Foundation Interview: Laura Birn | Screen Rant
David Goyer's Foundation TV series is a fascinating, philosophical science-fiction show - and Laura Birn's Demerzel is one of the more intriguing characters. Eto Demerzel is the principal adviser to the Cleon genetic dynasty, an android who has lived for over 20,000 years. In the books, she became Asimov's tool to tie together his I, Robot and Foundation series, fashioning a single shared science-fiction universe. "A few of the critics disapproved of this, but I’m darned if I know why," Asimov complained. "They are my books and I can do as I wish with them, I should think."
Asimov's novels and short stories are typically concept-driven, and Goyer has worked hard to establish a more human element to the series. Amusingly, the character of Eto Demerzel has become one of his most sophisticated characters, an android who nevertheless possesses a soul - as demonstrated by the soul visions she confirmed she had experienced in the past. Demerzel is fiercely loyal to the Cleon genetic dynasty - which raises disturbing questions about her future direction, given Foundation season 1's epic finale revealed the genetic dynasty has been irretrievably compromised.
Screen Rant had an opportunity to speak to actress Laura Birn, who plays Eto Demerzel, about her experience working on this show, her understanding of Demerzel's character, and her expectations for the future.
Screen Rant: What was it that drew you to Foundation in the first place?
Laura Birn: I have to say that I had not read the books, I did not know much of Isaac Asimov. When I did my first audition, I just got the pages, and I didn't know what it was about. By the time I was auditioning, I got a little more information. I needed to ask my dad, "Do you know Isaac Asimov??" And he was, like, "Yes, I do!"
But I hadn't been so much into sci-fi, so I didn't know much of the world. I kind of entered a new universe not really knowing what I'm entering into, but when I first talked to David Goyer in my audition, he explained a little about the world, about Demerzel, I was like, "This is huge. There is a whole galaxy that I need to understand." But yeah, I came with no information.
Wow. That must've been quite a steep learning curve.
Laura Birn: Yes, and it still is! But I love it, and I have a six-year-old son who just found sci-fi and Star Wars, and he just went crazy. He went mad when he realized that Darth Vader is Sith, and he turns to the dark side, and there were these conversations about all the big questions.
So I'm entering this sci-fi world from two different directions, through my son and me also, and I find it so fascinating. And I'm so newbie, I can just learn and get more and more excited, and I love how devoted people are who are interested in sci-fi - there's so much love, and passion, and caring, and I find the world very fascinating.
Moving on to talk a little bit about Demerzel as a character, I think she's one of the most layered people in the series. I've always tended to think each character has a core idea lying at the center of them. What would you say defines Demerzel?
Laura Birn: What I love about her is the complexity between her programming and herself. She was programmed to do certain things and to obey the rules of the Cleons, and she cannot break her programming, her protocols, she needs to obey that. But at the same time, she is a robot who's lived for more than 20,000 years, so she's learned a lot, she's seen a lot, she has her programming but everything else that she is... do we call that a soul? Or a character? What do we call that? But how many times she has had her heart broken, how many times she has learned something new? There's a huge depth to her. And sometimes her programming, her protocols, the things the Cleons make her do, are so violently against what she believes... and that contradiction is so compelling, and as an actor, it's like a gift when you get to search that kind of character.
Also, I don't remember a character like her, and her relationship with the Cleons, it's crazy. She's their mother, she's their teacher, she's their nurse, adviser, and she's taught them everything they know, and every time she takes a new Cleon baby in her arms, she knows she will take them to their grave. So it's so complex, the relationship between her and her weird, strange family.
One of the things I loved about Foundation was this spiritual dimension to Demerzel, which is quite unusual to see with androids in particular like this. How do you feel Demerzel's faith shapes her life?
Laura Birn: Well, I think we all need meaning, we need a purpose, and at some point in our lives everybody starts to ask those questions - what is my purpose here, what am I doing here, what am I here for? I can imagine living tens of thousands of years, seeing so much evil, seeing all of your kind getting destroyed, you need to find something larger than life, you need to find something to hold on to, something to believe in, something that is good. Otherwise, I don't know how poisonous she would be.
And what I love about her is that she's seen so many horrifying and sad things, but still, I feel like deep down she's good, and she still wants to believe in good. She hasn't turned to the dark side.
How do you think Demerzel's final conversation with Zephyr Halima affected her as a character and her views on the Empire?
Laura Birn: Oh, that's one of my favorite scenes. I love that, such good writing. It was such a pleasure to do that scene. I think it affects her hugely. It's one of, I would think, the most horrifying things Cleon has made her do, and there are so many levels on why he makes her do it, why she needs to do it. Even though he had already proved her wrong - but do we believe he really had the vision? I don't know. So it's very sad, it breaks her heart, and it will stay with her forever, and as we see later on, in that episode and in the next, she does carry that with her. He crosses a line there that really deeply hurts her.
One of the tensions that I find fascinating about Demerzel is the question of her loyalty. That her loyalty is forced and compelled, not chosen, it builds to a head in the finale in that shocking scene where she kills Brother Dawn. What and who do you think Demerzel is most loyal to?
Laura Birn: Well, she is most loyal to Cleon I. It's kind of like, Cleon I was the one who made her loyal to him and will always be the bigger picture, and all the Cleons that come after are kind of... their children, or his heirs. She will always protect the bigger picture Empire, there can't be any of the clones that would overrun the first for her programming.
Looking forward to season 2, how do you think she's going to cope with learning the genetic dynasty's actually been compromised?
Laura Birn: It's not gonna be easy for her, she's gonna be working hard, but I can't tell you more, sorry!
Demerzel doesn't seem to react much to Hari Seldon's predictions. What do you think she makes of them, as someone whose perspective is a lot less constrained by time?
Laura Birn: She doesn't give out much, but I feel she is listening very carefully. One of her sides is that... everybody else in that weird little family is very emotional, and they let their emotions guide them, but she's always there behind, listening, observing, learning. And she has so many pieces of the puzzle already, she's lived for so long. So she doesn't panic, she just takes information and remembers everything she's ever learned. She will use that information when she needs to. And I do have some little secret that David Goyer has shared with me, but which I can't and will not share with you now, but we will come back to that question later on if we continue making this show for a long time, which I wish we will do.
One question from the experience of filming Foundation; the cast is absolutely incredible. Were there any actors you wished you'd got a chance to work with, that you didn't?
Laura Birn: Well, I would have loved to have been with Leah [Harvey] and Lou [Llobell], who are amazing and I adore. But at the same time, I got to spend a lot of time with them, especially as we were in the COVID bubble for a long time. I think we got quite close and intimate with a group, with the main actors, so I feel like I've talked about the show with them so much, we've talked about life, about everything, I feel very close to them, even though I haven't had many scenes with them. And I'm sure our paths will cross again, so I'm not too worried. And I have to say, all my boys that I have scenes with, are just amazing - as actors, and as people. I couldn't have wished for kinder, funnier, more creative, and invested people, they're just amazing.
It was an amazing experience. It took such a long time because we started shooting before COVID happened, and then COVID came and we had a long break and then continued, we were in this bubble. I think that made it so special, hopefully, that will never happen again, but the silver lining is that the endless secrets have been shared and we got so close with everyone, I feel so easy and relaxed to come back to season 2. It feels like they're my little family, really, even though it was very hard and I know was super-hard for production. I'm super proud they got us through all that.
All 10 episodes of Foundation are now available to stream on Apple TV+.