Foundation is a story that has long been begging to be adapted from novel to the screen. It is genius science fiction author Isaac Asimov's greatest and most popular work, the first piece of which was published as a short story in 1942. The book trilogy has won multiple awards, including the Hugo Award for Best All-Time Series — special praise indeed. Finally, nearly 80 years later, we are privileged to see this great work in live-action form on Apple TV+.
The series takes place in a Galactic Empire in a galaxy not so far away (ours, actually), focusing on a brilliant mathematician who develops a method of using his skills to predict the future of civilizations. Unfortunately, the future doesn’t look so bright, and so he must take steps to minimize the coming Dark Age and ensure the rebirth of society. This is a work of hard science fiction, and as such is deeply plotted and complex: Themes of science versus spiritualism, predestination versus free will, and democracy versus dictatorship are all thoroughly explored. And the characters of the story are fleshed out perfectly to deal with these topics. So let’s take a look at the players of Foundation, shall we?
Brother Day (Lee Pace)
Brother Day is the name used by each current reigning Emperor of the Galactic Empire, he being whichever clone of the first Emperor, Cleon I, is in his prime. He is one of three clones that always exist simultaneously, the others being Brother Dawn, his younger version who will one day take his place, and Brother Dusk, who has aged out of the role. Day is wise, but ill-tempered and ruthless when it comes to threats to his power.
Lee Pace is a gifted actor, best known for his roles in Guardians of the Galaxy, Pushing Daisies, and Halt and Catch Fire. He also starred in the Sundance hit, Soldier's Girl, which garnered him a Golden Globe nomination as well as a Gotham Award for Outstanding Breakthrough Performance.
Brother Dusk (Terrence Mann)
Brother Dusk, as mentioned, is the eldest of the trio of Cleon I clones ruling the Empire. He is considered retired, making way for the reign of Brother Day, although he stays on as council to Day and mentor to Brother Dawn, his years of accumulated knowledge and experience a boon to them both. However, these traits sometimes make him overly self-assured, and he has been known to step over the line of his allowed duties. Brother Dusk advised his younger counterpart to show mercy with regards to the people of Anacreon and Thespis, but his words fell on deaf ears. When a new Brother Dawn is birthed, so to speak, it is Brother Dusk’s duty to allow for his own death, so that the trio is preserved.
Terrence Mann is best known to mainstream audiences for his work in A Chorus Line, Critters, and Sense8, although his most impressive roles have been on stage. He starred as Javert in Les Miserables, and as the Beast in Beauty & the Beast.
Brother Dawn (Cooper Carter and Cassian Bilton)
Brother Dawn is the youngest of the ruling Empire’s three clones — a child meant to learn from his two older versions so that he will be prepared to take the place of Brother Day at the appropriate time. Cooper Carter plays Brother Dawn during his childhood days, while Cassian Bilton takes over the role as a more adolescent version. His state of mind is worrisome, as he is seen trying to take his own life at one point.
Cooper Carter has had roles in Beyond the After and One Hand Clapping, while Cassian Bilton has mostly worked in short films, including The Devil’s Harmony, Shoal and The Battle of Waterloo.
Eto Demerzel (Laura Birn)
Demerzel acts as the majordomo to the Emperors, caring for young Dawn’s needs, providing advice and fulfilling the orders of Day, and easing the passage of Dusk through his twilight years. She is an android — the only known survivor of the Robot Wars — and as such, never ages, providing her services throughout the lineage of all Emperors who come and go. The Empire has had her loyal services for centuries. She has shown traits of kindness, patience, and almost motherly protection, as it seems she is capable of emotion.
Laura Birn is a talented actress of Finnish descent, and has played roles in Helene, The Birdcatcher, and Void. She may be more recognizable to American audiences for her notable performances in The Ones Below, Any Day Now, and A Walk Among the Tombstones.
Master Shadow Obrecht (Mido Hamada)
Master Shadow Obrecht is the knife hidden up the Emperor’s sleeve. He is a faithful servant and assassin, and handles the Empire’s dirty work without question.
Mido Hamada has appeared in Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow and was a series regular on State of Mind. He’s also had parts in Homeland, 24, and Counterpart.
Auzura (Amy Tyger)
Auzura is a botanist who works in the Empire garden. She came under threat when she witnessed Brother Dawn’s attempted suicide, but he showed leniency, and now he seems to have a growing interest in the young woman.
Amy Tyger is relatively new to the acting sphere, but may be recognized for her roles in Legacy and The Alienist.
