Apple TV’s “For All Mankind” spinoff series, “Star City,” places viewers directly behind the scenes of the hush-hush Soviet space program community in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s to witness all the harrowing missions, love triangles, espionage, sabotage, interrogation, and torture of those turbulent times. And believe us, there’s more than a little truth behind this alternative-history re-enactment.
Priya Kansara (who also voiced Ryan Gosling’s AI spaceship in “Project Hail Mary”) portrays Lakshmi Chadha in the absorbing new series. A gifted Indian aerospace scientist, Chadma, is recruited to Star City for a special, under-the-radar project by Rhys Ifans’ Chief Designer for the risky Venera-7 mission to Venus.
Josef Davies plays a younger version of Sergei Nikulov, a rocket engineer working at Soviet Ground Control, a character previously portrayed by Piotr Adamczyk in “For All Mankind.” In that series, Nikulov becomes the director of Roscosmos and develops a relationship with Margo Madison (Wrenn Schmidt) during the Apollo-Soyuz program that leads to costly secrets shared and a very bad outcome.
Both Kansara and Davies both play pivotal roles in the show’s experimental Venera-7 deep space expedition and we spoke to them about crafting their roles. “I was very excited to play a much-loved character which people already know,” Davies tells Space.
“But also to dive into it because this show has its own completely different identity. To be able to play that character that feels familiar but tells a lot more of the story to people who are interested in him and the world he came from.
“The whole experience has been incredible and something I hope continues for a very long time. I loved it deeply. Finding every moment of that character and really being able to have the reins to take control of it and play with it is my favorite part of the whole thing.”
Kansara considered it a supreme privilege to play Lakshmi and to conjure up the character’s confident demeanor and innate determinism.
“She never questions her own ability even if the situation is not what was expected or somebody else doesn’t believe in her,” she reveals. “She really believes in herself. And when presented with a challenge she takes it head on even if it’s terrifying.”
“I really respect that strength that she has,” continues Kansara. “It was so much fun to play and to explore that journey with her. The circumstances are so intense. Just some of the scenarios that are thrown at you, you’re like, ‘I don’t have a relatable thing. This is not like life that we’ve experienced.’ But it was fun to play with that as well.”
Both Davies and Kansara had specific costumes touches that allowed them to create layered performances in their “Star City” episodes.
“The watch was a big one for me because it felt like it was mechanical,” Davies mentions. “Everything was about precision and timing and all that. So that helped and it felt like an anchoring. Also my tie. I always liked for it to be a little bit too tight so I could feel it. That helped me get into that space. Honestly the whole thing was an amazing six months.”
To stand out amid the drab colorless environment of Star City, costumers thankfully brightened things up for Lakshmi’s wardrobe.
“Lakshmi naturally had a little bit more color in her clothing because we wanted her to feel and look like an outsider,” Kansara adds. “That was really important in terms of me walking into these bleak spaces. That physical reminder of me being someone who’s from the outside. The other thing was the Sindoor that I wear on my head, which is the red powder that symbolizes a married woman for Hindu and South Asian women. I wanted a piece of her that she can’t let go of. That’s hugely important. To put that on every day was a real grounding for me.
“We laughed a lot on set, we had so much fun filming together. It was amazing.”
“Star City” season 1 is streaming now exclusively on Apple TV.
