‘Resident Alien’ star Alan Tudyk on creating his own alien language: ‘Any noise, you can make it’

Resident Alien is a show that makes you feel like anything can happen, from plot twists that hit you out of nowhere to moments of strange comedy in the midst of an expanding sci-fi world. It turns out that some of those moments feel so spontaneous because they are, even when it comes to key plot points like an alien language.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly during San Diego Comic-Con last week, the Resident Alien cast talked about the upcoming midseason premiere of Season 2, and in the process discussed some of their favorite improvised moments from the series so far. According to star Alan Tudyk, who plays the title alien also known as Dr. Harry Vanderspeigle, the improvisations also included the moment when he told Asta (Sara Tomko) his true alien name for the first time.

“It’s not like Star Trek where there’s a language that’s really written down,” Tudyk said. “You could learn Klingon if you want to. And there are many people at SDCC right now who speak it fluently. Mine is just [makes gargling noises]. Any noise, you can make it. And then the editors put it together.”

But of course, along with that sense of spontaneity also comes careful plotting from showrunner Chris Sheridan and the Resident Alien writers, who are going into the back half of Season 2 with some big questions to resolve. When we last saw Harry (Tudyk) and Asta, they were out in the woods, and Asta had just shot Harry’s would-be killer. Now, their friends are coming to see what all the commotion is about, and Harry and Asta have to find a way to get rid of a body without alerting the whole town to Harry’s secret existence as an alien. It’s a delicate situation, and the new episodes will pick up right in the middle of the chaos, showing us exactly what happens in the aftermath of the shooting.

“The first half of the season ends on a cliffhanger of Asta has just shot someone in the woods, Harry has been shot in the woods, D’Arcy comes out, and we don’t know quite yet how much she’s seen, how much she knows, and they’re stuck with a dead body,” said Sheridan. “They’re trying to figure out where they’re going to go next.”

Story continues

Thanks to the show’s SDCC spotlight last week, we now have an early peek at a clip from the new episodes, which shows us the moments right after the shooting, but that still leaves Harry and Asta with plenty of big problems to solve in the long run. We’ll find out how they handle it all when Resident Alien returns with new episodes Aug. 10 on SYFY.

Click here for SYFY WIRE’s full coverage of San Diego Comic-Con 2022.

Resident Alien Season 2