The upcoming Fallout TV show tells an all-new story set in the world of the iconic game series. Lucy, a Vault Dweller, journeys into the wasteland where she will encounter dangers, secrets and discoveries alongside the mysterious Ghoul, the charming Brotherhood of Steel agent Maximus, and much more. The team behind Fallout used 25 years of beloved games as inspiration to create a show that explored never-before-seen elements of the post-apocalyptic world of Vaults and wastelands.
Game ZXC sat down to talk with the show's cast and crew, including executive producer and director Jonathan Nolan, executive producers, writers, and showrunners Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner, and actors Ella Purnell, Aaron Moten, Kyle MacLachlan, and Michael Emerson. The team discussed the highs and lows of adapting Fallout into a television format, what life was like for their characters both in the Vaults and out on the wasteland, and how the characters changed and developed throughout the show's first season. This transcript has been edited for clarity and brevity.
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Kyle MacLachlan Talks Hank And Lucy's Complex Relationship
Q: How would you describe the father-daughter relationship between Hank and Lucy?
MacLachlan: I would describe it as combative. Rebellious. No, I'm just kidding. It's a warm and loving relationship. There's a lot of humor that we share. We are kind of two peas in a pod. I think we're very similar, personality wise. I found it an immense joy to work with Ella [Purnell]. Not only is she a very talented actress, she's a delightful person and has a fun sense of humor. She's so lovely and petite. And yet she's tough as nails, which was surprising and pretty cool to discover, because she has to go through some pretty incredible things on her journey in the wasteland. But it was really a joy. And we bonded very quickly, both recognizing that we had to create the reality of the father-daughter relationship with just a few vignettes and moments before I was to give her away in marriage, in a traditional sense. And we both really enjoyed the challenge of that, and I found it quite easy.
Q: How does Hank balance being a father and raising children with being a leader of the Vault?
MacLachlan: Well, he is a man who loves responsibility. He has a tremendous responsibility. And he really feels the need to live up to a certain goal. You know, he has very high aspirations, very high dreams. And he really has a conviction and a belief in in what he's doing - what they're doing as a community. As a member of his vault, he feels very strongly that this is the future of the world. And we are creating it right now. We are nurturing it. We are always getting better. It's a sense of meritocracy, I think, and you're always looking out for your neighbor, and doing what's right. And I really love that kind of attitude, that sort of, "Let's get it done. But let's do it correctly. And let's do it for the better of everyone around us."
Q: Because of this responsibility, does Hank keep secrets from Lucy?
MacLachlan: Well, I think yeah. I think parents can keep secrets. It's just that they choose not to tell certain things. And there's a place and time when things will be revealed. But sometimes it's not the appropriate time or moment in the development of the child, or of the relationship. In Hank's case, he does have some very big secrets that he keeps not only from his family, but from the community at large. And we are going to discover them towards the end of the season. And they're pretty earth-shattering.
Q: Does everything Lucy and Hank go through change the relationship between them?
MacLachlan: It could happen. It's entirely possible. I don't want to give away too much. But there is definitely a new understanding of who they are. Both have grown. I think Lucy's character has grown through her experiences. We will live with that as she goes through this process. And Hank's experience has also come to the fore because of that, because she has changed. So she sort of forces his hand a little bit.
Q: Do you think Hank ever envisioned or wanted Lucy to go to the wasteland, or did he want her to stay in the Vault?
MacLachlan: No, no, I think his intentions are that she stays, and that she fulfills her obligations and fulfills her destiny, which is in the Vault. There's one track in his mind, for all the things, all the dreams he has for her - and hopefully, the dreams she also has for herself. And then, of course, things get derailed. Oh yes, they do.
Q: Were you familiar with the Fallout franchise before taking on this role?
MacLachlan: No, I was not familiar with Fallout. I had sort of vaguely heard of it, but didn't really know the particulars of the game. So I was able to do some research. I attempted to get into the world and play it. It was very confusing to me. I'm not much of a gamer, I've got to say, but I appreciated the depth and the breadth and the expanse of the game. It's quite an immersive experience.
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The Showrunners Discuss What They Kept And What They Left Behind
Q: How did you approach researching and implementing radiation into the show?
