Sydney Chandler on Speaking Xenomorphs and Becoming Alien: Earth’s Most Dangerous Hybrid
Sydney Chandler, 29, who plays Wendy in the FX series Alien: Earth, spoke about her character, the show’s creatures, and how she prepared for the role. She is the daughter of actor Kyle Chandler, and she has said that childhood eye surgery shaped how she played Wendy.
- Wendy: performance and vision
- Wendy and the Xenomorphs
- Brother and family dynamics
- Filming and action work
- Alien franchise favorites
- Notable episodes and monsters
Wendy: performance and vision
Sydney Chandler plays Wendy, a child whose consciousness is transferred into a synthetic adult body, making her the first Hybrid on the show. Chandler has said she drew on her own experience of severe childhood vision impairment, which was later corrected by surgery, to shape Wendy’s perspective.
Chandler recalled a vivid memory: “When I first saw leaves on trees, it blew my mind.” She then used that sensory wonder as a cue for Wendy. Consequently, Wendy is written and performed as having better-than-20/20 vision, and Chandler says much of the character’s work is expressed through her eyes and facial expressions.
Wendy and the Xenomorphs
The show gives Wendy an unusual ability: she can communicate with Xenomorphs. Chandler said the sounds were developed on set rather than being prerecorded. She described the technique she used, and the show’s sound team then built on those elements.
“There was a lot of creative freedom on my end to figure out what that looked like. … What I ended up doing was playing with inhales and exhales, constricting my throat, and making this rolling R whistling sound with both inhale and exhale.”
Chandler explained the bond between Wendy and a Xenomorph as stemming from similar circumstances: both are isolated and treated as experiments. She told reporters that Wendy feels a protective impulse toward the creature. As the show puts it plainly, “The xenomorph is the perfect apex predator. Wendy is starting to realize she is as well.”
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Brother and family dynamics
On screen, Wendy’s brother Joe is played by Alex Lawther. Chandler described their relationship as layered and emotionally complex. She said Joe wants to believe Wendy is still his sister, but he initially fails to recognize her new body.
The role reversal is a clear plot point: Joe was once the physically bigger protector, and Wendy’s Hybrid body now occupies that space. Chandler characterized the result as both heartbreaking and frustrating for Wendy, who waits for Joe to accept her identity.
Filming and action work
Chandler pointed to the physical demands of the shoot, especially action-heavy nights. She said the cast performed long night shoots, sometimes doing two and a half weeks straight of intense action sequences. That included repeated stunts and multiple takes during overnight hours.
She also singled out Alex Lawther’s stamina in stunt scenes, noting that watching him pushed her to match the effort. Chandler added that working with the synthetic body, and the physicality it required, was rewarding and that she would like to do more action work in future projects.
Alien franchise favorites
Chandler named Ridley Scott’s original Alien as her favorite of the films. She also mentioned Prometheus and said she often re-watches it because its tone surprises her each time. To illustrate, she said:
“I love Prometheus, too. I can’t ever pin down the tone of that film. Every time I finish watching it, I’m like, what happened? I need to watch it again.”
Notable episodes and monsters
Chandler said episodes seven and eight were her favorite to film and among the most challenging. She described the end of episode eight as a moment of stillness and strength for Wendy.
Finally, she discussed the series’ fan-favorite creature — a tentacled “eyeball” monster introduced in the finale — and called it “disturbingly adorable.” Chandler said she found the creature appealing enough that she joked about wanting one as a pet, while also acknowledging it might not get along with her cats.
