Oscar-winning actor Halle Berry plays a space scientist in AXN's Extant who comes back home after a year's project. She talks about her character's adjustments with her robotic child and why it is the best time to work in television
What attracted you to the role of Molly WoodsIJ
When I read it, it read to me like a movie. The character was rich, she was complicated, she was someone that I instantly related to on some level. I loved the world that was created. It was the perfect balance of supernatural sci-fi and character driven.
Why is it a good time to return to televisionIJ
I thought some of the best stuff was on television today and I think as artists, as actors, we have to go where the work is, where the good characters are that move us, that inspire us, that want to make us do what we do.
What can fans expect from ExtantIJ
It all starts with my character, Molly Woods, coming home from a year-long solo mission in space. And when she’s been away from her family for a year as you can imagine there are some adjustment issues coming back into the family, into her world again, just being on the Earth but then being with her family and figuring out her place.
What is the pilot episode aboutIJ
The first show is about coming home, reconnecting, and then Molly finding out that she didn’t come home alone and what is she going to do about thatIJ She left a little robot boy that her husband created before she left because they had infertility problems and it’s about trying to reconnect with that robot. But she struggled connecting with that robot even before she left, because she is having a hard time I think loving this robot as John who created it really loves this robot.
Why does Molly have a robot sonIJ
They have a robot son because Molly and John had infertility issues and they tried for years and years to get pregnant and they couldn’t. So, John, I think, in an attempt to give Molly the greatest gift, the thing that Molly wanted most in the world was a child, he decided to create one with his partner, Julie who is played by Grace Gummer. They create Ethan, this AI (artificial intelligent) robot child. The problem is that Molly is not sure that this robot baby quite does it for her, that it’s quite childlike enough for her to be fulfilled. So, when Molly finds out she is pregnant, no matter what it is, it’s still hers and it’s inside of her, and she has a natural connection to whatever that is.
What is Molly’s relationship like with her robot son, EthanIJ
I think Molly and Ethan have a very interesting relationship. He is trying to figure her out. He, on some level, if a robot can sense anything, he knows that he’s not getting quite the input that he is getting from his father, John. And Molly is very ambivalent about this robot and she is trying very hard though to love him and to include him and to be a mom to him and mother him, but I think that’s her inner struggle. She is trying but something right now in the pilot is not quite clicking for her.
More on Molly’s relationship with Ethan.
I think the relationship with Molly and Ethan will slowly evolve over time. Certainly by the end of this season it won’t be resolved, but Molly will be closer to understanding Ethan and closer to maybe finding a way to love him and understanding what loving a robot would mean. And I think Ethan’s development by the end of 13th show will be light years from where he started and so that will make Molly beckon all kinds of questions: is he learning like a human and if that’s true then is he learning to love like a humanIJ And I think if Molly can wrap her brain around the fact that he could possibly love her, then I think she could love him. And those are the questions we are going to have to wait and see.
Why is Extant relatableIJ
It’s as much about heart and relationships as it is the sci-fi world of it all, you know what I meanIJ And I think our series beautifully strikes the balance between the new world science fiction AI and a family that are human and have real issues that are very relatable to every family right now.
Does the show feel very futuristicIJ
In every episode there’s an element of science fiction, of AI. We have this child robot who is in the movie. We are in this world that is very futuristic. It’s very subtle but in each episode you’ll see some little element that will tell you, you are not in 2014, that you are slightly ahead of where we are. And it’s fun to see those little details and operate — like we have cars that drive themselves.
But that’s our world that our characters live in, so those little elements are fun and add a richness to our stories.