Robertson-Dworet: It's obviously an incredible way to create tension and raise the stakes for a character. But it can also function as something of a ticking clock. So that was a lot of fun to play with.
Q: Fallout is an extensive video game series with a huge amount of lore. What were some elements that you felt were key to include, or were excited to include?
Wagner: I think one of the things we're most excited to include that lore of the world, but not a big part of the gameplay, is pre-war America. I think there's a lot of interest in that as gamers. We were always interested in that, but you can kind of understand why they didn't do much more than they have. Because it's a shooting game, ultimately, and there's just not that much running around and shooting before the bombs drop. But there is intrigue there. There is all the other stuff that makes for great stories. So we're very excited to use Walton Goggins as Cooper Howard - the "better half" of the Ghoul, you could say - to explore this sort of pre-war dichotomy in America, even if it's just little pops of it here and there throughout the first season.
Robertson-Dworet: I think the themes of the games are so pivotal. As you explore the wasteland, you keep running across the detritus that was created by these mega-corporations before the war. And there's sort of this implicit idea that these mega-corporations maybe had something to do with the fact that the world ended. And so it creates a wonderful sense of mystery that we're excited to dive into in the show.
Q: What were some elements of the Fallout games or Fallout lore that you wanted to include, but couldn't?
Wagner: [There were] mountains and mountains of things from the game we wanted to put into the show! We kept saying, 25 years of games, there are people who have put 1000+ hours into a single game - and we have eight episodes for the first season. So patience became sort of a crucial part of the exercise. If we wanted to get to it all in the first season, it would just be a mad listicle of things, without any kind of emotional connection or meaning. So we decided just to be patient and not just shove out references. There's just so much more we want to get to if we're so lucky as to find an audience large enough to justify a second season.
Robertson-Dworet: It was so painful, as Graham alluded to. There's just too much treasure in 25 years of Fallout games. There are so many things that we just really wanted to put in, but we said, "we can't do it justice within the story of this particular first season." So, we're praying for a second season.
Jonathan Nolan And Michael Emerson's Thoughts On The Vaults And The Wasteland
Q: Did you know from the beginning that you were going to tell an original story in the world of Fallout? When did that idea come about?
Nolan: First, I sat down with Todd Howard. He'd been a fan of mine, I'd been a fan of his. And we sat down and had one of those moments where you meet someone who you feel like you've known for an awfully long time, and just it off immediately. And [from] that first lunch, we knew almost immediately, we're going to make this series. And we also knew that, as with every game in the franchise, it would feature a new locale, a new story, new characters, but all connected to this larger mythos that the Fallout universe has always been creating from the first game onward. So, for us, [it's] kind of a perfect adaptation: you get to stand on the shoulders of giants in terms of the world building, all the beautiful art, props, designs, and storytelling, but also get to add your own chapter to that story. So, kind of a dream come true.
Q: Mr. Emerson, your character is described as "enigmatic." What should viewers know about him when they first see him on screen?
Emerson: They use that [description] because my middle name is "Enigmatic." Actually, no. It's what I gravitate to. And I suppose, if I were given a script, and was asked to play a character who is not enigmatic, I would find some way to give him an aura of mystery. Something unspoken, something implied but not made explicit. You know, that's just how I like to play. So I gravitated to the part, because he does have some of those qualities. He's verbal, he's thoughtful. He has a moral compass. Seemingly, he's a hero...I think.
Q: What was it like designing the Vaults, these very confined spaces that serve as such a key setting in the series?
Nolan: Well, actually, we made them huge. Our production designer, Howard Cummings, is brilliant. I've had the pleasure of working with him for many, many years. We talked from the beginning about the way the games work. And I think, when you're adapting things, you have to be careful to figure out: what are the things that are important to hold on to? And what are the things that are "the grammar of the medium" - the things that you kind of have to leave behind? Classic example: in the early video game adaptations, directors seemed to think it was important to make it a first-person point of view. Because that was something from the games. But [in] film and television, that's not how it works.
