Alan Tudyk & Resident Alien Team Bid A Bittersweet Farewell To Their Beloved Series At SDCC 2025
Alan Tudyk & Resident Alien Team Bid A Bittersweet Farewell To Their Beloved Series At SDCC 2025
What the hell are you? >> All right, Resident Alien cast. Hello friends. Happy Comic-Con. Thank you very much.
Happy Comic-Con.
My goodness, I am so excited to be here with you guys. I am so sad to hear that Resident Alien is ending with season 4. How… how are you guys feeling?
Sweet.
Bittersweet.
Yeah, >> been better.
It wasn’t too much of a… it wasn’t uh brand new news for us. We sort of saw it coming a long time ago. I mean, a year ago when we started the season, I was pretty sure that this is how it would go down. So, in trying to figure out what we were doing creatively for season 4, I made a decision back then to finish telling the story cuz I didn’t want to end up in a situation where we had cliffhers and it was left untold and then we got cancelled after that. So, we sort of took it upon ourselves to end it our own way and um knowing that you never know something else could happen, but we were prepared for this certainly, and I told everybody about it too. So I told them that, you know, there’s a good chance this is the last season, so let’s all enjoy this season and appreciate everything.
I saw it coming from the financial collapse of 2007.
Of course, >> I think that’s where I mean, >> that’s really where it started. The >> the roots back >> the writing’s on the wall there after the big bailout.
So I mean, >> Fanny May killed us.
No, no, anyway. No, in some ways I was going to say it is… it is quite surreal to work on something for so long and then every season we’ve been sort of told, you know, this… it might cancel, it might be that, and then we just keep going. And I think at some point maybe we were like, “This is the boy who cried wolf.” Like, I don’t know if this is ever going to end. Do we want… what do we want, you know? And then we got to a place where we were like, we just want to end on our terms and we want it to feel good for us and for the fans.
And so to finally have that phone call when >> Chris said, you know, he… he called us individually. It just felt… it felt very surreal. I almost feel like I’m… I’m not quite sure I’ll process it till January when we’re not shooting in Vancouver.
Yeah.
No.
Oh no.
Yeah. There was definitely something different about this time when the boy cried wolf. He was like wolf and you heard >> and this time it was like… like that. So it was… it was a little different.
And there was weeping. I mean, the boy was weeping.
Didn’t have any money.
He said he cried wolf and then he said, “I’m being devoured.” And we laughed and we laughed and we laughed. I’m so glad. He’s like, “No, I’m super serious, you guys. This wolf is whooping my ass. I need some help over here.” We’re like, “This guy.” And he sent us a video of it.
He did. We were like, “Ai, you lying bastard. What a cut. >> Poor kid.”
All right.
He’s dead.
He’s dead.
Well, in honor of these four incredible seasons, I would love to go around and just hear what you guys are each taking away from this experience and you might bring with you into future projects. I mean, Alan, if you… if you want to start.
I think I’ve got to bring… I got to pull it back in.
I’m going to have to reel it back in a little bit. Uh… >> I really… I really do. I had to like… mine go to 11. Uh now I’ve been… I’ve been living in a world where the reality of an alien… anything can be justified. So any… any behavior I exhibit, no matter how wild it is, can be… um… justified with who I am in the story itself. The world was very strong that way. It was rooted and… uh… you… I… I couldn’t… I couldn’t break out of it and it was amazing for that. So, I think probably now, going back into more pedestrian type jobs, I’m going to need to bring the… you know, the… the window… the… the spectrum… you know, I’m going to have to close it a little bit. Funnel it… funnel it down. Funnel it down.
We’ll see about that, though.
Yeah.
I don’t know. Um, I think for myself, what I’m going to have to get used to is, uh, the script supervisor coming over to me, uh, and saying, “The line is… I need you in my office at 9:00” and me saying, “What did I say?” >> And them saying, “You said, hey, what are you doing after work? Do you want to maybe go grab a beer and maybe go buy a titty bar or do you want to like maybe go to like Universal Studios and ride some roller coasters because I got a bunch of stuff I got to do. I got like $20 in my pocket and… and… and so we’d like you to stick to the script.”
