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Noma Dumezweni: Timing for 'Murderbot' is 'absolutely perfect'
1 of 3 | Noma Dumezweni and Alexander Skarsgard star in "Murderbot," now streaming. Photo courtesy of Apple TV+.
NEW YORK, July 12 (UPI) -- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and The Undoing actress Noma Dumezweni says the themes of hope, community and acceptance in her futuristic sci-fi series, Murderbot, are relatable and important in 2025.
"I have the joy of playing Dr. Ida Mensah from the Preservation Alliance," Dumezweni, 55, told UPI in a recent Zoom interview.
"You can be whatever you want. We don't align ourselves with the polities of the Corporation Rim, which are all different planets, owned by corporations, and the timing for the show is absolutely perfect. It feels like right now."
The adaptation of Martha Wells' novella stars Alexander Skarsgard as the titular, partly organic, security unit cyborg, which 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 Mensah (Dumezweni) and Gurathin (David Dastmalchian).
Dune and Dexter: Resurrection actor Dastmalchian, 49, described his character as an "augmented human."
"Though he is a human, he has a portal so he can connect to data through computer systems both through bluetooth technology and through cables," Dastmalchian explained.
"He is an analyzer, a data analytic specialist. He's able to process large streams of data and store data and run it through his computation, so he's on the lookout for any anomalies, always on the lookout for making sure everything stays straight in alignment," the actor added. "He's very, what we would call, 'Type A.'"
And that occasionally puts him at odds with the hippie scientist community he finds himself a part of.
"It's wild," Dastmalchian said. "I'm right in the middle of this free-loving, socialistic [group]. We've got throuples over here. Oh, my God!"
Dumezweni called Gurathin a "wonderful bridge between Murderbot and the Preservation."
"They know what that world is, but they understand what the possibility of this world is, so therefore Gurathin's cynicism towards Murderbot is called for, but, for Mensah, [she is like]: 'No, we're all good. Let's try and find out what else we have in common."
"He has a healthy dose of skepticism," Dastmalchian chimed in.
The actor said the scripts by Paul and Chris Weitz expertly blend entertaining storytelling with important social issues.
"It's the gift of great writing and being around an ensemble of great artists," Dastmalchian said.
"You play it straight. We're never looking for the laugh. You're never looking for the sci-fi moment, the drama moment. You're playing the intention of the characters, their relationships to one another in the given circumstances and all the amazing, extreme mise-en-scene that comes with building a world like this is just all the fun."
Dumezweni also credited Wells with creating such a dynamic, colorful world in the first place.
"These stories are so clearly what we are creating and what Paul and Chris have created for us to be part of and that's the joy," she said.
"From the well of Wells!" Dastmalchian added.
Jon Cho, Jack McBrayer, Clark Gregg, Sabrina Wu, DeWanda Wise, Akshay Khanna, Tattiawna Jones and Tamara Podemski co-star.
Season 1 is now streaming on Apple TV+. The show has already been renewed for Season 2.
