‘Alien: Earth’: Richa Moorjani is the Last Human Standing

When director Ridley Scott’s sci-fi horror flick Alien debuted in 1979, few predicted it would achieve cult classic status and commercial success. Yet the film about a doomed seven-member space crew who must fend off an alien attack, grossed nearly $200 million globally and spawned four film sequels and, now, a Hulu series.

Alien: Earth, by Emmy-winning creator Noah Hawley (Fargo), is set two years before the 1979 film, in which Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley takes over as captain after the previous one dies. What follows is a series of decisions, attacks, and counter-attacks — all while the ship’s control, Mother, proves unreliable.

When we enter the world of Alien: Earth, we learn that the Maginot, a deep-space research vessel, has crashed into a tower on Earth, leaving security officer Morrow as the sole survivor. To find out what happened, we go back in time in Episode 5 to 17 days before the crash. Here, a death, yet again, pushes executive officer Zoya Zaveri — in a completely new avatar for Richa Moorjani — to take command.

We sat down with the Never Have I Ever, Fargo, and Alien: Earth star to talk AI, the future of technology, leadership under impossible pressure, and how she brings South Asian flair to these beloved franchises.