But one of the things I did want to hold on to was the feeling in the games of exploration. One of the extraordinary things about the Fallout series is that if you see a mountain, you can climb to the top of it. And on the other side, if you see a book, you can pick it up and you can read it. From the cosmic to the microscopic, every detail has been built, and thought of, and is explorable. So we built sets. With that in mind, we built sets.
Usually, when you're building a vault-like set, you build one hallway, and then you'd redress it. Actors would go around the corner, and you'd cut, and you'd send them back down the same hall. What Howard [Cummings] built for us was this massive two-story complex, where the camera could follow the actors from moment to moment. You really felt the reality of that space, all the way down. I had the pleasure of watching Todd Howard explore our sets and look at the patina on the wall. I mean, again, from the cosmic to the microscopic, they crushed it.
Q: Is Mr. Emerson's character an explorer, then? Does he get to explore this vast world?
Emerson: I don't know! I mean, that's yet to be seen. His mission is a dangerous one. And as we see, there's violence out there. And there's a feeling I get that he's not going to be a survivor in the long run.
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Ella Purnell And Aaron Moten's Characters Have A Fascinating Dynamic
Q: How would you describe the dynamic between Lucy and Maximus, these two characters who come from such different worlds?
Purnell: They are from very, very different worlds. Such different upbringings and life experiences. I think that when Lucy first meets Maximus, there is this literal "knight in shining armor," who comes down from the sky, and that's impressive and all.
Moten: Say more, say more!
Purnell: But she's also on the wasteland. And she's experiencing so much new and crazy stuff. And she's experiencing a lot of hardship for the first time, and people don't like her, and she doesn't know why. And then there's this person who seems to be fighting for good. [He's] the only person she's seen so far on the wasteland that sort of shares what she thinks is her worldview. And I think that's really what is attractive. It's not the armor.
Moten: [Laughing] Unbelievable!
Q: What motivates Maximus? Is it his devotion to the Brotherhood of Steel, or is there something more going on?
Moten: I think it's multiple things. I think it's - whether it's a dark thing or not - survival is really important. I think it's ambition. I know I've taken something from Julius Caesar, the Shakespeare play. He describes Cassius with his ambition as "like a hungry dog." And I really loved that image for Maximus. It's a constant tension. He's fighting himself a lot, because of his motivators being such different things. I think it's all because he's been born and raised in the wasteland. I think it's having a different moral compass than what we would share in terms of what is right and wrong. You know, there are times that I think: Who's looking out for Maximus, you know what I mean? It's a harsh reality, and he's having to figure it out on his own, and he's being pulled in all kinds of different directions.
Q: What is Lucy's first experience of the wasteland like, when she leaves the Vault that's been her home and enters this new world?
Purnell: Completely destabilizing! I think it's one of the first things that really gripped me when I was reading the script was imagining what it would be like if everything you've ever believed, the entire fabric your existence is based upon, is just torn out from underneath you. That can break a person. It has done many times, and it could again. Lucy, she doesn't let it. She has to go to the wasteland. It's this burning need, this desire. She must find out answers. I don't think she would ever sleep again if she couldn't get the answers that she needs. Obviously, it's completely different - could not be more different from the vault. But really, it's the making of her resume in a way. It's a twisted, messed up, coming of age story. She only really becomes a person capable of independent thought when she goes to the wasteland and proves to herself what she's made of.
Q: Maximus, on the other hand, is familiar with the wasteland, he's lived in it - but do his experiences in Season 1 change him too?
Moten: I think we get some really exciting stuff about when these perspectives meet and mix and mingle and the things we take from each other. He gets a lot of change. I'm really interested for people to experience it. There's also some mystery as to who Maximus truly is. All these different sides of him that we see, but, it's like - where is he? You know what I mean? And we get a little bit of a guessing game as to our thoughts on that as we proceed further.
Q: So he's a knight in shining armor AND a man of mystery?
Moten: Yes! A man of mystery! Exactly!
Fallout premieres on Prime Video on April 11, 2024.
Fallout
Fallout is a franchise built around a series of RPGs set in a post-nuclear world, in which great vaults have been built to shelter parts of humankind. There are six main games, various spin-offs, tabletop games, and a TV series from Amazon Studios.