Ayelet Zurer Discusses ‘Moonhaven’ [Interview]

Imagine a society that isn’t on earth or any other planet, but instead exists on the Moon. Now, imagine that society is created with equity and equality in mind — where everyone looks out for everyone else and no one is above anyone.

This is the conversation I had recently with Ayelet Zurer about her role as Maite on Moonhaven, the new sci-fi drama series on AMC+.

According to Zurer, Moonhaven follows “a colony on the moon that’s been separated from Earth for 100 years and have zero connection with aside from the mutual interest in growing the society and the nature integrated with this society.”

The way she tells it, this colony is helped along by a bit of artificial intelligence known as IO. This technology doesn’t run the society, but instead monitors everyone and helps them to continue to grow and evolve. 

“Maite is what they call a council chair, a key holder. There are only 2 keys to IO. One is on Earth and one is on the Moon,” Zurer said. “But as a person, they have no status. Even though she’s a council chair, she’s like everyone else. She serves everyone, just like everyone else serves each other.”

The idea of a council on Moonhaven seems to be closer to a ceremonial title than anything else. Yes, these individuals help make decisions for the society overall, but they aren’t above anyone else in status or privilege. 

When asked about whether or not she would want to live in a society like that on Moonhaven, Zurer responded adamantly, “Absolutely. They use language to describe how they feel. They accept their emotions. They all get along and support each other. And the land itself is beautiful. We filmed in Ireland, so you can imagine.”

She went on to say that this colony is centered on their love of music and dance. It’s something that can be universally understood even in our current society, so of course, it would become central to this new settlement.

When asked about what she really took from this experience, Zurer told me about this scene from the show that has really stuck with her above all else. It’s a scene that is centered on music and really personifies the citizen’s desire to enjoy the moment and live.

“[It’s] this beautiful scene where a father and son are about to go off not to war, but something just as intense. They know what is coming ahead, but they stop. They turn on the spinner, the spinner turns and makes music and they dance right there in the forest.”

It’s these moments that really make what Zurer does special to her. She loves being able to tell stories that are centered on the human experience because it makes them more relatable across the board. 

“Anything to investigate, on a deeper level, human nature is great for me. Regardless of the genre. [Maite] is a sci-fi character so she’s human but she’s not. It’s that double meaning that I really like.”

Diving into those deeper meanings of this show especially, Zurer and I talked about what she wanted audiences to take away from Moonhaven.

Besides the obvious answer of enjoyment, she made some other good points.

“I just hope that people will enjoy it and maybe they’ll be reminded that we are one. It’s kind of cliché. But it’s a true thing. Because the mooners, what they do is they serve each other. They serve the whole. If we do that we might be in a better position. Be more inspired.”

—

Moonhaven airs Thursdays on AMC+.

 Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram!

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!