FOR SPIKE FEARN, HOLLYWOOD STILL FEELS ALIEN. BUT WHILE THE YOUNG ACTOR IS NAVIGATING THE UNKNOWN TERRITORIES, HE’S MAKING QUITE A NAME FOR HIMSELF. HIS ROLE IN ALIEN: ROMULUS MARKS THE BEGINNING OF A PROMISING JOURNEY. WITH A PASSION FOR CINEMA PASSED DOWN FROM HIS PARENTS, THE ACTOR IS A DEVOTED FAN OF THE ART. THIS ADORATION, COUPLED WITH HIS NATURAL COMEDIC TIMING, HAS EARNED HIM A FAIR SHARE OF ALLIES, ONE OF WHOM IS CAILEE SPAENY, ONE OF THE INDUSTRY’S MOST EXCITING RISING STARS. HAVING MET ON THE SET OF THE LATEST ADDITION TO THE ALIEN SERIES, THE TWO HAVE DEVELOPED A SIBLING-LIKE DYNAMIC. TOGETHER, THEY DISCUSS THE JOY (AND PRESSURE) OF CONTRIBUTING TO A PIECE OF CINEMATIC HISTORY, XENOMORPH-INDUCED JUMP SCARES, AND THE BRIGHT FUTURE AHEAD FOR BOTH. THE TWO CATCH UP WHILE ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE WORLD – A LAUGHABLE CHALLENGE FOR DEEP SPACE EXPLORERS.

CAILEE SPAENY: Oh, hello. Hi. Are you in London right now?

SPIKE FEARN: Yeah. I just got back. It's so fucking hot.

CS: Why do you say that like it’s a bad thing? You guys only complain about the rain…

SF: My house is like a sauna, bro. I barely slept last night but I’m pretty awake, it’s just so hot… That’s why I’m awake.

CS: How was LA?

SF: It was warm there as well but at least they got AC, they have it everywhere.

CS: It’s the luxury of America.

SF: Do they have it on the East Coast? You’ve lived in New York for a bit, right?

CS: I mean, you have to install janky AC units onto your window… But yes, we do have AC. How was the shoot?

SF: What shoot?

CS: [Laughs] The one you’re doing this interview for?

SF: [Laughs] Oh yeah, I enjoyed it. I’m a bit uncomfortable in front of cameras…

CS: That is the biggest lie ever.

SF: No, like film cameras are fine but a camera that takes stills. I get a bit stressed out because you have to take yourself so seriously. Have you been working today?

CS: Not today, I had a big day on set yesterday. How are you feeling now that you’re back and we’ve finished the first chunk of the press with Comic-Con and everything? How do you think that went?

SF: It was insane. It was surreal to have 6000 people in the audience. I don’t know how you were feeling but I wasn’t that nervous until I stepped up on the stage. But it was so nice to be back with everyone. I don’t think we’ve all been together since your birthday.

Left Full look **Giorgio Armani**
Right Full look **Prada**

CS: Well, not really. I haven’t seen Aileen (Wu) since we wrapped. That was the last day, I think that was the last time we were all together.

SF: Yeah, but it was nice to have a reunion at Comic-Con. I got a little sad when I got back because I just felt like the party had just started kicking off and then it ended.

CS: But it was cool walking around. Taking pictures with people dressed in homemade Xenomorph outfits. One of them had a mouth that actually scared me.

SF: It was nice to see that side of Comic-Con as well, seeing everyone dressed up, taking pictures… It was just pure love from these people.

CS: There were a lot of great film posters as well. They had a cool one of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. You showed me that film.

SF: I did?

CS: Did you forget all the memories we’ve made?

SF: No, no. Not at all. But we did watch a lot of movies in Budapest.

CS: What else did we watch? Oh, Midnight Cowboy. That’s such a Spike film.

SF: We have very similar tastes in films. But I think you know a little bit more than me though.

CS: Well, I’m older and wiser. [Laughs] I have to start asking you some Alien questions. That's what we’re here to do, to promote our damn film.

SF: Yes, I’m not the best at this.

CS: If anyone can get it out of you, I think it’s me.

SF: I feel like when we were at Comic-Con, I was looking at you for what to say. You’re great at it.

CS: Most times. It’s happened so many times that I get asked a question and my brain just goes completely blank. I think once I completely blanked out on a stage at a Q&A for one of my first films. I have a bad habit of starting a sentence with no idea of where it’s ending. I just blanked out on that stage.

SF: Have you seen that interview back?

CS: Oh no, thank God it wasn’t recorded. Anyway, back to it. For Alien, I actually don’t know how you got on it. Was it a traditional audition process or a self-tape situation?

SF: If I remember correctly, it was a dummy side. I wasn’t told what it was. But I think your name was attached to it.

CS: Oh, I was? I love that I’m making this interview about me as much as possible. But did it say Alien: Romulus?

SF: No, it just said you were attached. But I might be making it up.

CS: What scene was it that you auditioned with?

SF: It was that first sequence when we all talk about the plan, which I actually think is a great scene.

CS: You’re great in that scene, you’re a master improviser. Did you improvise in the audition?

SF: I remember I did it in an American accent. It was Valentine’s Day. And then I met Fede [Alvarez], and he let me improvise and say it how I wanted.

CS: Did you know you could do it in your own accent?

SF: That’s what made me think, “I might get this one.” I was like “they’re interested because they don’t want it in American.”

