We were in this endless landscape of dormant volcanoes, says Kubbra Sait on shooting for 'Foundation'

Isaac Asimov’s award-winning novel series ‘Foundation’, a sci-fi classic, has its own die-hard followers. It has now been adapted to screen for the first time by showrunner David S Goyer. Streaming on Apple TV +, it travels through complex concepts of time, space, philosophy, politics, religion and science. And beneath it all lies an edge-of-the-seat story that is larger than life.

Making her magnetic presence in the series is actor Kubbra Sait, who closer home, has made her own space in the creative arena. She plays Phara Keaen, the Anacreon, who while not appearing in the original work of Asimov, has been woven into the screen adaptation, splendidly giving Kubbra a universal platform.

"Phara could have been from anywhere," says Kubbra in a video call with DH, where she retraces her journey into ‘space’, how she wrote over and over to memorise her lines, turned warrior, while at the same time shared pizza with co-actor and Emmy nominee Jared Harris.

How did the character Phara find Kubbra Sait? Or did you find her?

Kubbra: Phara most definitely found me. She could have been from anywhere. It was really open to the whole universe, to the world that we know, including the boundaries that we have, but somehow Lucinda Syson (casting director) reached out to Tess Joseph (casting director) and asked her if there could be an Indian and we said ‘yes, why not’? And it came to me, as a very strong role.

When I received the first lines, I thought how does one memorise these lines? So I called Ali Fazal (actor) who told me to write down my lines. I used to write them over and over to learn them. It was a super theoretical way, at the same time, a really physical way as well to arrive at the character. Honestly, I don’t walk around punching faces (laughs). I had to learn how to do that too.

Phara does not feature in the ‘Foundation’ series in the book. So when she doesn’t feature, I realised that I would learn about every other character but the focus is to know who I am in the show. I wanted to give Phara a 100 per cent chance of a survivor and 100 per cent of my performance. I did the best I knew how to do.

How different was this filming experience compared to your earlier works?

Kubbra: We shot on an island in Spain -- in an ideal world -- Fuerteventura and it means strong winds. We were in this endless landscape of dormant volcanoes. We were shooting in and out, the winds were very strong but you hold strong as well, and when you see the show, you will realise that I lose an eye. I was wearing a lens that was very big. It was taxing but it was a soulful experience.

Considering the futuristic look, how tough was getting the prosthetic makeup done?

Kubbra: They (the prosthetics team) took the size of my face, my jaw, my smile and fixed everything to it. There’s the big scar that goes down till here (gestures to the neck) and here (on the face). So it would take an hour and a half to two hours almost initially to get it done. And it would take 40 minutes to remove the makeup. Even the armour was custom-made to fit me.

I don’t think there has been any character that I have played so far, probably even in the scope of work that I have done in India, that is yours, and yours to cherish and hold, like this one.

How do you think will your character resonate with the Indian audience?

Kubbra: The Indian audience is generally going for content that is not native to the language that they speak or needs it to their understanding. You tend to appreciate language, culture and what’s unique about it. If, as an audience member, Indian or not, globally across the 100 countries that Foundation will be streamed, you are somebody who is curious, somebody who has read books, somebody who has queued in for something that is larger than life, you will enjoy the show.

I got paid to learn on the job. I got paid to have pizza with Jared Harris (laughs). This is a journey of so many interstellar stories, so many antagonists. The protagonists are antagonists. The antagonists are protagonists in their own sense. What makes it so interesting is that it’s not happening on earth but it’s a very earth story. It’s dystopian and we are living in a dystopian world with the hope that we will live in a utopian universe someday.

The show, as I understand it, is all about change. How do you think would it change your career?

Kubbra: The decision of mine to do this had been a career-changing one. Do I get to colour out of the lines now? Be a part of Western productions? Yes, the hope is alive. The hope is more pronounced now.

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