Resident Alien's Edi Patterson On Being 'Like A Shark Who Saw Blood In The Water' On Set
Spoilers for Resident Alien Season 4, Episode 4 ahead!
Friday's Resident Alien had it all: uproarious laughs, romance, heartbreak and a whole lot of vomit.
As seen in last week's episode (read our interview with Linda Hamilton here), Heather returned to Patience with a big ol' surprise for Harry: He was a father... again! With a full brood of nestlings ready to meet their daddy, Heather was ready to reconnect with her one true love, but without his alien essence, Harry found himself repulsed by her alien form, visually and olfactorily. ("Gamey" breath? No thanks. But at least she killed the Mantid!)
He convinced her to take her human form again, but it was really just a bandaid for their stalled situation. Eventually, Harry came clean, admitting to her that he's fully human and could not change back to his alien self. Surprisingly, she proposed, saying he was the love her life regardless. He acquiesced, but once Heather's racist (against humans) father crashed the party, Harry knew it could never work out between them. That she couldn't cut off her family forever and that he could no longer give her what she truly deserved.
Below, TVLine talks to Edi Patterson about donning that huge alien bird costume, "off-roading" with Alan Tudyk on set and Heather's reaction to learning about Harry's newfound humanity.
TVLINE | First off, I'm wondering if that's really you underneath that whole Blue Avian get-up.
EDI PATTERSON | Yep! Every single time.
TVLINE | What's the process like to get all camera ready in Heather's alien form?
It's a lot of prosthetics and a lot of, basically, them building me into a weird cage that is my own body. Because once the foam pieces are put on your face, you kind of can't hear. You can hear, but it's very muffled and very weird. The second it's all on, it's like you're in a weird dream, because also, the eyes have just the tiniest slit to see out of and it's not even in the middle. And so you just constantly feel confused and people think you're being a d–k because you didn't hear what they said. [Laughs]
TVLINE | How many hours does that all take?
You know what? They're so good. It wasn't one of those things where it was like, show up four hours before call time. I think all told, it took them maybe an hour-and-a-half to get it all on me. Not so crazy.
TVLINE | You and Alan Tudyk have some nutty back-and-forths on this show. Overall, what's the experience been like working alongside Alan?
He's the greatest. He's so incredibly talented and so deeply funny and just a great dude. We have a really good time together, even not in scenes. I just really like him and I respect him and I'm stoked to get to do this with him.
TVLINE | Which of you is first to typically break on set during Harry and Heather's weirder scenes?
He's hilarious, but I'm a little bit like a shark who saw blood in the water if I sense that that's in the mix at all. So, I would maybe say that I'm trying a little harder to be mischievous and to make him laugh, but he does definitely make me laugh because what he's doing with Harry is so... I don't know. I'm so blown away by it still, because it's this insane mix of super grounded, awesome acting, plus almost clowning. I think he's walking a talent tightrope with that role that is unbelievable. I just think he's incredible.
TVLINE | What was it about the Heather character or the show itself that initially drew you in?
I had watched a lot of the show leading up to talking to [creator] Chris [Sheridan] and [executive producer] Robbie [Duncan McNeill] and I already liked it. I liked what they had achieved with the vibe of it. I think that the show has such an interesting feel in that it's genuinely funny, but it's also a very cozy world to go into, if that makes sense. And I just liked what they had pulled off, that it felt very escapist in a really fun, old school way to me. And I really liked this notion of this type of alien. I love that they use real aliens that they've researched. This is one, if you go online, there's a lot of talk about Blue Avians and I just thought it all seemed cool and I had never done anything where I'm in full prosthetics before. It just seemed like a really fun experiment.
And I loved that it was going to be Harry's love interest. My core initial thing though was, "Oh cool, it's a bunch of scenes with Alan Tudyk. I'm into it." We had met once a long time ago. He came and guested in an improv show at the Groundlings and I already thought he was awesome before that, but even just the fact that he was game to come do that and to come improvise, I just think he's a mega talent. So that was my initial impetus. And then I liked the dynamic and I liked what was written for Heather. I thought they did a great job.
TVLINE | How much of what we saw in Episode 4 was improv or ad-libbing?
It seems like any time we did a scene, there would be a little something going on. Once we got it as written, we would start playing around. Definitely anytime there's some physicality in the mix, we are off-roading and trying to be a little crazy. Like in [my] first season, that dinner scene where we're disgustingly making out and spitting in each other's mouths... none of that was on the page. I think what the script said was, "They kiss. It's weird." [Laughs] And hence, all of that happened. This [episode] there is a scene where we are getting kind of sexy with each other in front of his friends, and I remember — this was definitely improvised — when we realized that we should go really far with that and that I should really lock eyes with Sara [Tomko] and Alice [Wetterlund] and make them look at us being intimate. So, I would say anytime anything physical happens, yeah, we would sort of go off-road a bit.
TVLINE | There's this scene where you're kissing Alan's tongue as it's protruding out of his mouth. Where does that rank in the weirdest kissing scenes you've done in your career?
I mean, the top! [Laughs] I'm honestly pleasantly surprised that that made it in because, I mean, it's pretty graphic when you break it down!
TVLINE | Oh, it made it! Were there any other takes or things that you did while filming Episode 4 that you expected to make the final cut but maybe didn't?
I feel like anytime we got crazy, it went in there. There were maybe some vomiting things that we wished we had done. You know, way after we were done, it would occur to me or Alan like, "Oh, we should have this," but I think everything we tried that made us laugh kind of made it in.
TVLINE | Heather proposes to Harry, even after he tells her he's human. What's her initial reaction to his big confession there?
It's almost like, if you're playing in the ocean, you get smacked by a big wave, but... you're out in the ocean. I think she's put all her eggs in one basket — not to be punny — but she's put all her eggs in one basket with Harry and I think is truly in love with him and wants it to work and is throwing caution to the wind with all the things that forced her to leave in the first place. I think initially it's a little bit of shock, like, "Huh. That's not what I planned. But we'll do this, right?" So I think there's a bit of denial going on and a bit of, "Just push through it. Keep swimming even though the wave knocked you down."
TVLINE | Heather and Harry have one of the strangest break-up scenes I have ever seen. But they're also parents together, so what does that mean for your future on the show? Will we see Heather again?
You know, I don't know. I hope so. If Resident Alien keeps happening and Harry still falls in love sometimes, I would hope that Heather would still be in the mix. I mean, it's pretty sad and intense when they do break up. So, I don't know how it will shake down, but fingers crossed on that one.