Alexander Skarsgård almost rejected Murderbot: Here’s what finally made the actor star in the Apple TV+ series

Alexander Skarsgård’s portrayal of a cyborg in Murderbot has impressed the audience. The sci-fi comedy series revolves around the titular robot, who develops human-like emotions and loves watching soap operas instead of accomplishing the missions it was created for.

While the show has become an instant hit among the audience, Alexander Skarsgård has revealed that he was not very keen on taking up the project initially. In a recent interview, the actor said that when he was first approached for the role, he thought of rejecting it.

Hearing about the idea, Skarsgård felt like the show would be another sci-fi robot series along the lines of Terminator. However, as he read the script, he finally realized how deep the theme was and decided to star in the Apple TV+ series.

Alexander Skarsgård reveals he initially thought of rejecting Murderbot

During a recent interaction with Collider, Alexander Skarsgård said that he had not read Martha Wells’ The Murderbot Diaries novels before starring in the show. Hence, he expected the television adaptation to be a project like Terminator and RoboCop. Talking about why he did not want to work on a series with a dark subject, Skarsgård said:

“Hearing the title, I was told, ‘It's a sci-fi action adventure show called Murderbot.’ I definitely expected the character to be a testosterone-filled tough guy kind of murderbot, and I was like, ‘Alright, I think I know what this is. It's in the vein of, like, Terminator or RoboCop. Something like that.’”

He added:

“I had just done The Northman and Infinity Pool, so quite weird, dark projects, and I wasn't really looking for something… Especially with The Northman, there's a lot of testosterone in that character, so I was like, “I'm not sure I want to do Murderbot after that.”

However, when the actor read the script, it completely changed his perception about the show, and he gladly accepted the offer to star in it. Recalling the experience of when he first got to know about the human-like emotions of his character, Skarsgård said:

“But then I started reading it, and I was introduced to this socially awkward android who loves soap operas. That's a wonderful feeling when you start reading something, and you expect it to go in one direction, and you're completely blindsided. I'm like, ‘Wait, what's happening? This is going in a completely different direction.’”

Skarsgård added that he was looking forward to working on something completely different from his recent projects. Hence, he chose to become a part of an unconventional comedy series like Murderbot:

“Tonally, it was the palate cleanser that I needed after those pretty intense projects. Again, intense in a really good way. Those were extraordinary experiences, but I think I was ready to do something a bit more tonally different and a character that was tonally a bit more comedic. Then we got on the phone, and I kind of liked these guys. I was like, ‘I think this could be a fun collaboration there.’”

The series premiered on Apple TV+ in May this year and releases new episodes every Friday. Apart from Skarsgård, the show stars Noma Dumezweni as Mensah, Sabrina Wu as Pin-Lee, Tamara Podemski as Bharadwaj, Tattiawna Jones as Arada, Akshay Khanna as Ratthi, and David Dastmalchian as Gurathin.

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