'Star City' Just Foreshadowed 'For All Mankind's Most Brutal Character Fate

Editor's note: The below interview contains spoilers for Star City Episode 5.

Over halfway into its first season, Apple TV's Star City is already making a name for itself, separate from its predecessor. That doesn't mean there aren't any familiar touchstones for fans to grab onto, including younger versions of characters like Sergei Nikulov (Josef Davies), a young engineer working for the mysterious Chief Designer (Rhys Ifans), as well as Irina Morozova (Agnes O'Casey), an up-and-comer in the Star City surveillance department under the watchful supervision of KGB head Lyudmilla Raskova (Anna Maxwell Martin). Those familiar with For All Mankind know how Sergei and Irina's paths will ultimately cross, but this week's episode features a telling foreshadowing for one of the space program's most promising young minds when Sergei is arrested, forcing the Chief Designer to intervene with Lyudmilla on his behalf.

Ahead of the series' premiere, Collider had the opportunity to speak with Star City's co-creators and cast about some of the show's most pivotal moments, including Davies and co-star Priya Kansara, who plays life-support scientist Lakshmi Chadha. Below, the two discuss their characters' respective roles in Star City's secret Venus mission, how Sergei's first clash with the KGB doubles as a major turning point for his relationship with the Chief Designer, and more.

COLLIDER: One of the things that's great about this show is that, given that it lives within the margins of For All Mankind, we obviously get the backstory of some characters that we're already familiar with, including Sergei. Josef, did you try to familiarize yourself with the existing performance at all, or did you want to steer clear of leaning into any kind of impression?

JOSEF DAVIES: I didn't want to do an impression as such because people change. I think I had the license there to play the younger, energetic, different, sort of hungry, driven version of him — not that he isn’t later, but you know.

I wanted it to feel familiar, so there were certain moments I would take some mannerisms, rehearse them, and then, if it felt right at the time, or that's how Sergei would react, that's how I would do it. Not, “I need to do an impression of that performance at this point.” I kind of took it for myself, tried to be present as that character, present at that age at that point, but if it shadows him later on, then great, because then the audience feels familiar.

'Star City's Priya Kansara Wasn't Very Intimidated by Rhys Ifans in Real Life

"He's just so much fun, and he's so easygoing."

He does feel familiar. It's like seeing an old friend. Priya, one of my favorite early scenes with Lakshmi is when she runs into the Chief Designer without realizing it's him at first. My less serious question is: is it really difficult to act starstruck when you're in a scene with Rhys [Ifans]?

DAVIES: [Laughs] Don't give him that.

PRIYA KANSARA: [Laughs] I can’t possibly give him that. No, it was really fun to play with that feeling, though, because Rhys is the easiest person to do scenes with. If anything, the reason why it's hard to do scenes with him is because he consistently tries to make you laugh. He's just so much fun, and he's so easygoing. But I think it's fun to play with that feeling of being surprised in the moment and being shocked, or having something really unexpected happen, and also feeling a bit embarrassed, like, “Oh my God, I met this person that I've been obsessed with, and I made a fool of myself in front of them, and I also kind of insulted them in front of them.” So, it was really fun to play with those emotions and that conflict, and just see where the scene went. And Rhys is such great fun playing the scene with, and it was just so much fun.

To continue along this train of talking about the Chief Designer — this isn't going to be an interview just about Rhys, I promise, but…

KANSARA: We don't mind that. He also wouldn’t mind that. [Laughs]

Sergei gets looped in pretty early on about the secret mission to Venus. Josef, what do you think his role in this mission really reveals about his willingness to resist the system from the inside? That's such a huge part of his character that obviously continues through the years.

DAVIES: That moment when he gets roped in, it’s a level of, “This man is my hero,” but I also think it's a case of he probably feels like [the Chief] is the only one who gets it the way that he does. So it's nice, he kind of walks into a room and is like, “Oh, there's another one. There's another one who understands. We can now speak this language.” So I think he's ready to jump in and get on top.

But he's also so passionate. He's got the same passion and the drive as [Sergei]. So, just meeting your hero gives you the tools to do the things that you wanted to do, and I think it just breaks out this boring, monotonous thing that he's been doing, which is probably his biggest fear. He’s like, “How long am I going to be doing this for?” So, to be given the opportunity to do that, I think he wouldn't even think about anything else. He’ll deal with that later. That's the forefront. “Let's deal with this first.”

By Episode 4, Lakshmi learns that she's going to have to be a cosmonaut on the mission, which is definitely surprising for the rest of the team. Priya, after that initial shock, what do you think Lakshmi's biggest motivation is, even though she knows that this might be something that she's not really trained to do?

KANSARA: Really, a lot of her driving force within this journey of hers is her passion for science and for space exploration, and she loves what she does. She's so obsessed with it, and she knows she's good at it, as well. She wants to be the best at what she does, she wants to be known for what she does, and she knows that this is the way to do it. To be given this opportunity by the Chief Designer, who she looks up to and is somebody who has inspired her, well, there's no greater honor.

Despite the dangers of it, I think she feels like she can trust in her ability to make things work. I think sometimes just people are pushed by… You know, when they're presented a challenge, some people are really like, “I want to prove that I can do this thing,” and she is definitely one of those people. She's not scared by somebody presenting a difficult challenge to her. She's gunning for it, basically.

DAVIES: Absolutely.

'Star City's Josef Davies Discusses the Biggest Turning Point in Sergei's Relationship With the Chief Designer

"That scene is quite pivotal in terms of a lot of things."

One thing Star City emphasizes is that there are eyes and ears everywhere. We see that in Episode 5, with Sergei being hauled into custody, which feels like a bit of political interference. The Chief Designer goes to Lyudmilla and makes a deal for Sergei, the terms of which we don't yet know. Josef, what does the Chief Designer intervening on Sergei's behalf signal about how close these two have become?

DAVIES: That scene is quite pivotal in terms of a lot of things. I think the biggest one is that there is this level of trust between the two of them now, and I think the Chief sees him on an even playing field at that point. He’s like, “Remember, I'm here supporting you as much as you are me.”

I remember when we shot that scene where [Rhys] had a really good understanding of the scene, and I think at that point the Chief is sitting there with him and sort of saying, “You've kind of lost your virginity in a way here. It's kind of like you're now in this world. You're now in this world that I'm trying to say to you, which is that we push past this. We deal with all of this. Fine, you went to prison for a bit. It's your first time. It's going to potentially happen again. You're going to get in a lot more trouble than this.” So, I think it's a real learning curve at that point. It's a bit of a Mr. Miyagi sort of, “This is what we're doing. Are you ready for it?” I think that scene is quite pivotal. It gets crazy. It gets far bigger than that.

New episodes of Star City premiere Fridays on Apple TV.