In Ridley Scott’s 1979 masterpiece, Alien, you barely see the Xenomorph at all. The choice had as much to do with the film’s budget limitations as it did with its director’s sensibilities (some of the shots of the monster in that movie look downright goofy by modern standards). Seven years later, James Cameron unleashed an entire brood of Xenomorphs on his human victims in Aliens, and the many films that followed have shown us more and more of the “perfect organism” at the heart of the franchise. But there’s one thing we’ve never seen, until now.
In its penultimate episode, Alien: Earth does something that only a show set on Earth could do: take the Xenomorph outside into the sun. While the movies all take place on dimly lit spaceships or dark, alien planets, the FX series is largely set on a tropical island controlled by an evil trillionaire. So it makes sense that eventually, the action would spill out of Boy Kavalier’s underground lab and into the daylight. That’s exactly what happens in episode 7.
For Dana Gonzalez, who directed the episode and also an executive producer, it was a daunting challenge.
“It’s a scary concept,” Gonzalez tells Polygon. “It’s the first time you’re gonna see full frontal Xenomorph outside. You’ve only seen it in the dark.”
It was important to both Gonzalez and showrunner Noah Hawley that this moment felt earned. After all, Alien: Earth could have easily started with a whole pack of Xenomorphs loose on Earth. The fact that they waited until episode 7 shows an impressive amount of restraint.
“The beauty of it is we’ve earned it,” Gonzalez says. “Noah knew the audience had to be in a certain space to accept that.”
Crafting a narrative that could plausibly bring the Xenomorphs out into daylight was one thing, but actually shooting those scenes was another. If you’re wondering how the Alien: Earth crew pulled off those scenes, the answer is simple — a stunt person in a Xenomorph suit.
Specifically, that person is Jayde Rutene. (Another stunt person named Cameron Brown plays the larger Xenomorph we saw earlier in Alien: Earth, until Sydney sliced its head off).
“She’s a pretty cool lady,” says Alex Lawther, who plays Hermit on Alien: Earth, adding that working with a stuntperson is much easier than the alternative. “In contrast to an animatronic, or even worse, a tennis ball on a stick, it’s just easier performing in front of a person.”
Gonzalez agrees: “That’s why it works so well: [part of it] is truly practical.”