Murderbot has entered the again half of Season 1 for viewers tuning in weekly with an Apple TV+ subscription, with main man Alexander Skarsgård persevering with to show that typically not emoting in any respect might be a lot funnier in a unusual comedy than any slapstick antics. As SecUnit – or the self-titled Murderbot – Skarsgård has to maintain an virtually solely straight face, together with his character’s snark (and obsession with the cleaning soap opera The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon) principally coming throughout through narration. In response to the actor, nevertheless, there was one specific scene that was an actual problem when it got here to staying expressionless.
And contemplating the ordeal for the actor when it got here to placing on his Murderbot costume, it says one thing that this interplay is what had him “struggling” whereas filming for the 2025 TV schedule! After I spoke with Skarsgård throughout Apple TV+’s press junket for Murderbot, I needed to know: did he have an method to preserving that extremely straight face? He defined:
I used to be struggling. I can not lie, I used to be struggling as a result of they’re so humorous, the opposite actors. Particularly, I keep in mind one scene with Anna Konkle, who performs Leebeebee. When she thinks that there is sexual chemistry between herself and Murderbot, and there is zero of that from Murderbot’s perspective, however she reads the room utterly improper and thinks it is the suitable second that she’s leaning in for a kiss. And I am purported to be utterly clean, similar to standing there as she tries to lean in for what she thinks is a passionate second.
The solid of Murderbot is comprised of Harry Potter and the Cursed Little one‘s Noma Dumezweni as Mensah, David Dastmalchian recent off of the solid of The Lifetime of Chuck as Gurathin, Sabrina Wu as Pin-Lee, Akshay Khanna as Ratthi, Tamara Podemski as Bharadwaj, and Tattiawna Jones as fellow sequence regulars alongside Alexander Skarsgård, however he gave particular shout out to Anna Konkle. Whereas she did not debut on the present as a recurring actor till Episode 5, she actually made an impression!
The main man went on to reward Konkle’s comedic efficiency whereas additionally admitting that Leebeebee’s try and kiss Murderbot had him cracking up time and time once more. He mentioned:
I used to be actually struggling that day, as a result of Anna is so extremely humorous, and she or he would do like little issues in a different way in every take, and I used to be continually corpsing. I could not hold a straight face. I felt actually dangerous as a result of she delivered such nice, nice comedic takes, and I used to be simply laughing my ass off. I feel we lastly bought it, however that was one in every of fairly just a few days the place it was exhausting to be simply an impassive robotic.
I feel anyone who has been watching Murderbot can agree that the solid and manufacturing staff did certainly lastly get the shot, so at the very least Alexander Skarsgård’s struggles had been definitely worth the effort! Whereas my favourite comedic little bit of Murderbot up to now must be the recurring joke of Murderbot’s obsession with Sanctuary Moon (with cuts to the house cleaning soap opera that includes stars like Clark Gregg, John Cho, Jack McBrayer, and DeWanda Smart), I feel Leebeebee trying to kiss Murderbot will go down as one of the vital memorable moments of the primary season.
After all, it stays to be seen if that is actually Murderbot‘s first of a number of seasons or the present will probably be completed after simply the one. Apple TV+’s manufacturing is predicated on The Murderbot Diaries e book sequence penned by Martha Wells, so there’s doubtless loads of supply materials to proceed SecUnit’s story. The streamer can also be dwelling to a number of wonderful ongoing reveals, starting from difficult dramas like Severance to different comedies like Shrinking. Then once more, as a fan of Brie Larson’s Classes in Chemistry, I can not deny that Apple TV+ has additionally been the house of some standout one-and-done sequence over time.
For now, hold signing into Apple TV+ on Fridays for the newest episodes of Murderbot. It stays to be seen if every other characters will make an ill-advised transfer on Murderbot like Leebeebee, however I do know I am hooked on the comedy.