The third season of Foundation, based on Isaac Asimov's hugely influential science fiction series, premieres tomorrow on Apple TV+, and we are getting hyped. Early press has been very positive, and the show is getting into some of the best material from the books, namely the part where a new villain named the Mule makes his first official appearance.
For the first two seasons, we've watched as the galactic Empire has stared down the Foundation, a separate society established to weather a coming civilizational collapse. The Foundation has been guided by the mathematical principals discovered by Hari Seldon (Jared Harris), who mapped out its existance far into the future. But the Mule is an X-factor that even psychohistory has trouble seeing coming. He's disrupter, a warmongering tyrant who wants to conquer the galaxy.
And he's played by Pilou Asbæk, who played another sort of mad pirate king on Game of Thrones: Euron Greyjoy. WinterIsComing writer Benedetta Geddo interviewed Asbæk about what's coming. Read their conversation below, edited for length and clarity:
WinterIsComing: Okay, so obviously you were bringing some considerable conflict to this new season of Foundation, which is something that was maybe sort of missing, so I just wanted to ask how did you approach your role, and how did you get into your character's head, and what was your process there?
Pilou Asbaek: I did a lot of research, of course you would read the books, especially the book about the Mule, that would make sense. I take myself seriously.
WiC: That's great to hear.
Asbaek: Yeah, you talk to David Goyer about his vision, he's the showrunner, you talk to the directors, you get their inputs, and in a collaboration with them and your colleagues, you create a character that you hope that people would enjoy watching. Regarding my own research, I was very, very inspired by a French book called Le Petit Prince, The Little Prince, which I think is phenomenal. It's a book about a little prince who lives on a small planet, his best friend is caught in a little glass cage...To understand what it is to be human, and to understand what it is to feel love, and that's also the reason why I wanted the red cape. So I looked like the little prince.
WiC: Yeah, like his scarf.
Asbaek: Exactly.
WiC: I always wonder, is it really fun as an actor to be handed like a truly good villain, where you can just go a bit crazy? Obviously, you've done Euron before.
Asbaek: Yeah, I've done a lot of villains. I don't know why America keeps seeing me as a villain. Maybe it's because I have an accent or I look quirky or I don't know. Their imagination stops after I am not a villain. It's just like that.
No, on a serious note, doing villains, I love it. I think...often it's the most interesting characters. You're not carrying the whole story on your shoulders. You can be there as the antagonist. You can have fun with the role, you can enjoy the role, and you need to bring an element, especially to something so clean, and sterile, and focused and concentrated as Foundation is in its two first seasons. I just thought, 'bring in happiness, craziness, and violence.'
We talk to Lou Llobell about Foundation season 3
Benedetta also talked to Lou Llobell, who plays Gaal Dornick. Gaal is a gifted mathematician who, in season 2, saw a vision of herself fighting the Mule. In season 3, that vision may well come to pass. Read our exclusive interview below:
WIC: How did you approach playing Gaal knowing that she was originally written as a man? Because to me it's incredible because there are plenty of characters like Gaal when they're men. There aren't as many as a woman.
Llobel: Yes, I agree. I mean, kind of like the first episode of season 1 is the extent of what that character is written in the book. So it kind of evolved into something else, and I think it only makes sense to...you can make this character whoever it is. I don't think it's relevant whether they're a man or a woman. I think it adds like a different level and a different perspective. And a woman of color in this position, it almost makes her power and her in control and now her as a leader even more impactful because of who she is.
WiC: She's really unique in that sense. There's plenty of white men doing the typical sci-fi hero sort of role. And speaking of that sci-fi hero role, Gaal is really stepping into that this season with the conflict exploding around her. So what would you say are her biggest motivators now that she's faced with such a nemesis?
Llobel: I mean, this nemesis has been there since season 2. It's been this thing looming over her and she finally has to face it. There is fear in that, but there's also this idea that she's been working towards this for the last 150 years, this is her moment and she's going to sacrifice everything and even herself in order to beat the Mule. That's pretty honorable for her to be in that position and take that stance.
The season 3 premiere of Foundation drops Friday, July 11 on Apple TV+. The season is 10 episodes long, with a new episode dropping every Friday.
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