Earlier this month, MGM+ quietly released one of its most compelling and thought-provoking series based onGeorge R. Stewart’s forward-thinking 1949 post-apocalyptic novelEarth Abides. Rather than setting it in the 1940s, the similarly titled 6-episode series is set in present-day California, after a deadly disease wipes out most of civilization. Geologist Ish (Alexander Ludwig) discovers what has happened to the world after a snake bite forces him out of the mountains where he has been secluded working on his graduate thesis. After discovering that his family and everyone he loved has died during the pandemic, Ish reckons with a new form of isolation in the premiere, before finally crossing paths with the love of his life, Emma (Jessica Frances Dukes) who has similarly survived the deadly disease.Earth Abidesspans years in a matter of episodes, and by the time Episode 4 rolls around, the series has already explored seventeen years in the lives of Ish, Emma, and the other survivors they build a community with.
Ahead of the premiere, I caught up with the series' stars, Alexander Ludwig and Jessica Frances Dukes, to discuss their characters; what it was like for Ludwig to spend so much of Episode 1 entirely alone as Ish; what animals their characters would be, since so much of the series is rooted in very primal animal insticts; and what it was like going fromEarth Abidesto their upcoming roles inThe Gilded AgeandNight Comes. you may read the full transcript below or watch our fun conversation in the player above.
COLLIDER: I loved the first four episodes that I got to see. They were excellent.
ALEX LUDWIG: Thank you so much. That means the world coming from you, Maggie. Thank you.
Alex, I wanted to start with you, talking about the first episode, because you spend, like, 95% of that episode entirely on your own, getting to do a lot of the externalization of what Ish is feeling throughout that episode. What was that like as an actor, getting to really focus on the physicality of emotions and feelings instead of internalizing them and using dialogue?
LUDWIG: That’s such a great question. For me, it was one of the things that attracted me to the show first and foremost. I remember reading this pilot episode, and I thought, “In what world can,” — without giving too much away — “a little bit of smoke mean so much as an ending to a pilot?” And for me, having to internalize this experience that Ish is going through was the most daunting, horrific at times, and gratifying experience of my career. It was really lonely, and that’s something I didn’t really expect, but shockingly lonely even though you have a whole crew with you. I was so grateful when I finally got to work with that amazing dog, Brass, or Lucky. [Laughs] And then finally, of course, our heartbeat of the show, Emma, played by the tremendous Jessica Frances Dukes. But it was the experience of a lifetime and a true gift.
What Animals Would Ish and Emma Be?
It was beautiful to watch how it all unfolds in the first episode. Then Episode 2, you’re so right, that’s where the heartbeat really starts to be felt. Something I really love talking with actors about is how they build their characters beyond what’s just written on the page for them, and something I thought a lot about in these first four episodes is that this really is a very primal human emotion series, and you interact with a lot of animals, both wild and domestic. For both of you, did you ever factor in animal work in building your characters, and what sort of animals you would ascribe as really embodying who Ish and Emma are?
JESSICA FRANCES DUKES: Absolutely. She’s Mama Bear. She is Mama Bear, 1,000%. There’s a little joke that I have with the honey in the second episode, and I was like, “She’s handing him honey bear!” I just truly believe that she is this thing that you look at, and you’re like, “Oh my god. It’s this enormous force.” But she will slice anything that comes in the way of what she loves. So, I always saw her as a bear.
I think that’s really accurate.
LUDWIG: Yeah, it’s funny you brought that up. The animal thing to me is fascinating, and I have incorporated it into my performances. In this specifically, though, it wasn’t something that I drew from initially. But if I had to tell you what animal I thought Ish was, I would go with something like an elk. Because he can be stubborn, he can be ferocious if he needs to be, but for the most part, he is a bit of a loner. That’s funny, though. I’ve never actually thought about that for this character specifically.
Well, there you go. If somebody else asks that today you’ll have it prepped and ready to go!Going back to the mama bear thing, what’s so interesting aboutEarth Abidesis it kind of evokes the same questions that shows likeThe Walking Deaddo, which is, in this time of horrible risk, there are still people creating life and still starting families and still trying to recreate that kind of innocence and sincerity that they had before this tragedy. Jessica, for you in building Emma, where is her thought in bringing children into this world? Is it this pure hope that they will survive and just continue to survive and start a new life, or is there a real, genuine fear about them contracting the illness and recreating the trauma that went before the episode picks up?
