Posted in: MGM Television, TV | Tagged: Alexander Ludwig, earth abides, Jessica Frances Dukes

Earth Abides Stars Ludwig & Dukes on Embracing MGM+ Survival Series

MGM+'s Earth Abides stars Alexander Ludwig and Jessica Frances Dukes spoke with us about Ish and Emma's apocalyptic journey and much more.

Alexander Ludwig and Jessica Frances Dukes are certainly not strangers to physically demanding TV shows, given Ludwig's work on the History Channel's Vikings and Starz! Heels and Dukes's work on Netflix's Ozark and Max's Gray Matter. Their latest series, Earth Abides from MGM+ Studios, takes the grueling demands to another level in the apocalyptic survival series. Based on the George R. Stewart novel of the same name, the series follows Ish (Ludwig) and Emma (Dukes), two survivors who survive a plague of unprecedented virulence that sweeps the globe, and the human race is all but wiped out. In the aftermath, as the great machine of civilization slowly and inexorably breaks down, only a few shattered survivors remain to struggle against the slide into extinction. Ludwig and Dukes spoke to Bleeding Cool about how the series sets itself apart from other genre shows, how they felt creator Todd Komarnicki properly modernized for TV, and more.

Alexander Ludwig & Jessica Frances Dukes on Embracing the Apocalyptic World of 'Earth Abides'

Bleeding Cool: What intrigued you about 'Earth Abides?'

Ludwig: What I love so much about this show is when you hear a post-apocalyptic show, you think "monsters and zombies." In this show, the monsters lie from within. This is a show about a man who, after waking up in a coma, finds himself to be the last man on earth, or so he thinks. He goes on a mission to find his purpose and find other people to share in that purpose as they rebuild civilization.

Over six episodes, it's a story about people. The themes we deal with are about what happens if disease strikes and you don't have a doctor nearby, or you must give birth to your first child, and there's nobody to help with that. You also have animals come back to take what was once theirs, and you must deal with an attack, or when you meet another tribe, and somebody within that tribe wants to destroy everything you built, how do you govern that? That is what makes ['Earth Abides'] so special and beautiful. It's about the importance of humanity at the end of the day. It's a hopeful show.

Dukes: I ditto everything he just said. It's on-brand. It's a beautiful, beautiful story of humanity and survival. It's almost a little bit of a cautionary tale.

Ludwig: And they become a primitive species again.

Are you both familiar with George Stewart's original novel before reading for your parts, and how did you feel Todd Komarnicki adapted 'Earth Abides' for TV?

Dukes: Oh, God! Expertly, I wasn't familiar with the book. I read the script first. I read the first and second episodes, and I fell in love with Todd's writing and poetry. Once I studied both episodes, that's when I started reading the book, but I only read up to where we were. Every time we moved forward in the story as we were working, I moved forward in the story of the book, and it was such a beautiful adaptation. What we've taken from what was already so far had in 1949 to now in 2024. It was like, "How do you make this even more progressive ahead with all the other stuff in it?" Todd pulled this off successfully, writing some beautiful people while also developing this beautiful story and world.

Ludwig: I recognized the cover of the book, but I had never read it. Immediately, when I read it, I was engrossed in it. [EP] Michael Wright called me about eight months ago and said, "We want to offer you this role, and you must do it. It will be the hardest thing that you ever do and the most rewarding." Boy, did he deliver on both of those promises!

Was there anything you guys did, perhaps psychologically and physically, to play Ish and Emma?

Dukes: One thousand percent, every single day leading up to it, we're getting ready. It's the amount of work it takes to go through and build a backstory for yourself or build anything because there's so much life that these two live before we officially meet them. To have all that work done and then let it go is the hardest part of the work. The emotional, I'm a big music person. I listen to music to get me in the space to get ready for. I created a playlist for [Emma], and I have art that reminds me of her. I'm a visual person, so that was my prep for the show.

Ludwig: Obviously, Covid prepared us all for a little bit of a solitary experience. I had gone on a 50-mile hike through the Pacific Northwest, and I drew from that experience as well. As Jessica said, preparation is key. Every day was a new obstacle. That's essentially like a one-man play. I have never had to go to those depths before, and it was certainly the most daunting and rewarding experience I've ever had.

Can you discuss your co-stars, their contribution to the series, and what it meant in the grand scheme of things?

Ludwig: Similarly to the show, it's about a group of people coming together to make something very special, hopefully, a new world that they can all be proud of. That's exactly what the experiences were like working with these tremendous actors. Everybody from the top, all the way down to the bottom, from the greenskeepers to our incredible writer Todd Komarnicki. Michael Phillips, who produced 'Taxi Driver' (1976), 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' (1977), and 'The Sting' (1973). He's had the rights to this book for 30 years. [EP] Kearie Peak, our incredible cast, Aaron Tveit, everybody showed up and gave it their all, because we all shared the common belief what we were making was important and special. It couldn't come at a better time.

Dukes: Absolutely.

Earth Abides, which also stars Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll, Elyse Levesque, Luisa D'Oliveira, Birkett Turton, Hilary McCormack, and Jenna Berman, streams on Sundays on MGM+.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!