Uh, is… is what I’m going to have to get used to is… is… is… toning it down. Coming back to the realm of >> pulling it back in.
Yeah. Of having to go back to “you can’t say I am.” The line is “I’m uh…” so you know.
I had… I was on a show before this, People of Earth, um, which was like a similar type show and it was dramatic acting in that show, but I am a… I’m a comedian and I have always felt extremely confident as a comedic performer, but this show demanded more, and I think I came in with a lot less confidence in myself as a dramatic actor, and I think this experience… experience just honestly being around the other actors and like the great directors we have, but you know, working with Sarah and kind of feeding off your energy, um, I’ve… I’ve learned so much and I have a lot more confidence in myself as an… as an actor because of this experience and I’m… I’m really proud of the work that we did.
I think in the same but opposite way, I get to play the straight man. I got to do a lot of the drama versus the comedy as Asta. Um, she was definitely closed up and uh, conservative, and by season 4, she’s starting to finally like make jokes and, you know, I don’t know… have a laugh. Um, and I think you guys have taught me so much. Um, like clown work. I graduated my clown class. I meant to tell you.
Congratulations.
Thank you. Um, and I feel like I’m ready to stand out a bit more, you know, a little bit more… be more willing to like make mistakes and try things and… and just not worry so much about… I think I was, you know, a little bit like Asta in that way where it was always a little… people pleaser, wanting to make everybody happy, and… and now it’s more about just what’s right for the character, what’s right for the moment. And I… so, I’m going to tone it up.
Is that… I’m going to tone it up.
Love it. Love it.
For me, it was… I mean, I’ve been doing this show for 10 years full-time. Um, and the whole thing was a gift for me. And I think moving forward, if I ever get lucky enough to do this again, it’s probably a search for a cast that is near as good as this one, if that’s even possible. As a writer, to be able to come in and write these scripts, you know, with the rest of the writers and then see it on its feet and have everything elevated by the cast… they’re so incredibly professional.
There’s not a… there was not a… a bad one in the bunch. Everyone is so incredible. There’s that one guy. Uh, everyone is so incredible that they just hit it. They hit it every single time. They give you options. They play with it. They add things you didn’t expect to happen. They add physicality you didn’t expect to happen. Uh, they all get along. The chemistry is incredible within… you know, between them. You never get that. Um, so it’s, you know, like I said, if I ever do it again, that’s the goal… is to, you know, flip a coin, roll the dice, and just pray that you get a group that’s nearly as talented as these ones.
Well, let’s end on this. If… if you guys could go back in time and give your character from the pilot one piece of advice, what would it be?
Great question.
My… my character or myself, >> you know, if you want to do yourself too, that… that works, too.
But unless you really… unless you wanted to be Harry. No, I… I would go back and say, “Hey, Allan, from seven years ago, you’re going to be tempted to take a clowning class between seasons one and two. Don’t… Don’t do… Don’t do it. Don’t do it.” Um, although it would be fun, it’s… I just… I got… I got there… there was… there was a couple of episodes there >> where I’m watching going, “Why am I walking like that?” >> When did my character start walking like that? Yeah… in season two.
In season two, and there was uh… the voice got a little out of control. It got a little… there was… it was ready to take off back into a “hei” moment. Anyway, that’s what I would do. I would probably tell my character to listen to Deputy Live.
Valid. Totally. Absolutely valid. That’s a smart… smart move.
I think I would tell myself, um, that we’re going to have four seasons. So have a good time the whole time >> because when you… your job is on the line every season and you’re not sure there… there’s a little fear undercurrent there. Um, and even though we did have so much fun, I’m sure there were days that I probably let that get to my head. So I’d love to just be like, “Hey girl, you got seven years ahead of you, four seasons. Go for it.”
You know, >> I guess I would ask Darcy, um, how would you behave if you knew it was all going to be okay?
And probably say that to Alice, too, and she’d be like, “Well, off.” Uh, but Darcy for sure would probably say the same thing.
All right. Well, congratulations again, you guys, on four incredible seasons of Resident Alien, and thanks so much for coming by today. Happy… so intense. I like it. Not for everybody.
