrast, Alex, a pilot from Mars, appears to be grounded and content in the present here and now.
Thrown together by circumstance in a world where the universe is as terrifying as it is endless, Alex and Naomi find both commonality and a grounding aboard the Rocinante. Now, as the epic space opera heads into Season 4 with the discovery of Ilus, fans will realize we’ve only just scratched the surface with these two.
Before the Season 4 premiere of The Expanse on Amazon Video — blackfilm.com visited Toronto to speak with Tipper and Anvar about their distinctive characters, and why it’s so thrilling to see the show finally getting the respect it deserves.
“I think for me it’s quite delicious,” Tipper said of Naomi’s journey this season. “A lot of my really early choices with Naomi were all rooted in her past. But, I couldn’t talk about that with anyone. I had reasons for the way she reacted to situations and the way she reacted to certain outward things that happened. You’re like, ‘Why is Naomi running after that child?’ I knew what it was. Now, if you went back and watched Season 1, you’d be like, ‘Oh, that’s why she’s doing that — that’s why she reacts that way.’ It’s quite nice that there has been a lot of planning things and it’s finally come full circle. It’s been so refreshing and rewarding to play out.”
Anvar’s approach to Alex has been very different than the rest of his co-stars. “Wes [Chatham’s] character Amos has a massive backstory that’s been created,” he explained. “Naomi has a massive backstory. Holden is the center of everything. For Alex, I’m learning about him as we go along. His backstory in the books is pretty sparse. You know that he’s married — there’s a child in the picture, but you don’t really know much about it. Alex’s journey in the books is all about being in the present and being in the now. His history doesn’t inform too much of what goes on in the books other than he came from being a bus driver, and became a fighter pilot. Even then, it’s not about how they treated him at the Academy or anything like that. He’s just there. Alex has four fundamental pillars that he bases his entire life on. He’s a Martin, and Mars is committed and dedicated to terraforming and the military. He’s a family man, and he’s a pilot — he’s born and bred to be a pilot.”
After being off the air for 18 months— fans can expect an entirely new tone on The Expanse when Season 4 debuts December 13. “Season 4 compared to Seasons 1-3 is so different,” Anvar revealed. “The first seasons were like an opera. Season 4 departs from that. It’s a whole different feel, vibe, and energy. Season 4 starts a new movement and they really did approach it like a wild western— going into new territory. Landing on the planet Ilus, they used different shooting techniques, they used different lenses. There are a ton of beautiful panoramic wide screens. There is a classic confrontation scene between Murtry (Burn Gorman) and Holden.”
For Tipper, The Expanse’s ability to switch tones is a nod to how incredible and well written the James S. A. Corey novels are. “We’ve got everything to give and praise to the source material,” she said. “They took risks in their writing, which allows us to do the same. You get all the perspectives; it’s all very grand. It’s not sticking to the same formula. It has given our fans who were used to the show something different, and for someone who comes in and hasn’t watched the first three seasons, they’re not at a complete loss.”
The Expanse’s move from Syfy to Amazon has also allowed the cult favorite series to broaden its horizons. “I feel like the show is getting the respect and the attention that it deserves almost from its parent,” Anvar said candidly. “It’s being nurtured and put out in the world in that way. The Expanse has always been the show that it is, but it has not always been supported in the way it is now. Finally, it’s like, ‘OMG, our faces are on a poster.’ Yeah! We can show how representative this show is. Finally, everything looks the way it should, and we’re talking about things the way that we should. It always should have been on a streaming platform. The nature of the show is not a commercial break show. It’s a binging show, and it’s complicated, and it’s layered. It’s like Game of Thrones in space in terms of all of these stories going on all over the place. I was always amazed we got to do the show the way we did on a cable network. It had an incredible quality to the point where really important people like George R.R. Martin and Jeff Bezos were very much in love with the show. Because of that quality, it got snatched up, and now we are we where we should be.”
For Tipper, the fact that all of the cast and crew’s hard work can truly be experienced in the way in which it was intended has been indescribable. “We’ve always loved making the show,” she reflected. “I just feel more settled and so excited because I think the show is really important. As an actor, when you feel like you’re making something important, you want it to be seen. If you’re not, you don’t. You say, ‘I’ll take that check, and hopefully no one will see.’ With The Expanse, a lot of people have a voice and a perspective that matters — so I just want people to see the show. That’s what we’re all ecstatic about. If the show would’ve finished at Season 3, the people who are diehard fans would’ve known about it, and that would have been the end of it. Now we have the opportunity for people all over the world to see it. It’s really exciting.”
The Expanse Season 4 debuts December 13, 2019. Keep following blackfilm.com for our extensive coverage.
Loading…