Hari Seldon (Jared Harris)
Seldon is the aforementioned mathematical genius who creates the science of psychohistory, allowing him to formulate predictive models of the future of society in the galaxy. It is Seldon that sets off the events of Foundation, as his mathematics predict impending war, the destruction of the Empire, and a coming age of extended darkness for humanity. He also knows that the only way to mitigate the extent of this Dark Age is to create a "Foundation": an encyclopedic repository of human history and knowledge that will help those who survive build civilization anew. He shows no fear in reciting these findings to the Empire, as he already knows what his fate will be. He is exiled to the outer rim world of Terminus, along with a legion of followers who are to help him build this Foundation. Unfortunately, he never makes it to the planet himself.
Jared Harris is an award-winning actor known for many terrific portrayals in the likes of Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Fringe, Mad Men, Lincoln, The Expanse, The Terror, and Chernobyl. His filmography goes on and on, and his talents are not wasted here.
Gaal Dornick (Lou Llobell)
Gaal Dornick is another brilliant mathematician, perhaps the only who could rival Seldon’s skills. She wins a math contest by solving a supposedly unsolvable equation on her home planet of Synnax, and her prize is to train under Seldon on Trantor. Sadly, her reward isn’t quite what she had hoped. As Seldon tells her before it even happens, they are both arrested on charges of treason for Seldon’s prediction of the Empire’s fate. While Dornick is pressured to avoid punishment by disagreeing with Seldon, she instead reinforces his version of coming events, dooming them both to exile and the creation of the Foundation.
Lou Llobell is another newbie to thespianism, only having worked on one other project – the role of Zandie in the 2021 film Voyagers.
Raych Foss (Alfred Enoch)
Raych Foss is the seemingly loyal adopted son of Hari Seldon. He was caught one day as a child, stealing books from Seldon’s library, and the rest is history. He meets Gaal Dornick when she arrives on Trantor, and the sparks start flying. Foss joins Seldon and Dornick on their journey to Terminus, and Foss and Dornick begin a relationship.
Any Harry Potter fan knows Enoch well. He played Dean Thomas in the films. He also had a starring role in How To Get Away With Murder.
Salvor Hardin (Leah Harvey)
When the exiled finally land on Terminus, the planet where Seldon’s followers are to carry out their mission to build the Foundation, they discover a large, hovering alien structure they dub "The Vault." Anyone who goes within a certain radius around the Vault winds up falling unconscious due to a null field. Anyone, that is, except Salvor Hardin. She is mysteriously immune to the field.
Thirty-five years after landfall, Hardin is the Warden and protector of Terminus. She’s tough as nails, and smart to boot. She discovers, with some alarm, that the null field is widening. However, this problem becomes secondary to an invasion by three Anacreon spaceships...
Leah Harvey is another relative newcomer to acting, although she has appeared in a couple of TV shows, as well as the 2019 film Fighting With My Family.
Hugo (Daniel MacPherson)
Little is known about this character as of yet, other than that he is a charismatic, likable sort, an interplanetary trader of goods, and Salvor Hardin’s significant other.
Daniel MacPherson is no stranger to genre films, as he has played roles in the movies Infini, The Osiris Child, and A Wrinkle in Time. You might also remember him for his performance as Sgt. Samuel Wyatt in Cinemax’s hit show, Strike Back.
Mari (Sasha Behar)
Mari is a Seldon follower who volunteered to go to Terminus to help create the Foundation. She is a member of the Foundation budgetary committee, as well as the mother of Salvor Hardin.
Sasha Behar first broke out to the public with her role as Maya Sharma in Coronation Street. She’s also another Strike Back alum, and has had roles in Sherlock, Luther, and Da Vinci’s Demons.
Abbas (Clarke Peters)
Husband to Mari, and father to Salvor Hardin, Abbas volunteered with his wife to travel to Terminus and dedicate his life to Seldon’s mission. He was the first Warden of Terminus, before his daughter took over the position.
Clarke Peters is a seasoned actor whose filmography is long and impressive. His career really took off with his role as Detective Lester Freamon in The Wire. From there, he appeared in Marley & Me, Endgame, Red Hook Summer, John Wick, Jessica Jones, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and Da 5 Bloods. He hasn’t had much to do on Foundation thus far, so here’s hoping his acting chops get some exercise in future episodes.
Phara Keaen (Kubbra Sait)
Phara Keaen is the most recent character of import to show up on Foundation. She is the leader of the strike team that invades Terminus, but more importantly, she is the Grand Huntress of Anacreon.
Kubbra Sait has mostly done foreign film and television, and is best known for her performances in Sacred Games, Sultan, Gully Boy, and Ready.
New episodes of Foundation Season 1 premiere Fridays on Apple TV+. A second season has been greenlit.
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