EXCLUSIVE: Leah Harvey Opens Up About Their New Show, “Foundation”

Based on the novels by Isaac Asimov, AppleTV’s new series, Foundation follows a group of exiles as they attempt to rebuild civilization as their Empire is falling. In the new series, we find Leah Harvey playing one of those exiles, Salvor Hardin.

We got the chance to sit down with Harvey to talk about their role in the new show. During our chat, we talked what it was like playing the character, if they used the books as guidance, stunts, and so much more. Check out what they had to say below.

What was it like playing Salvor Hardin?

“Salvor is such a joy to play. There’s so many different emotions and she’s so complex that I’ve got so many opportunities to try out different things. And that’s really fun for an actor, to challenge yourself and try out different stuff. That was like one of the best things about playing Salvo.

Was it difficult finding the mind space for this character?

“For sure. It’s always a challenge to go from one space to the next, but the writing was so good that I was able to hold onto that and that kept me centered in the character. Even though your going through really difficult times, or actually really connecting with somebody on a really good level, it’s the same person underneath it all. And we’re all like that. We all have those sides to us. So it wasn’t too hard to keep her consistent.”

You can read the rest of our interview below the jump. Foundation is streaming now on AppleTV+.

Source: AppleTV+

Did you use the books as guidance when bringing this character to life?

“I had to make the character my own because obviously I was playing it. So that was something I had to do anyway. But I was inspired by the books and by Salvor’s character. The core of Salvor is there and Salvor’s such a great character in the books that I think it’s hard to not see that character for what it is. But yeah, Salvor’s a lot of fun to play. I think I lucked out. There’s so many different things that she does. I think I lucked out with that.”

Let’s talk all the stunts. I’d have to imagine. It was so much fun doing the stunts. Was it has fun has it looked? 

“For sure! And you know, they’re all necessary stunts,. It was cool. We worked so hard on getting it all together. The team, the stunt team are so, so good. And I really enjoyed it. I love stunts and I ate it up all the time. I was constantly ready to go. Really, really enjoyed myself doing them. They were hard though.”

It did not look easy. Was there a particular stunt that you found harder than the rest?

“I think there’s a lot of scenes where I’m just running, and that is actually a stunt in a way. Some of those running scenes are really intense because you do it a lot of times. But you know, I got nice and muscly from it. I’ve lost it now though. I’m lazy.”

 What would you say was the most challenging thing about not only playing this character, but about making this show?

“I think the most challenging thing was being aware that it’s so big. The scope of the story is so massive. And making sure that I was delivering my part of the storyline, as best I could. And not putting too much pressure on myself to do that. I was supported by everybody around me and we all worked really hard to make the show good. And I think we’ve achieved that. So I’m really excited for people to see it.”