DUKES: I don’t think she is afraid of anything when it comes to life. I think that she comes from a big family, her entire family. The thing that she wants the most — no offense — even before Ish is that, again, in my opinion. She says, “My body’s built for this.” She’s the new Eve, you know? She’s Mother of Nations. That’s what he calls her in the book. She knows what her purpose is, and it’s not just this idea of, “Woman is here just to give birth.” We’re here to restart the world and fix it at the same time, and that’s what we do as women. She’s just such a beautiful, fierce creature, and I just fell in love with playing her.
I love that. That’s a great answer. How familiar were both of you with this book? I’d read it many, many years ago, but I think it came back into the conversation so much more when we had our own experience with a pandemic.
LUDWIG: It’s funny because Michael Wright called me and told me, he was like, “There’s this book,Earth Abides. An offer’s coming to you, and you have to do it. It’ll be the hardest thing you’ve ever done, and the most gratifying.” He promised on all of those levels. And when I looked it up, I recognized the cover of that book, and I don’t know if I’ve seen it on my grandmother’s shelf or something, but then I read it, and I was like, “Wow, I cannot believe this was written in 1949. This is so topical today.” In a lot of ways, George R. Stewart was just so forward-thinking, but it was almost biblical, and I was just instantly captivated. But what I loved so much about it was the hopefulness. Despite all the tragedy and all the drama that you experienced, and people having to work as a primitive species, there’s this hopefulness that maybe this time theycanrebuild and get it right, and I love that.
DUKES: I had sort of heard of it, but I had never read it. So, when the script came in, and I read the script, I immediately went and got the book. As we worked on it, I read what we were working on. So I would read the first part of it. If we were shooting [Episodes] 1 and 2, I read only to where the book stops. Then when we got to [Episodes] 3 and 4, I only read that much. So when we were in these deep, intense scenes, and I didn’t want toplanwhat to do as an actor, but I wanted to read who she was at the core at the beginning of the story. Then Todd [Komarnicki]’s writing and what Alex was bringing to the table, then all of a sudden it morphs into justyourpersonal truth. The book was almost like the bones for me, so I went and chose little things to pick — not everything, but there were a lot of things from the book that I took for her.
Moving on From ‘Earth Abides’ to ‘Gilded Age’ and ‘Night Comes’
I like that, not wanting to go too far ahead and know where the end is and kind of working with that as it goes. I like that.You have a project coming out soon, Jessica, that I’m very excited for, which is the new season ofThe Gilded Age. That is one of my favorite shows because it films in my favorite locations, up in Hudson Valley and Lyndhurst. How excited were you to get to go back in time with that series and experience all of that?
DUKES: My first fitting was three days after we wrappedEarth Abides, and I sent a picture to everybody, and I was just like, “I’m losing my mind!” But coming off ofEarth Abides, it was such ahugejourney to take on for three months. So, to step into another world was almost kind of what I needed because some of the really intense scenes forEarth Abideswere the final week for us. So, to have something to really take myself out of this world and thank Emma and put her to the side was a joy. And, of course, coming from theater, being in a show with theater legends was epic.
I know. I love that show so much because seeing all of my favorite people from the stage on my screen just makes my day.Talking about projects afterEarth Abides, Alexander, you haveNight Comes, and that’s another survival story, as well. Were you able to take anything that you learned from Ish into that role?
LUDWIG: Definitely. But I would say that the character I play in this, without giving too much away, is a lot more calculating. It was pretty ironic. I literally got the offer for that, like, the day I finished filming, and I’m like, “Oh great, another post-apocalyptic show, and thank you!” But no, it’s totally different. That is the one with monsters, and that’ll be a film. But it was tremendous. The cast was incredible. Our producer, Shuan Redick, didGet OutandBlacKKKlansman, and he’s incredible, so that’ll be a great one. I’m actually flying back to Vancouver to shoot two films at the same time, which is pretty crazy.
