INTERVIEW: Tamara Podemski Talks ‘Murderbot,’ Sci-Fi, And Space Hippies

Murderbot isn’t the only charming part of Apple TV+’s latest sci-fi series centered on the titular character. The show also introduces a group of compassionate, hippie-like scientists led by heart, including Professor Bharadwaj, played by Tamara Podemski.

Nexus Point News spoke to Tamara about filming that intense first episode, exploring trauma through her character, and what it was like bringing this unconventional sci-fi crew to life.

INTERVIEW: ‘Murderbot’ Showrunners Paul And Chris Weitz Discuss The Making Of The Series And Potential Future Seasons

Demet: Bharadwaj's attack in the first episode sets everything in motion. What was it like to film such a pivotal and physical moment right out of the gate?

Tamara: Well... it's a great way to introduce a character, that's for sure. That was a really nice — just start big and scary, and then go from there. I think the other thing that was really cool was that we shot this on location. So even though a lot of the show is shot in studio, a few of these planetary locations — especially when we get into some of the other creatures, the fauna that lives on the planet — that's all shot on location in some of these incredible environments. And it adds to the reality and fear. I think that had we done that in a studio, you wouldn't have gotten the same effect.

Tamara Podemski and Tattiawna Jones in Murderbot. © Apple TV+

So we're out there in the elements. It was just winter turning into spring — it was freezing cold, there was wind and dust and snow and everything that just made it all more dramatic. And I think also, when you're dealing with CGI — which some of the creatures required — we did have puppet versions of the creatures, so you could see something, get an idea of what you were actually faced with. Because sometimes, when you're green screen acting, you don’t know what you're responding to. We also had stunt people in green suits who were actually picking me up and moving me and "swallowing" me or so. It just makes the playing it so much more realistic when you're trying to imagine something that you really have no lived experience to pull from — like getting attacked by an alien creature.

Demet: Yeah, that sounds intense. So after the attack, Bharadwaj experiences PTSD, she's recovering, uncertain, but still part of the mission. How did you approach playing someone holding trauma quietly in the background?

I have played roles like that most of my career, so I think I was well-versed in measuring out or tracking a recovery over a long period of time. This is 10 episodes we're following her through, and I really relied on the directors, the script, and my fellow cast to make sure that it wasn’t jarring — that it was gradual, smooth and realistic. Because there’s also an eagerness, despite her fear and what she’s trying to overcome. She still wants to be a part of the team, she still wants to be part of these adventures. And maybe she’s a little bit overly optimistic about her capacity to handle those missions after what happened to her. But I really relied on everybody to make sure we were allowing her to have a kind of growth spurt — and then tighten back up and zip it up. I love playing characters like that. So yeah, I feel like that was the juiciest part of Bharadwaj for me.

Demet: So Murderbot is a sci-fi show about a robot, but there's also a lot of deeply human emotions; fear, trust, anxiety, compassion, love... What's the part that felt most relatable to you?

I think the aspect of Murderbot that prefers to tap out and find comfort in media. I think all of us can relate to that — when the world becomes a little too overwhelming — and turning to those comforts, being able to detach from your own circumstance. That part I definitely resonate with.

I think the other part I really connect with is the need for connection. For the PreservationAux crew, we’re this intimate group of space hippies. We’re very affectionate with each other; we share everything. That is also very much the human being that I am. I require high doses of that on a daily level.

So, I have Murderbot tendencies when I just need to tap out and watch a cheesy show, and then I also have the need to deeply connect with my fellow humans.

Akshay Khanna, Tattiawna Jones, Sabrina Wu, David Dastmalchian, Noma Dumezweni and Tamara Podemski in Murderbot. © Apple TV+

Demet: That’s very refreshing. So yeah, this isn't your typical crew of buttoned-up sci-fi scientists. They’re kind of a bunch of idealistic hippie researchers who genuinely care about each other— and the world — and even about Murderbot, despite the fact that it's technically just equipment. So how was it playing an unconventional type of scientist like this?

I prefer this alternative take on the sci-fi world, mostly because I have no experience in the sci-fi world. I don’t have that much exposure to it, so I don’t even know what the typical tropes are. Trying to stay rigid within that genre — I would probably have had to do a whole world of research to play that. But the freedom here, which is why I was so attracted to the show, was that we are showing an alternative society within this futuristic world — one that chooses to live outside the Corporation Rim, one that chooses not to look at robots as machinery but as sentient beings. Maybe that’s just the alternative way I see life as a whole.

I like this different take. And we still satisfy a lot of the things for the people who are turning to us for that classic sci-fi fix — we’re still very much offering and presenting that world, but definitely with a more emotional and fun, funny tone.

Demet: I like this compassionate take. Was it amusing for you to watch the finished scenes with Murderbot’s voiceover — especially when it's calling out your team’s behavior as, you know, stupid, pointless, or dangerous? Did it change how you viewed those moments?

Well, that was in the script, so we were going into it well aware of what it thought of us. But it was very helpful during filming. Alex (Skarsgård) would often read the voiceover lines to fill in those moments while we were doing our thing, or someone else would read them — because even though we’re not responding to it or hearing it, it’s necessary to balance out his judgment of us and either play the opposite of that, or lean into it even further.

But no matter what happens on the day, and no matter what you're hearing or imagining—watching the show was... everything was better than I could have imagined. The aesthetic is the one thing that takes my breath away. The world is so beautiful.

And then the voiceover — even when you hear it while we're doing it — the specificity of how Alex played it in the end... You're just cracking up. It’s funny. Sometimes I was laughing so much that I thought, “I’m missing other stuff — I need to stop laughing so I can make sure I’m catching all the really good lines.”

Demet: It all sounds so fun!

Murderbot is now streaming on Apple TV+.

This interview has been edited for clarity.

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Murderbot. © Apple TV+

About Murderbot

Premiere Date: May 16, 2025

Episode Count: 10

Executive Producer/Showrunner: Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz, Alexander Skarsgård, Andrew Miano, David S. Goyer, Keith Levine

Director: Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz, Toa Fraser, Aurora Guerrero, Roseanne Liang

Production: Paramount TV

Distribution: Apple TV+

Cast: Alexander Skarsgård, Noma Dumezweni, David Dastmalchian, Sabrina Wu, Akshay Khanna, Tattiawna Jones, Tamara Podemski

Synopsis: Based on Martha Wells’ bestselling Hugo and Nebula Award-winning book series, “Murderbot” is a sci-fi thriller/comedy about a self-hacking security construct who is horrified by human emotion yet drawn to its vulnerable clients. Murderbot must hide its free will and complete a dangerous assignment when all it really wants is to be left alone to watch futuristic soap operas and figure out its place in the universe.