CS: I think that was because Fede wanted everyone to feel grounded. He didn’t want anyone to be putting on an accent. I know Archie [Renaux] was going to do it in American too, he shot it on the first day with an accent. But then Fede just wanted everyone to be as close to who they are off-screen. It felt like he was trying to meet us and get a sense of who we were to inject it into the characters. So, when did you find out it was Alien?

SF: I knew it was Alien from the night before the audition. Right after my audition, Fede was showing me stuff on the original movies and kind of what was going to happen.

CS: How much knowledge did you have of the Alien films?

SF: It was very weak.

CS: Had you seen the first one?

SF: I did with my dad like back in the day…

CS: Your dad is a real lover of ‘70s cinema and music…

SF: I have to say my mom too, can’t mention my dad without saying her. She studied cinema so she was constantly recommending me movies, or they were just playing them in the house. But it was my dad who showed my friend Brad and me Alien when we were very young to scare us. I think he actually said, “This will scare the shit out of you.”

CS: How old were you?

SF: I might have been 9 or 10. Brad was a year below… Either way, too young to be watching that film. I remember watching with my hands over my eyes. Brad enjoyed it though.

CS: Do you remember the chest scene? Did you make it that far?

SF: You know, I’ve revisited it since, and I can’t remember it that young. I think I was so young and scared. My eyes were covered the whole time. I don’t even think my dad put it on. It was on the telly. You know how movies used to just run on the telly? I used to watch the horror channel quite a lot when everyone else had gone to sleep. I do remember that guy… Oh, what’s his name… I forget the character’s name but it’s Harry Dean Stanton. Such a legend.

CS: They’ll put the character name for us, because if we don’t know everything about this franchise…

SF: We do have a fan base.

CS: They should be tough on us actually. I watched every single film before I did this movie. Did you dive in before we started? Before I got on, I had only seen Alien, which I loved. I hadn’t seen Aliens. Again, it had popped up on TV when I was a kid, but I had never properly watched it. I came back to it when this project was circulating. Then I just watched all the Alien films. But I remember watching Alien: Covenant when it was in the theatres when it came out. It’s a perfect “night out at the movies with friends” movie. The best thing to watch when you’re with friends or on a date is a horror film because it makes such a visceral reaction. There’s something about seeing other people get scared around you that is great.

SF: The theatres where I grew up were never that filled. You go watch a movie on a Thursday night and there are two people in there. In my hometown, you have to drive 30 minutes to any cinema, they’re ghostly. I remember my grandparents used to take us to watch Harry Potter. We would go now and then but we had a draw underneath our stairs that was just filled with DVDs. My mom used to take us to Blockbuster…

CS: I remember there was this boy I had a crush on who lived next door to the house I grew up in. I used to beg him to walk to Blockbuster with me. I was probably like five or six. We would go with his mom and rent scary movies.

SF: What kind of scary movies were you watching at 6?

CS: I tried to be brave and watch The Goonies. I remember the part with the creature… Have you seen it?

SF: Of course.

CS: I forget his name in the film, but he’s the one you think is going to be the terrible monster, but he ends up being the good guy… I was so terrified at that moment that I just got up and ran away. I just said, “I’ve got to go,” and I ran out.

SF: [Laughs]

CS: Do you remember when we first met?

SF: It was at that restaurant on the corner…

CS: Yeah, the corner where my apartment was in Budapest. We all met in that place.

SF: I walked in because I messaged Archie. I met him on the first day. I thought you were all staying in my hotel, so I was just standing in the lobby waiting to see everyone. Archie explained where you were, and I think we both went to meet you. And then David [Jonsson] came.

CS: I remember meeting you guys and thinking, “Oh my god, these boys are trouble.”

SF: Did we have schnitzel?

CS: The schnitzel was so good over there; I ate as much schnitzel as I could. In terms of the filming, how was it for you?

SF: I’d never filmed inside a studio like that before. We shot a lot during the daytime because of that… The wires were a learning curve. We had to learn how to do flips and build up our core strength. Even the zero-gravity stuff, I think my stunt double ended up doing most of that part of it.

CS: Shout out to the stunt doubles.

SF: They were lifesavers. I wanted to do it but…

CS: Oh god, it’s impossible. I was completely discombobulated. You have no way to hold yourself up. I found all that difficult. It’s a different ball game. You’re using different tools in your actor’s tool belt. I think what’s interesting about Alien is that you mix that with proper character study and interesting performances. The first film establishes it so well. It’s almost like an indie film with a sci-fi horror wrapped around it. I think Fede wanted to come back to that.

SF: You put it perfectly.

CS: I think your performance could almost be dropped into the first film. It’s so natural… you’re hilarious. You keep the audience on their toes because you’re so in the moment. The improv you add is so smart.

SF: Wow. Cheers. Thank you for that.

CS: I want to know about the creative side of Spike Fearn. Why do you keep coming back to acting?

SF: You know, going through school and seeing everyone achieving higher things made me struggle. I think having dyslexia and struggling made it so that when I found a passion that people told me I was good at, it made me go, “I’m in.” The more I explored acting and worked with actors and filmmakers, the more I understood that passion. Working with you, and seeing your career and how great it is, made me want to keep chasing. I’ve gotten really lucky working on Alien and Ella McCay.

…

Discover the full story in our upcoming FW24 Issue - release next End-October.

Conversation moderated by Pedro Vasconcelos

Photography by Jason Hetherington

Fashion by Steven Huang

Casting by Imagemachine cs

Hair by Josh Knight at A-Frame Agency

Set Design by Maf Ramirez

Photographer’s assistant Andrew Mayfield

Stylist’s assistant Dominik Radomski

Set Designer’s assistant Jollibeth Soto