Resident Alien: Alan Tudyk and Chris Sheridan on That Hilarious Alien Kiss and the Season 3 Cliffhanger

Originally published in June 2024, we’re revisiting this interview ahead of the new season of Resident Alien.

Resident Alien Season 3 left off with a major cliffhanger involving the beloved alien portrayed by Alan Tudyk.

At the time, the series had yet to be renewed, but showrunner Chris Sheridan had a reason for ending on a cliffhanger instead of wrapping up the story just in case. (Resident Alien has since been renewed for a fourth season, and it will air on USA Network and Syfy.)

During the ATX TV Festival, I sat down with Alan Tudyk and Chris Sheridan to talk about Resident Alien Season 3, Harry’s relationship with Edi Patterson’s Heather, and that shocking cliffhanger. 

Sheridan said the thing he was most proud of for Resident Alien Season 3 was the way they were able to take each character on “a pretty extensive emotional journey for eight episodes.”

“It was a shorter run than we’ve had before. And I think we were able to do so much in those eight episodes that I think it was a really fun season to watch,” Sheridan said. 

For Tudyk, the thing he most enjoyed was his character’s relationship this season with Edi Patterson’s character, Heather, a Blue Avian. The two aliens develop a romantic relationship that’s as endearing as it is hilarious to watch, especially because Harry is inexperienced with those types of feelings.

“I got to relive young love,” Tudyk said. “I got to go on a young love journey, which was so much fun. To go back and find those feelings again, [where] everything is so amazing. It just, it’s all encompassing and takes you over. I loved going on that journey.”

Tudyk also shared what it was like working with Edi Patterson and the dynamic between their characters, noting that he first met Patterson at the Groundlings.

“She is used to saying ‘Yes, and’ in a scene,” Tudyk said. “In an acting scene that’s written, it just supercharges that, no matter what you give the other actor in a scene, they’re taking it and giving back. So working with her was… you just end up in places that you couldn’t imagine.”

He said one of his favorite scenes with Patterson was their lengthy kiss scene during dinner with Asta and D’Arcy while they’re both in human form.

“There’s a part where my tongue is sticking out the side of my mouth. She’s blowing, and my tongue was sticking out,” Tudyk said.

“You know, that’s something it seems like, if I was directing it, that I might plan. But that it just happens?! That’s just great. That makes me feel so happy that it just ended up with her blowing on my face,” Tudyk laughed. “Which is weird in itself.”

“I’m glad we got to do that on camera. It just seems like something that you would do either in a play or on stage somewhere that people would have to tell you about,” Tudyk continued. “We actually got to do that on camera. And the show is such that it allows for something that extreme while grounded in reality.”

Sheridan added that the scene was even funnier because of how long they were able to keep it going.

“We were able to milk it, and it went on longer than it should have. It kept getting funny and funnier. And the thing that grounds it is, like any good comedic sketch routine, you have the sort of comedic premise that’s going on. But then you have the straight people in there reacting to it like the audience, like a normal person,” Sheridan said.

“You have Asta and D’Arcy there just staring at these two alien idiots like, ‘What the hell? Why are we dealing with this? Why do they not care that we’re watching this?'” Sheridan continued. “And it made it so much funnier that they were just staring dumbfounded at what was happening in front of them.”

At the time of the interview, there was still no news as to whether or not Resident Alien would be renewed. Thankfully, it has since been picked up for a fourth season, but either way, Sheridan said the story had to be written with the assumption that the story would continue.

“There’s a way to attack the season, which was if you don’t know if you have another season, then wrap it up just in case. I don’t feel like that’s the best version of the show,” Sheridan said. “I feel like the best version of the show is to take it where it wants to go. And if the story is not told, you end in the most satisfying way possible before the story is finished being told, which is our case for these cliffhangers.”

“That gets the audience to want to come back and see what’s going on, and to us as writers and actors, to have a huge launching off point for next season, where we’re starting at a seven already in the season,” Sheridan explained. “It creates the energy to drive you through the whole season.”

“So, you know, I certainly could have wrapped things up last year, but it would have wouldn’t have been the best version of it,” Sheridan added. “I’d rather roll the dice and hope we’re getting another season and tell the story.”

The biggest cliffhanger, of course, is that the Harry everyone has been interacting with a the end of the season — isn’t the same alien.

Tudyk shared that he really liked that reveal because he didn’t see it coming.

“It is one of those things that when you when it all catches up to you, you see the final moments of this season. You have to think back a little bit, like wait, wait, wait. Oh, right. That’s why he was okay leaving without anybody. That’s why this, and that’s why that. I didn’t get ahead of it. So I was happy about that,” Tudyk said.

“And as far as Harry’s moment at the end, you know, it was in the script. But really, it was in the performance because Alan had to walk that line where, on the ship, like when they’re leaving, to play enough of Harry where, in the moment, you don’t think anything’s wrong,” Sheridan said.

“But when you do what he said and look back, [you’re] like, wait. And then you start seeing little things that he’s doing differently or says differently, where really the audience probably could have gotten it earlier, but didn’t because of the performance,” Sheridan continued. “It was really well done.”

Resident Alien is currently streaming on Peacock. Resident Alien Season 4 will air on USA Network and Syfy.

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