SAN DIEGO — Sydney Chandler has wanted to attend San Diego Comic-Con as a fan for years.
So it’s “surreal” that the actor’s first experience with the annual pop culture expo is to promote her upcoming FX series “Alien: Earth.” Chandler stars in the “Alien” prequel as Wendy, a young girl whose consciousness has been transferred to an android.
“To be able to do it in this capacity is just mind-blowing,” she tells The Times in advance of the show’s Hall H premiere on Friday. “It’s emotional because we worked on this for so long and I learned so much. … I’m kind of at a loss of words.”
She does have words of appreciation, though, including for what she’s learned from her character.
“Her journey of finding out how to hold her own and stand on her own two feet taught me so much,” says Chandler. “I’m an overthinker. I’m an anxious person. I would have run so fast. I would not be as brave as her, but she taught me … that it’s OK to just stand on your own two feet, and that’s enough. That’s powerful.”
Even before the show’s Hall H panel, fans have gathered on the sidewalk outside of the Hard Rock Hotel San Diego to catch a glimpse of Chandler and her “Alien: Earth” cast mates Timothy Olyphant, Alex Lawther, Samuel Blenkin and Babou Ceesay, along with creator Noah Hawley and executive producer David Zucker, on their short trek to the bus that would transport them to the convention center for the show’s world premiere.
On the ride over, Hawley betrays no nerves about people seeing the first episode.
“I really think, in a strange way, it plays for all ages because it is about growing up on some level,” says the showrunner. “But it’s also ‘Alien,’ and it is a meditation on power and corporate power. ”
Huddled together on the bus with Lawther and Blenkin, Ceesay is surprised to learn that this is the first time attending San Diego Comic-Con for all three. There’s plenty of good-natured ribbing as they talk about the early interviews they’ve completed at the event.
“I just sort of want to make jokes with you all the time,” says Lawther as he looks towards his cast mates. “I find it quite giddy in the experience, and I had to remind myself that I’m a professional.”
“Sometimes the British sarcasm instinct just kicks in,” Blenkin adds.
Their playful dynamic continues as they joke about crashing Ceesay’s other panel, and also backstage at Hall H as they try to sneak up on each other in the dark.
After the panel, the cast is whisked away for video interviews and signing posters at a fan meet-and-greet at a booth on the exhibit floor. (“Timothy, you’re the man!” shouts a fan passing by.) Later, Hawley, Chandler and Ceesay will hit the immersive “Alien: Earth” activation where they will explore the wreckage of a crashed ship.
“It’s such a safe space for people who just enjoy cinema and enjoy film,” Chandler says of Comic-Con. “And that’s me. I’m a complete nerd for all this stuff, so just to be around that group — it reminds me of why I love film so much in the first place.”
