MGM+‘s Earth Abides is a live-action miniseries based on the novel by George R. Stewart and is set in a post-apocalyptic world where a plague wipes out most of humanity. A few survivors take it upon themselves to rebuild as they deal with mother nature, deadly animals, and each other. Nerd Reactor had the chance to chat with the cast and crew of Earth Abides including stars Alexander Ludwig and Jessica Frances Dukes and miniseries creator Todd Komnarnicki and executive producer Kearie Peak.
Ludwig portrays Ish, a character who discovers a world where most of humanity has been wiped out. He deals with all types of emotions including anger, sadness, confusion, and more.
“Anger, for sure,” Ludwig replies to Nerd Reactor about which emotions resonate with him the most. “I would be so angry at the beginning, just at everything, and then I think I would probably fall into sadness, and then I would have to dig very, very deep to find purpose and probably do something very similar to what Ish did.”
Jessica Frances Dukes, who plays Emma, emphasized the importance of human connection in survival.
“I need community,” Dukes said. “I need people. I think that’s the biggest thing that this show, I hope, shows people: we can’t do this alone… even to grow as a person, even to challenge things within yourself, like we need each other.”
Her reflections emphasize the core theme of Earth Abides: the need for community even when the world if falling apart.
The Role of Music: A Bridge Between People
Music is an important aspect of the series, and it helped strengthen a community. When asked about songs that could bring people together, Dukes and Ludwig had personal answers. Duke brought up Beautiful Chorus, an ethereal independent radiant vocal group. One of their popular songs is “I Am” featuring India.Arie.
“It’s Beautiful Chorus… full of mantras and manifestation music… bringing you in tune with yourself and others in the universe,” Duke said.
“To bring people together… ‘Don’t Worry, Be Happy’ is a pretty good one,” Ludwig said. It’s a classic and happy song.
A Different Kind of Apocalypse: Realism Without Zombies
Earth Abides focuses more on the real-world challenges in a post-apocalyptic setting rather than external villains.
“That was the beauty of the show,” Ludwig explained. “It’s the most true to what a post-apocalyptic scenario would look like. The monsters lie within us, and it’s about people. What happens when you have to deal with being attacked by a wild animal, because animals have retaken what was once theirs, you know, and there’s no doctors around. What happens when disease strikes? What happens when you have to give birth to your first child and you have no doctors around? These are the themes that we explore. And to me, that’s what’s most interesting. And I love the zombie flicks as much as the next guy, but this isn’t that. I mean, this is about people and community and tribes and navigating your way into this new world. To me, one of the scenes that I love most, too, is what happens when somebody in an opposing tribe doesn’t want what you’ve built or is against it. How do you govern that? Do you take a life? These are the kind of things that we explore, which I love.”
“I didn’t have to insert zombie here at any point, which I found extremely liberating,” Komnarnicki said. “It’s about people in real-time, trying to work stuff out, fall in love, and make a meal.”
Lessons from Rats and Cats
One scene that draws inspiration from George Stewart’s novel is the infestation of rats. It’s a pivotal scene that shows the power of Mother Nature.
“Humans went away, so the rats grew out of proportion,” Kearie explained. “Then the cats came in and took the rats down. It’s a theme from the book—any [species] of animals, even humans, will get knocked down by Mother Nature if it outgrows its boundaries.”
About Earth Abides
Earth Abides premieres with two episodes on December 1 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on MGM+.
Synopsis: In Earth Abides, when a plague of unprecedented virulence sweeps the globe, the human race is all but wiped out. In the aftermath, as the great machine of civilization slowly and inexorably breaks down, only a few shattered survivors remain to struggle against the slide into extinction.
The series stars Alexander Ludwig (Bad Boys, The Hunger Games) and Jessica Frances Dukes (Ozark) leading an ensemble cast including Aaron Tveit (Les Misérables), Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll (Priscilla, The Lie), Elyse Levesque (Ready or Not), Luisa D’Oliveira (The Painter), Birkett Turton, Hilary McCormack (Sugar Daddy) and Jenna Berman (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina). Earth Abides is created and executive produced by Todd Komarnicki (Sully), alongside executive producers Kearie Peak, Michael Phillips and Juliana Maio.
Featured image caption: Alexander Ludwigh as Ish Williams in Earth Abides. Credit: Michael Courtney/MGMPlus Entertainment.
