Adarsh Gourav is venturing into uncharted territory with “Alien: Earth,” the upcoming FX series that marks his first major foray into sci-fi.
“Alien: Earth” serves as a prequel to Ridley Scott’s 1979 film “Alien,” which kicked off a nine-film franchise with the latest being “Alien: Romulus.” The series, due to release in 2025, builds on the seminal franchise.
“I play one of the leading characters. It’s set in the future, and it’s very exciting for me, because I got to be part of like a sci-fi horror, psychological thriller show. And all these elements are basically things that excite me the most as an actor,” Gourav tells Variety.
“My knowledge about sci-fi is very limited, but psychological thriller and horror is my go-to genre to watch, also as an audience,” he adds.
Gourav first gained international recognition for his breakout role in Ramin Bahrani’s Netflix film “The White Tiger,” which earned him a BAFTA nomination for leading actor in 2021. He followed this with roles in Apple TV+’s “Extrapolations,” Netflix series “Guns & Gulaabs” and Netflix film “Kho Gaye Hum Kahan.”
Gourav also stars in “Superboys of Malegaon,” which recently screened at the Toronto International Film Festival and BFI London Film Festival. The film sees Gourav portraying real-life filmmaker Nasir Shaikh, who earned fame for creating ultra-low-budget spoof remakes of Bollywood hits in the small Indian town of Malegaon.
To prepare for the role, Gourav immersed himself in Shaikh’s world. “I didn’t have a plan. I just wanted to go to Malegaon and wanted to be around Nasir,” he explains. This led to an unexpected collaboration, with Gourav producing a short film, “Nana Ki Kranti,” directed by Shaikh, during his research period.
“Superboys of Malegaon” director Reema Kagti has praised Gourav’s chameleonic performance. The actor attributes this to his approach: “I decided very early on that when somebody sees me on screen, they shouldn’t see me. They should see the person that I’m playing.”
Gourav is also exploring other creative avenues. “I’m trying to write more music for myself. I started out as a Hindustani classical singer, actually, and I’m just trying to create more music,” he says, adding that he’s also “trying to write stories and hopefully make them into screenplays.”