Our latest digital cover for Popternative Magazine for September 2025 features Ivorian Danish actress Diêm Camille who plays Siberian in the sci-fi horror, Alien: Earth, a prequel series to the original 1979 Alien film directed by Ridley Scott. Alien: Earth, premiered on FX and Hulu on August 12 and is set in the year 2120 where Earth is governed by five corporations: Prodigy, Weyland-Yutani, Lynch, Dynamic and Threshold. Ridley Scott is an executive producer for the series alongside creator and showrunner Noah Hawley.
Diêm’s character, Siberian, is a soldier for Prodigy tasked with a rescue mission when the USCSS Maginot, a space research vessel, crashes in the city of Prodigy. As a human, Siberian works alongside cyborgs, synthetics, and hybrids (humanoid robots infused with human consciousness) to uncover mysterious and potentially dangerous life forms on the space vessel.
Diêm shares with us her audition process for her role, how she prepared to portray a character that is based in a world with such a big legacy, working with the cast and crew, and what it was like to work on the large-scale set designs.
Exclusive photos for Popternative Magazine by Marie Hald
Hair/makeup/stylist: Stephanie Asi Brix
PR: CLD Communications
What was your audition process like? Did you audition for Siberian?
Diêm: I did; I did a self-tape. I got an e-mail from my agent Amy O’Neill about an Alien project, and I thought “it’s probably a scam.” That’s the first thing I thought because it was so unreal. I was like, there’s no way they’re making a TV series about the Alien universe, no way! And then I read the whole e-mail and saw who was attached, and it said Noah Hawley and Ridley Scott, and I was like, okay, it’s real. And I did the self-tape with a friend of mine, Thue Rasmussen, who’s an amazing actor and reader, and as soon as we wrapped that self-tape, he said, “you’re gonna get this.” And he says that a lot, so I was like, “thank you, but let’s see.”
And then we sent that on a Thursday, and on Friday, I got a recall for Monday, which is the fastest recall I’ve ever gotten in my life. It felt surreal already. I spent the whole weekend rehearsing. But that Monday, the first thing casting director Kate Rhodes James told me was “this is not a recall, it’s just for you and Noah to have a chat.” And I was standing there in a dog tag, so ready to show him another take. Crazy but we spoke about his vision, my character and the project I was filming back then, “The Wheel of Time.” And at the end he goes “are you okay with flying home from Prague on a Friday and then flying to Thailand for six months on a Monday?” And I was like, “I’m there.” Signed, sealed, dreams come true.
Photo: Marie Hald
The Alien universe is a big one; what was your relationship like with the original source material?
Diêm: I had seen the original Alien films, the first three, but sporadically. What my dad and I share the most are films, and he would always put on various films and then I would sneak in and we would just sit there on the couch in silence, and watch a world together. And one of the worlds was Alien, and I remember that it was so scary and I had to cover my eyes, you know with split fingers. And then growing up, you realize that what you saw back then was not just a film, it sort of broke the scale. It changed the game within horror and having a female lead being a badass and not a damsel was completely innovative, and I really appreciate what Ridley Scott created.
It’s very special to get a role on something that already has this IP, and not just an IP, but a legacy. And to be part of a legacy is enormously humbling, and it sets a certain sort of pressure. But it’s not like I feel like I have to step into the original cast’s footsteps. I’m making my own footsteps next to them with honor. So, even though Siberian is inspired by Parker from Ridley Scott’s Alien and Vasquez from James Cameron’s Aliens, I was very much aware of the fact that I had to make her my own.
I wanted to find her humanity behind her armor. Because she’s superstitious about Hermit always being around dead people as a medic, she’s scared to touch him, because what if she dies? What if the people she loves loses her? I felt like that was a very human side of her, but also, I made sure to let her strength be a protection of her vulnerability and a protection of her humanity, because black women are raised to be so very strong. And I didn’t just want to play a badass, I wanted to play someone who is a badass because of something. She’s a badass because she’s actually really vulnerable and terrified, and she’s trying to hide that in bravery. I think that is the relatable part. Being a badass is not that relatable, because we rarely choose to be badass. It just sort of happens when perseverance meets a great personality and becomes impactful. But I was very aware of being part of a legacy, and I think it’s only iconic of Noah to pay homage to Ridley Scott by honoring the Nostromo, and honoring the way the characters made us feel watching the O.G. ones, and that’s the same feeling I get from watching Alien: Earth.
What was your mindset and preparation like in terms of your character navigating the complex dynamic between the synthetics and the human soldiers in Alien: Earth?
Diêm: Siberian, being a human soldier is of course very relatable being a human myself, but it was very eye opening to actually be in contact with these hybrids, because they look human and they seem human, and they have a human consciousness, but they are ridiculously strong and synthetic. So, it was sort of about prepping to be around a powerful kid. And for Siberian, how would she earn respect or demand respect from someone who is stronger than her, but is still a kid? How would she stronghold a supernatural kid without hurting or breaking them? Siberian is working for Prodigy, so she constantly has to protect their assets, which are the hybrids, their weapons and products, and essentially, kids.
Photo: Marie Hald
The sets are breathtaking. Take us through seeing those sets for the first time. What can you tell us about your overall experiences on set?
Diêm: My first day on Alien: Earth was an exterior scene, and it was the crash site with the space vessel hanging from the Prodigy tower, and there were hundreds of extras. It was the hottest day in Thailand, we had water, electrolytes, we had these warm bulletproof vests on, and it felt like an actual crash site. People were bleeding, people were being carried to medical, and it felt so real that it was quite horrifying, which also helped me get into character very easily. Usually, the first days are a bit awkward because you kind of have to figure out where you are, what you are and who you are. But Noah made it easy that day to step into that role, and also because of all the military training we did with Troy and David, our military teachers and veterans. Seeing the sets inside the ship for the first time, and the cryo pods and the chestburster holes inside, it was so one to one from the first films that it was quite touching, and I felt very teary eyed watching this body of work from all the production designers, art director, set designers, they are insanely talented and skilled, and it’s almost scary how detailed it was on set, because they actually built the stairwell and the spaceship into the apartments on set.
Everything was just so real it felt unreal. We used a lot of practical effects instead of VFX, which made the show timeless and also helped us all. One of my favorite things was working with our kindest directors Ugla Hauksdóttir, Dana Gonzales and Noah Hawley. Noah knows exactly what he wants. He handpicked all of us from basically one self-tape. And so, because he has so much confidence in his choices, it makes you feel confident, and you know that whatever you have to do, you’ve already done it in your self-tape. So, being there and having that confidence in myself made me really believe in my character’s confidence as well. The crew, the Thai and the cast made it such a beautiful experience. I’m so excited for people to experience this very stellar cast and this visually stunning series the next 4 Tuesdays.
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A new episode of Alien: Earth airs Tuesdays at 8pm ET on FX and streams on Hulu. The season finale will drop on September 23.
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