Inevitably, whenever Kyle MacLachlan is attached to a project, there’s more than a hint of intrigue and mystery to it. From embodying the character of Paul Atreides in 1984’s Dune to playing Dale Cooper on Twin Peaks, the actor has created some of the most iconic characters in film and TV. Did we mention other memorable turns in classics such as Blue Velvet, Desperate Housewives, The Hidden, Sex and the City, and Portlandia?
Add Fallout to that list. Based on the über popular game of the same name, the series comes from creators Geneva Robertson-Dworet (Captain Marvel, Tomb Raider) and Graham Wagner (Silicon Valley, Portlandia), and is one of the most highly anticipated new shows this spring. Mixing dark humor and memorable action sequences into its dystopian storyline, the eight-episode show delivers some impressive world-building.
Fallout
- Release Date
- April 11, 2024
- Seasons
- 1
- Studio
- Amazon Studios, Kilter Films, Bethesda Game Studios
- Creator
- Geneva Robertson-Dworet
Set in L.A. more than 200 years after the apocalypse, Fallout anchors its main story around the fate of three characters in the year 2296. There’s The Ghoul (Walton Goggins of Justified), a mutant with a mysterious past and a penchant for violence. Maximus (Aaron Moten of Emancipation) is a troubled member of the Brotherhood of Steel, whose attempts to maintain order in this trippy and dangerous post-apocalyptic world has only caused more division. Then there’s Lucy, (Yellowjackets’ Ella Purnell), the heart of the show. Lucy leaves the safe confines of her fallout shelter community, and heads to the surface to find her father (Hank, played by MacLachlan), who was forced to head above ground.
Slick, entertaining and fun, the series does not disappoint. Kyle MacLachlan shared more about Fallout, his ties to iconic filmmaker David Lynch, and whether he’d revisit the Dune-iverse and appear in an upcoming movie. Read on.
Fallout Is Out There
Like Twisted Metal, The Witcher, and The Last of Us before it, Fallout takes a big leap from video game to television series. It’s a story of the haves and have-nots in a gritty world in which nearly everything is gone. As the naive souls of luxury fallout shelters begin returning to the broken world their ancestors left behind, they’re taken aback by the complexities of the violent and downright weird world waiting for them. Jonathan Nolan (Westworld) directs the first three action-packed episodes.
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We meet Kyle MacLachlan’s Hank early on in Fallout. He’s a calm, supportive fallout guy, but soon enough, trouble finds its way into his domain, in which he and his children, Lucy and Norm (Moises Arias), reside within a tight community. MacLachlan calls the show “overwhelming, spectacular,” and filled with intimate relationships. Those tight bonds work side by side with the series’ fiery storytelling. Like the game, there’s a vast landscape to explore and experience in Fallout.
“You have these two different worlds colliding,” MacLachlan shared of the surface dwellers and fallout shelter community. “But the scope of the piece is enormous, the world that’s been created. And on top of that you place these very personal stories… and one that means the most to me, of course, is my relationship with my daughter Lucy for now.”
Kyle MacLachlan’s Attraction to Offbeat Material
As the series plays out, long hidden secrets begin to emerge. But the setting itself — the 2200s! — is a trip. Surface dwellers resort to extreme measures to stay alive. Meanwhile, folks in the fallout shelters are confronted with great changes within their seemingly tight-knit community. When asked if he’s generally drawn to offbeat or “dark” material, MacLachlan said:
“
I think I’m really drawn to those
. It’s the difference, it’s the change, you know what I mean? Oftentimes I’ll be cast as the, oh, you know, like Dale Cooper [in
Twin Peaks
]. He’s the hero, he comes in, he’s got this certain kind of attitude, this certain kind of energy.
And then you find that there is actually more going on than what you think
. And I think in the case of Hank [in Fallout] and other roles that I’ve played.”
“There are layers that need to be explored,” continued MacLachlan. “And that’s usually where I end up going — into a darker place. And I’m pretty comfortable with that. Don’t ask me why or how, but… I think you have to have both sides… It makes for a fuller, richer character if you know the very good and the very worst of what’s possible, right?”
On David Lynch and Possibly Appearing in Dune 3
Forty years ago, Kyle MacLachlan played Paul Atreides in David Lynch’s Dune. Timothée Chalamet is winning rave reviews in the role of Paul in Denis Villeneuve’s new adaptations. Dune: Part 2 has garnered $660 million at the box office thus far, and while Dune: Part 3 is a long way away, the hunger for the IP to continue is at an all-time high.
“You know, I’ve done my Dune work,” MacLachlan admitted when asked if he’d ever consider returning to the Dune-iverse, “but I am excited to see what comes. I’ve not seen the second one yet, or the completion of the first book. I love the book. I’ve loved it since I was a little kid. Anytime I can go see something that has anything Dune-related, I will be happy. And I think they did a marvelous job. So, I look forward to seeing it.”
Meanwhile, MacLachlan praises iconic filmmaker David Lynch, with whom he’s collaborated in other mind-bending projects such as Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks. When asked about what makes him and Lynch such a good team, MacLachlan said:
Well, we just have a connection, and I think we really love each other as friends, and we love each other in the working relationship… we have some kind of a balance between us [that is] really effective on screen.
“As you can tell, I love him dearly,” he added, “and will be forever grateful to him because of his belief in me, and casting me in two really important things, three really important things actually in my life.” Fallout has become a pretty important thing as well. Dive into Fallout April 11 on Prime Video. Watch it through the link below:
Watch Fallout
