‘Constellation’ offers galaxy of mystery elements
Noomi Rapace goes from being “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” to the woman who returns from space with the new AppleTV+ offering “Constellation.” The tale of how an astronaut returns to Earth after a disaster in space only to discover that key pieces of her life seem to be missing debuts on the streaming service Feb. 21.
Rapace was drawn to the series because of the contrasting elements she would have to portray in the series from Peter Harness. On the one hand, her character, Jo, is a trained astronaut who must look at the world in a very practical and calm way. Then there are the elements of Jo being a mother where emotions are a big part of how she acts and reacts. Rapace describes the conflict between Jo’s mind and heart as an “internal war.”
She adds, “Because an accident happens up there, she managed to get herself back to Earth to reunite with her baby, her daughter, which is really the core and the heartbeat in the series for me and that’s kind of what I wanted to come in and explore.
“There’s a lot of big explosions in sci-fi and psychological thrillers, but this one has a subject matter that I could relate to as a mother. And her being trapped in this horrible situation of looking at this girl and her body and her primal instinct, her gut feeling is saying that this is not my baby, but she looks like my baby and no one believes me, that kind of journey she goes on to figure out what is going on and at the same time, the desperation to find her daughter to reunite, that drive just made this so special and rare and emotional.”
The thing that most impressed Rapace in terms of the writing by Harness was how even in a series that touches on outer space, the project came across as very grounded. She found her character and the story to be like an onion where something new would be revealed with each layer being pulled away.
The series that explores the dark edges of human psychology is a mix of genres. Along with being solidly anchored in science fiction, there are elements of horror, psychological thriller and conspiracy mystery.
Harness started with the idea of what happens to people when they return to Earth after a long mission. They have to deal with being separated from everyone and everything they have known in their lives.
His research shows that astronauts often experience physical changes such as a significant degeneration in their eyesight after they come back. They also age at a different rate.
“That has a huge effect on astronauts. I also kind of began to understand that there were these odd, little, spooky stories about what astronauts go through in space,” Harness says. “They do hear dogs barking, and sometimes they see weird things outside the capsules.
“Obviously, that’s a sci-fi show, but that has spooky elements in it as well, and that leads almost naturally into a conspiracy about facts being covered up. But for me, what I think is a fairly relatable story of a parent trying to reach a child, and a child trying to reach a parent, and the kind of fault lines in that relationship. That was the important thing for me, and the genre stuff just folded in alongside it.”
Rapace had been working as an actor for more than a decade before her role in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” put her in the spotlight. Since then, she has appeared in “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest,” “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows,” “Alien: Covenant” and “Django.”
Her life in front of the cameras as a working mother gave Rapace a foundation for playing the astronaut/mom. She has spent many days and months away from home because of her career.
“We go away on shoots and we transform. We train really hard. We’re separated from our families and our kids. So, it’s this terrible feeling when you come back and it’s like, have I been away too long? Did I push it too far?,” Rapace says. “My dream and my love for my work that I’m so committed to and I’m ready to go really deep and really far, but to what cost?
“That’s the question. For me, this series really asked that to everyone. I started looking at my own life and looking back at my choices. We are our choices, we are our decisions, and what is real? We create our own reality and if we lose connection with the ones we have closest, what is worth anything then?”
“Constellation” also stars Jonathan Banks, James D’Arcy and Will Catlett. It will launch with three episodes being released on the first day.
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