Posted in: Apple, TV | Tagged: invasion

Invasion: Stephen Tracey Discusses Sci-Fi Opportunity, Farahani & More

Stephen Tracey (The Expanse) spoke with Bleeding Cool about joining AppleTV+'s series Invasion, working with the showrunners, and more.

Stephen Tracey has accomplished much in his over-decade career, becoming a regular presence on TV runs on Netflix's Anne with an E, CBS's Good Sam, and SYFY/Prime Video's The Expanse. His latest is the Simon Kinberg and David Weil sci-fi epic series Invasion for AppleTV+. As a season three addition, Tracey plays Sgt. Reese, a special forces soldier who's involved with Aneesha Malik (Golshifteh Farahani), one of the leads of the series who's tackling how humanity is dealing with an extraterrestrial invasion. The actor spoke to Bleeding Cool about getting involved, working with showrunners and multiple directors, immersing himself in the role, and working with Farahani in their scenes.

Invasion: Stephen Tracey on Sci-Fi Series "Attention to Detail"

What intrigued you about 'Invasion', and what do you like about Simon and David and the world they built?

The show touches on a global perspective, which I think is unique when it comes to sci-fi series. There's so much attention to detail built into the world, showcasing what an invasion would look like from a world perspective, and I don't think many other sci-fi series go into that level of nuance. It's like more pockets or truncated versions of someone's POV, so seeing how much they delved into all those different storylines, and then what's really exciting about this season, and for me in particular, is that it's the first time all those storylines are converging into one where all our main characters are coming together. Getting to like my character is a special forces soldier who's helping escort these characters, so there are lots of fun antics that ensued, so getting to be a part of that main action was exciting.

You worked with multiple directors across multiple episodes this season; did it feel like a streamlined process, or does each director function differently?

Each director does function differently, for sure. There are different styles and there are different approaches. Some directors have a strong relationship towards how everything's going to look, the choreography, or the orchestration of it. Some pull into the emotional side of the actors' intentions and choices. Ultimately, our showrunners do such an incredible job of maintaining the through line, which is why the story is so consistent when you watch it. There are some shows out there when you're into like the third or fourth episode, and suddenly, it feels like a completely different show. That's usually a marker of someone's individual flair with the directing, but there is a very strong through line in maintaining tone, story arc, style, and so even as a viewer getting to watch the first two seasons before joining in the third season, you can see that consistency, which is a testament to our showrunners' storytelling ability.

How does Sergeant Reese allow you to do things as an actor that you wouldn't normally do in your other projects?

Well, I have no intention of signing up for the military at this moment. Although with the way the world is going, we might have to, but what was great is that Apple TV Plus put such a focus on practical effects with their shows. Even though this is a sci-fi show, a lot of stuff was done practically, so heading in and playing a soldier, and they had all of us go through weapons training. We worked with armorists who were veterans, and they taught us how to move our bodies so that when we were on camera, we were portraying details that other shows might overlook.

That's the exciting thing about getting to be an actor is you have experiences you wouldn't get to do in your normal day-to-day life. And then you have the emotional experience of being inside of those things when you're firing at an alien charging towards you or other people who are fighting you, and you get a taste of who you might be in those moments. That's why I became an actor in the first place was getting to be inside of those things that push the boundaries or the expectations I thought I had for myself and going, "Oh, in the right set of circumstances, I can do a lot of things that maybe I told myself that I couldn't."

What did you like about working with Golshifteh, the dynamic you developed as Reese and Aneesha, and the way you carried yourself during the season?

Golshifteh is like one of the warmest energies of a human being that I have ever encountered, and she's such a generous performer. The word I would use is "collaborative." The first day I met her, she instantly came over, had conversations about how the scenes should go, making offers on where we would (work) our interpretations of it, then going towards our directors and talking through what we wanted to bring. There was a big sense of play, and I can't say what we got to do because those episodes haven't come out yet, but her approach is so collaborative. To be a person of her status, she doesn't necessarily have to be; there are other performers out there that wouldn't be. She was right there in the thick of it with us, and she's such a wonderful soul.

Invasion, which also stars Shamier Anderson, Shioli Kustuna, Billy Barratt, Azhy Robertson, Tara Moayedi, Shane Zaza, and Erika Alexander, streams Fridays on AppleTV+.

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