Apple TV+'s epic Foundation series will, at last, bring Salvor Hardin, one of Isaac Asimov's greatest heroes, to life on the small screen. Generations of filmmakers have attempted to adapt Isaac Asimov's classic Foundation series, but until now nothing has ever gotten off the ground. The core problem has been that the series' sheer length, as well as its millennia-spanning concept, is pretty challenging to transform into another medium. But the advent of streaming, and the popularity of long-form shows like Game of Thrones, have given showrunner David Goyer a chance to have a shot.
This means viewers will finally get to meet Salvor Hardin, one of the legendary heroes of Foundation. This sci-fi series is set in a distant future where the Empire rule the galaxy - and then, shockingly, a mathematician named Hari Seldon (Jared Harris) prophesies the collapse of the Empire and the advent of galactic Dark Ages that, unless things go well, could last 30,000 years. He establishes a Foundation on the distant world Terminus to rewrite history, and Salvor Hardin is one of the champions of that distant world.
Salvor Hardin has been changed significantly from the books, gender-swapped, and transformed into a much more action-oriented character. Relative newcomer Leah Harvey has been cast for this major role, and Screen Rant spoke exclusively to them about how they've transformed the cerebral figure from the books into a more three-dimensional figure.
Screen Rant: I was wondering if you could start out by telling us a little bit about your character - what Salvor Hardin is like, what makes them tick?
Leah Harvey: Salvor is the Warden of Terminus, so is in charge of looking after everybody's safety, which I think says a lot about who she is and the fact that she's doing this job. She's super-focused, very dedicated to her job, but is also kind of an outsider, so interestingly she's protecting people who kind of don't really get her. I think that speaks to her strength of character. I think she's really funny, but I think that's just because I play her - I know all the inside jokes.
This is the biggest project you've been involved in. Have you felt any pressure from playing such a major role?
Leah Harvey: Oh, for sure, for sure. But I think that's because I just care, you know? I want it to come across really well, and I want to know that I did a good job, and I feel like I have done a good job. I'm really excited to see how people react to the whole show, and not only Salvor. I'm really proud of myself for getting through this journey, and especially in a time where the world... you know, we were so united in our experience that it was lovely to be able to do something really special, actually. Yeah, beautiful. It was good times, good times.
Did you read through any of the Foundation books, the source material, or did you prefer to just go in without those preconceived ideas?
Leah Harvey: So, at first I hadn't read them when I first saw the scripts, but as soon as I mentioned it to my family, my nan - on my mom's side - she's read all of them! And, my uncle, they knew all the books. "Isaac Asimov, okay" so I was like, "Cool, this is in my blood."
But I have read the books, I'm currently reading Prelude, so I've gone in the order of publication, so this is the sixth book that I'm reading now, and it's so fun reading the books! And I was able to read them while filming, so I would kind of come up to parts and be, "OMG that's this bit," it's even now happening, I love it. Love the books.
One of the things that's quite distinct about Asimov, his books are very concept-driven rather than character-driven. How did you turn Salvor Hardin into a three-dimensional character in her own right?
Leah Harvey: The writing on this show's really, really good I think, and so my job of creating a complex character wasn't actually that hard because the words were so good. Which is really useful, for especially a young actor, starting out, doing my first big role. I like to come at it from my own point of view, so I like to imagine myself in this situation, and I think that was the key to this. When we all face problems and crises, we react in such a gut-feeling way, and as I said, the writing was so good and the sets and everything about the show felt so real, that I could just react, and depend on the people around me, which helped me create this three-dimensional, really complex character.
How much say did you have in developing and shaping Salvor Hardin as a character?
Leah Harvey: A good amount I'd say. I'm the one being Salvor! The great thing was, we were all very involved in talking about the hair, and the makeup, and how we would look, and the vibe of the character, and being an individual only I am gonna deliver those lines the way that I deliver them. So I guess that's a big part of creating the character. I mean, I had so much fun making her and developing her as the season goes on, and learning more about her. It was just a journey of creating her, and I think she's still so complex and so fun to play, I'm just really excited to see how it comes across.
Now, you are, as you said, quite early on in your career. You're working with a few veterans in this show, did any of them give you any advice or did you learn anything particular from watching them work?
Leah Harvey: I did learn a lot doing this show, I learned a lot about using my own voice, which I guess is less to do with acting but more to do with being on set and I was working with people like Clarke Peters, people like Jared Harris, and we all were very much a community making this. So I learned a lot by watching and using examples, and T'Nia Miller as well, an absolute icon that I got to spend time with doing this show. Just taking what I can from them, and being a sponge, that's what it's all about. If you stop learning, what's the point?
Avoiding spoilers, what would you say was the most challenging scene to shoot?
Leah Harvey: There's a lot of scenes, kind of inbetween scenes, where I'm running or going from A to B, from one place to the next, and it's all part of the story but it's very much, running in hot sun wearing leather. So that was intense, those things were really intense, because you can't not be hot, but the planet is cold so I had to kind of switch that up in my mind.
I've heard a few tales of actors struggling with that kind of thing in sci-fi.
Leah Harvey: Yeah. But that's, like, just part of it I think, and we were really looked after, it was just really hot - and then really cold sometimes!
What would you say was the best part of being involved with this production?
Leah Harvey: The thing I enjoyed the most about this production was getting to work, full-stop. Getting to work in front of a camera, and learn about camera craft, and learn about things like continuity, and seeing people work together as teams. I watch everything, so I see everyone doing their jobs, and I go, "I'm going to watch you today."
That was actually one of the best things about it because I was working with people who were so good at their jobs - the talent on this job is incredible, behind the camera and in front of the camera - that experience is like icing on the top of the cake, to be able to be around these people. Obviously, working on the sets and everything was just - what an experience! And traveling around the world was... something I'd never thought I would be doing. So, yeah, I'm really grateful for the opportunities I've been given on this job.
I think one of the things that's most impressive is the quality of this production, especially when you look back at everything that's happened in the world over the last year or so. How did you deal with the context of the pandemic?
Leah Harvey: We all were a big community making this show, and we've been working with each other for quite a while making it, so it was all about us looking after each other and supporting each other through trying times for everybody. But that was what it was all about, was us just being a community, and being honest with each other, and not being afraid to feel however we felt on a certain day. But we were also united by the goal of making this show the best that we possibly could, that really was our driving force in making it as a team.
Foundation premieres September 24 on Apple TV+.