Summary

• Alan Tudyk's portrayal of the alien in "Resident Alien" involves a tedious 2-hour transformation process, but the end result is worth it.
• Tudyk uses prosthetic masks and VFX to bring the alien character to life.
• Tudyk employs a unique pronunciation technique to enhance Dr. Vanderspeigle's characterization, adding depth to the alien's evolution.

Alan Tudyk's transformation into Resident Alien's token alien is a tedious but worthwhile process that brings the riveting extraterrestrial to life. Tudyk's lead character, whose alien name is too difficult to pronounce or spell, is sent to Earth to eliminate humanity and gets stranded after crash landing. To remain unnoticed while finding a way to accomplish his mission and return home, he kills and takes on the identity of physician Dr. Harry Vanderspeigle but soon realizes it's not easy acclimating to human life.

The Resident Alien characters of Patience, Colorado recruit Dr. Vanderspeigle to take over as town physician, which places the alien in the hilariously awkward position of working with and assimilating into humanity to maintain his facade. Resident Alien oscillates between showing the alien in Dr. Vanderspeigle's likeness and his original form as he haplessly balances human life and extraterrestrial duty. Tudyk's comedic style perfectly captures the alien's offbeat impersonation of human characteristics, and the exquisite prosthetic and VFX work behind the alien's true form is charmingly convincing, making for a hysterically ingenious portrayal of an extraterrestrial’s infiltration of Earth.

It Takes 2 Hours For Alan Tudyk To Physically Transform Into Dr. Vanderspeigle's Alien Form In Resident Alien

In a video interview with Jackie Jennings and Juan Cadavid for SYFY, Tudyk exposed the lengthy 2-hour process he endures to transform into his character's alien form. The construction of the alien's head takes up most of the time, as it is composed of a helmet-like prosthetic mask painted intricately with his trademark shimmering, multicolored skin. Tudyk is subject to this process regularly because his masks are often discarded after use and redone, presumably to be able to express the full breadth of emotion that different scenes and different episodes call for.

Because masks limit facial mobility, Resident Alien also uses VFX to render Harry's expressions, editing the alien's ability to blink, squint, and more in post-production. Although there’s no mention of the alien's body in the interview, Tudyk likely slips into a standard costume for scenes that necessitate it, as more often than not, the actor dresses in plain clothes when playing the alien and Dr. Vanderspeigle. Overall, the prosthetic costuming and VFX work make up most of Tudyk's alien persona, though the actor's interesting acting technique makes the alien seem even more odd and otherworldly.

Alan Tudyk Also Uses A Fun Pronunciation Technique To Bring Harry Vanderspeigle To Life

Tudyk mentioned using a physiological technique to make his peculiar alien performance more believable. Naturally, an alien inhabiting a human body for the first time would need to get used to it. Tudyk embodies this idea and speaks like he is learning to use a human mouth instead of assuming an alien accent.

The logic behind the pronunciation technique bleeds into Tudyk's mannerisms also, and from the series' debut to the Resident Alien season 4 looming, it will be exciting to see how Tudyk's Dr. Vanderspeigle progresses.

Resident Alien season 3 currently airs Wednesdays at 10 pm ET on Syfy, and can be streamed the next day on Peacock.

Source: SYFY/YouTube