Timothy Olyphant Joins FX's 'Alien' Series

American actor Timothy Olyphant is reuniting with Noah Hawley and FX for a major role in the upcoming Alien series. 

Olyphant, who recurred on Season 4 of Hawley’s FX anthology series "Fargo", is set to star opposite Sydney Chandler in Hawley‘s prequel to the Alien franchise.

While details about Olyphant’s character are not being disclosed, the actor plays Kirsh, a synth who acts as a mentor and trainer for Chandler’s Wendy who is a hybrid, a meta-human who has the brain and consciousness of a child but the body of an adult.

In addition to Chandler, Olyphant joins a main cast that also includes Alex Lawther as a soldier named CJ, Samuel Blenkin as Boy Kavalier, a CEO, as well as Essie Davis as Dame Silvia, Adarsh Gourav as Slightly and Kit Young as Tootles.

Executive produced by Ridley Scott, the new Alien series is set in a time period before Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley and is the first story in the franchise that takes place on Earth, roughly 70 years in the future.

Production on the show began in Thailand on July 19, four days after the start of the actors' strike, without SAG-AFTRA members, including Chandler. Filming continued for more than a month with the cast who were affiliated with the Equity British trade union.

Production is slated to resume in early 2024, likely in January.

“I got some footage. Some of the first hour was shot before we had to shutdown. It’s stuff to play with and edit,” Hawley told Deadline recently. “I’m excited to get back in there.”

lululemon's Winter Whites collection is a perfect mix of stylish, functional, and brilliant neutrals for holiday gifting. All the scripts for Alien were completed before the WGA strike was called in May.

Olyphant has been a fixture at FX over the last decade and a half. He headlined the network’s long-running hit drama Justified and recently starred in and executive produced the limited series followup, "Justified: City Primeval". 

In addition to his major recurring role in Season 4 of "Fargo", Olyphant also was a series regular on Season 2 of FX’s "Damages".