Sydney Chandler was one of the last people on Earth to learn that Peter Dinklage was joining her show.
“I live under a rock, and so I hadn’t seen that come out, and then I was at my cycle class, and they’re like, ‘So Peter,’ and I’m like, ‘What are you talking about?'” the Alien: Earth star told Gold Derby on Monday night at Disney’s Toast to Television event at Soho House Holloway.
“I’m excited! I screamed,” Chandler continued. “I think it’s gonna be amazing. How cool is that?”
Dinklage is no stranger to starring in genre projects. He won four Emmy Awards for his iconic role of Tyrion Lannister in Game of Thrones, and also played Dr. Trask in X-Men: Days of Future Past, and the serial killer-obsessed Leon Prater in Dexter: Resurrection. He’s joining Alien: Earth in an undisclosed part for Season 2.
Chandler plays Wendy, a terminally ill young girl whose consciousness is transferred into a synthetic body by the Prodigy Corporation. Noah Hawley (Fargo) serves as the showrunner of this inaugural TV installment within the Alien film franchise.
The actress revealed she’s “just starting to get the scripts in now” for the new episodes. “I have no idea where Wendy is gonna go. I just want to keep exploring her growth. She’s gone through being quite innocent and trusting, and then she’s lost her innocence and is in an angry spot. I want to see where she moves from there — if she keeps getting colder, or if she warms up.
“She’s much cooler than me and braver than me,” Chandler added about her character. “She doesn’t overthink, which was very fun to play. I hope I took a little bit of that from her. Playing a child allows you to dive into your inner child a bit, and that gave me more gifts than I expected.”
Chandler says she had “no idea” how she was hired to follow in the proverbial footsteps of Sigourney Weaver, who received an Oscar nomination for playing Ripley in Aliens (1986). “I don’t know if that was a good idea, but I’m so glad that it happened,” she laughed. “I’ve been an Alien fan forever. I watched it when I was way too young, so being chased by a real Xeno at the end of the day was terrifying and just incredible.”
Speaking about the show’s impressive production design, Chandler added, “A lot of us got very emotional many times being on these sets that are completely recreated from the first films. Our set designers did an amazing job.” (Read more about the Alien: Earth sets.)
On Tuesday, Chandler received a nomination at the Gotham TV Awards for Best Lead Performance in a Drama Series. She previously earned bids at the Independent Spirit Awards and Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Awards. Next up are the 2026 Emmys nominations, which will be announced July 8.
