Alexander Skarsgard relates to the socially awkward cyborg in 'Murderbot'

NEW YORK, May 15 (UPI) -- Succession, Big Little Lies and True Blood alum Alexander Skarsgard says he had no trouble connecting to the partly organic, titular security unit cyborg he plays in Murderbot.

"The socially awkward aspects of Murderbot's personality I found quite relatable -- trying to read a room and trying to fit in and figure out the dynamic of a group," the 48-year-old Emmy winner told UPI in a recent Zoom interview.

"Murderbot is a very awkward android who is desperately trying to avoid any interaction with humans if possible and prefers to spend the day watching its favorite show, The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon. It's someone who's very good at procrastinating."

The story kicks off when Murderbot finds a way to override its "obey" function and think for itself as it is assigned to guard a group of free-spirited scientists led by Gurathin (David Dastmalchian) and Mensah (Noma Dumezweni).

Helmed by Chris and Paul Weitz and based on the sci-fi novels by Martha Wells, Murderbot premieres Friday on Apple TV+

"Now that it's gained autonomy and free will, it can now do whatever it wants," Skarsgard said of his character.

"It keeps talking about these epic adventures it's going to go on, but it ends up just procrastinating, chilling, watching its shows and then, reluctantly, it gets drawn into an adventure because of these naive humans that it's been assigned to protect."

The scientists throw Murderbot for a loop because, instead of simply relying on it for safety, they continuously try to befriend it.

"They want to bring Murderbot into the team and want to have conversations, and they keep asking how Murderbot is doing, how Murderbot is feeling, and this is incredibly uncomfortable," Skarsgard said.

"A lot of the comedy comes from [Murderbot] desperately trying to get away from those conversations, so I can be left alone to watch my show."

Skarsgard said it was challenging to find the voice and facial expressions for Murderbot's robotic facade since it is a creature who isn't supposed to have its own thoughts and feelings.

"We knew that we wanted the expression to be kept to a minimum," he explained.

"You would want it to be, very kind of -- it's not stoic -- but very kind of a tabula rasa. It's like there's nothing. It doesn't express much," Skarsgard added.

"There's a lot going on under the surface we should all hear in the voice-over and we wanted a clear contrast between the laconic delivery of the monotone voice and the kind of sparseness of it and then the kind of more slightly verbose dialogue in Murderbot's head."

Another trial the actor endured was hours spent in his constricting robot shell costume.

"I've played roles that are more physically demanding and exhausting," Skarsgard said.

"But the whole suit was not very comfortable to wear and it got very hot in there," he added. "Those days when Murderbot was either naked, or in just like a [hospital] gown were real treats for me. Those were really nice days."

The cast of the series also includes Sabrina Wu, Jack McBrayer, Clark Gregg, John Cho and DeWanda Wise.