Meet Victoria: The Real Sheep (and Its Terrifying Animatronic Double) Behind Alien: Earth’s Eyeball Monster

Episode 6 of Alien: Earth turns a farm animal into the show’s creepiest practical effect: a sheep infected by an eyeball-shaped alien. The production used a real sheep named Victoria for early scenes, then swapped in an animatronic copy when the creature takes over. Meanwhile, the episode leans on practical effects for a full facehugger sequence, with strings and an animatronic used on set.

“No acting required” — how Victoria the sheep and the animatronic were used
“We did have an actual facehugger on set” — the practical facehugger sequence
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“No acting required”

The episode introduces an eyeball monster that the show’s scientists call trypanohyncha ocellus, while the crew nicknamed it the “eye midge.” In-universe, the creature infects a sheep and begins to terrorize the characters.

On set, the production used an actual sheep named Victoria for several early shots. The trainers kept her calm and focused by having a handler rub her belly with a green glove attached to a long green pole, which could be edited out later. As a result, the team used Victoria as both a reference and an on-screen performer before the infection scenes.

Samuel Blenkin, who plays Boy Kavalier, commented on working with the animal: “He likes the sheep,” Samuel Blenkin tells Polygon. “He thinks the sheep’s kind of cool.” Also, he added: “Victoria is an amazing actor,” Blenkin says, “best actor I’ve ever worked with.”

After the infection, the crew replaced Victoria with an animatronic that matched her look but included the alien eyeball. Director Ugla Hauksdóttir described the animatronic as limited in movement, yet effective: “It was quite limited in movement, but it was able to do these creepy things.” For example, the prop could cock its head, chew slowly, blink, and make small, unsettling eye motions. Consequently, cast reactions to the robotic sheep were notably intense; Blenkin said, “No acting required,” and added, “Really, it was so scary.”

“We did have an actual facehugger on set”

The episode also stages several creatures breaking out of containment, culminating in a facehugger attack filmed largely with practical effects. Director Ugla Hauksdóttir confirmed they shot the sequence with an animatronic and physical rigs.

According to Hauksdóttir, “We did have an actual facehugger on set, and it was able to move. And we used strings for when it chokes him and wraps its tail around his neck.” The decision to favor practical effects came from showrunner Noah Hawley, and the director said the cast appreciated being able to see and react to tangible creatures during filming. “You could see the creature,” she added. “You could actually sort of fight against it. It added a lot for us to have those creatures not only be CGI, but to be there for real with us on the day we were shooting.”