Just as in Martha Wells’ book series, the Apple TV+ show Murderbot portrays the Preservation Team as a group of “space hippies” with idiosyncratic rituals and ways to bond that seem odd to those inside the Corporation Rim.
It turns out that the Preservation Team actors on Murderbot had their own ways to let loose. “We danced a lot,” Tamara Podemiski, who plays Dr. Bharadwaj on the show, told me in a joint interview with fellow actor, Akshay Khanna. “We wrote chants together for Preservation ops, like marching, working songs. I’m sure we were very annoying.”
Podemiski and Khanna—who plays the self-described “himbo” Ratthi on the series—shared more of their experiences on set, including acting while being tossed around by stunt people covered in green, and how to practice being very bad at something.
Read on for our full discussion.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
One thing I loved about the series is that Preservation Team has, let’s say, unique rituals that we get to enjoy as viewers. Did you as actors have any rituals to bond like the Preservation Team?
Tamara Podemski: Oh, yes, dance breaks. We danced a lot. We had this little green room in a tent where we all sat together, so dance breaks were huge. Singing. We did a lot of chants. We wrote chants together for Preservation ops, like marching, working songs. I’m sure we were very annoying.
Akshay Khanna: Yeah, we must have come across as, “The actors are being actors again!”
Podemski: [Laughing] Part of it was work, yes, but most of it was play, and furthering and deepening our connection.
Tamara, you had the pleasure of being within the mouth of an alien worm. Can you talk a little bit about what it was like shooting that?
Podemski: I will give huge props to Chris and Paul [Weitz, Murderbot’s showrunners]. There was a bit of green screening that we need to do for the for the VFX, but they really wanted to capture my face being tossed about in the room. You can do that all with CGI, but they said, “No! We need to see your body go like this, and then be tossed about with the worm!”
And so that meant green stunt people, in their full green suits, who are carrying me and they are manipulating the body, just so you can see the facial expressions of what it looks like when somebody is attacked by a worm. I think those little details really add a lot and also just gives me a full character body memory of being tossed about. Usually that time isn’t taken, and it’s nice when you get to be able to do that full out.
Akshay, one of the funnier moments with your character is when he’s very good at showing he hasn’t had gun practice. So how did you practice to show you didn’t have gun practice?
Khanna: Well, I didn’t have gun practice, so I just played myself. [Laughs] I had to fall over a few times, and the stunt people were like, “Do you want a mat? Do you want anything?” And I was like, “Well, will you see me fully fall if I use the mat? Like, will you choose different shots?” And they were like, “Yeah, we’ll have to.” So I was like, “Let me try not to hurt myself.” And just fully did it, and I’m really glad that I did it, because watching it back, I was like, “That’s hilarious!” So I was quite proud of that.
My last question for both of you: Can you describe in one or two words, what your character’s initial reaction to Murderbot is?
Podemski: Dr. Bharadwaj is a scientist and a teacher. It’d just be, “Curious! I want to learn everything and study you.”
Khanna: I’d be like, “Intrigued! Friends, maybe?”
Murderbot premieres on Apple TV+ on Friday, May 16, 2025.