Murderbot follows the story of a private security cyborg, SecUnit (Alexander Skarsgård), who after disabling its own governor module, secretly frees itself from the corporation’s control but must conceal its independence while joining a team of human researchers on dangerous missions. In the most recent episode, which premiered today on Apple TV+, the crew, who has taken in DeltFall survivor Leebeebee (Anna Konkle), works to repair SecUnit’s damaged systems in the aftermath of his near self-destruction. Tensions flare, as in the process, Gurathin (David Dastmalchian) discovers that SecUnit has overridden its governor module and is now fully autonomous. Despite initial suspicion, most of the crew side with SecUnit, knowing it has been trying to protect them. Later, the episode culminates in a dangerous mission to manually trigger a distress beacon, resulting in an explosion that leaves the fate of SecUnit and Mensah (Noma Dumezweni) uncertain.

Recently, Dumezweni and Dastmalchian about working together on Murderbot, where they took inspiration for their characters, and more.

Watch the interview and read the transcript below.



SCIFI VISION:   To start off, what was it that made both of you want to be a part of it? We'll just go Noma then David.

NOMA DUMEZWENI:   I'm going to say Paul and Chris Weitz, reading the first script, and then realizing that it was a book, and this book was this beautiful possibility and how, for me, the art of adaptation is an extraordinary thing when it comes to writers and how Paul and Chris adapted Martha [Well]'s book with her alongside. Amazing.

DAVID DASTMALCHIAN:   Yeah, the Weitz. I met Chris Weitz for a coffee several years ago. We went on to make a horror film about AI together called Afraid that he wrote and directed.

Then, when he started talking to me about Murderbot, and I met his brother, I was already in love with Chris and then deeply in love with Paul. When you go on such an intense journey like we do to go make a show like this, when you know you're in the company of people as wonderful as that, boy, it makes it quite easy.

SCIFI VISION:   Was there anywhere other than the book or the script that you both took inspiration from as you created your version of the characters?

DAVID DASTMALCHIAN:   I did. I took a lot of inspiration from my castmates and from Noma, in particular. Most of my character's motivation and seeking of validation comes from his relationship as Gurathin in Mensah. That, every time I showed up to work, it was a pool, a well of inspiration that I could pull from my scene partner.

NOMA DUMEZWENI:   We had fun. We had fun. So grateful to have gotten to work with David. We are going to be doing a love fest, and I don't know whether you're going to feel it for everybody. We really enjoyed each other's company.

DAVID DASTMALCHIAN:   Not as much as you feel it from us. Ours is the better love. It's a deeper love.

NOMA DUMEZWENI:   [laughs] There's no competition, Jamie, but it's very good.

DAVID DASTMALCHIAN:   Everything's a competition, Jamie. So, that's the thing we did. I adore being with this human. I've just forgotten what the question was. Sorry.

DAVID DASTMALCHIAN:   Inspiration. Where'd you pull some inspiration from?

NOMA DUMEZWENI:   Inspiration from, do you know what? I'm going to, apart from this and the collective of actors from March through to July is still really loving each other.

I'm going to say Sue Chan, set designer, production designer, Carrie Grace, costume designer, Liz Rowe, makeup designer, Natalie Nelson, hair designer. When you have that kind of creativity in the room, and I love it that all these extraordinary women, you get stories told and we all share. That's what our job is.

How can we explore a story and collaborate to make the thing the fullest version we can be? And it's never one person's story. It's never one person's vision, but what Paul and Chris did have opened it up and said, “Look, we love this story from Martha Wells. Thank you, Martha, for writing the book, and that's why I'm here.” Paul going, “We want to make it into something.” Apple going, “We're going to make it into something,” and then all these other creatives I get to meet and enjoy.