How Resident Alien Turned a Puppet to Goo: Go Behind the Scenes of Bruce's Demise (WATCH)
Series creator Chris Sheridan compared Bruce to a Russian spy who "actually kind of likes it here and ends up being turned."
This story contains spoilers for Resident Alien Season 4, Episode 2, "The Lonely Man."
Bruce, the Earth-loving Grey alien in Season 4 of Resident Alien, may seem like a completely digital creation, but that's not the case. Like Bridget, the extra-terrestrial character (voiced by Jinkx Monsoon) was brought to life through a combination of practical puppetry and computer-generated effects, especially in Episode 2, "The Lonely Man," in which Harry (Alan Tudyk) and Asta (Sara Tomko) track Bruce to Las Vegas and find him (literally) breaking down because his body chemistry can't handle our planet's atmosphere.
Go behind the scenes of Resident Alien Season 4, Episode 2, "The Lonely Man"
"There's so much that goes into creating a character like Bruce," explains creator, showrunner, and executive producer Chris Sheridan in a special look behind-the-scenes at the season's second episode (above). "There's the [visual] effects team at CoSA, Brian Fisher and all of his people. There's our special effects team with Cayley Giene and all of her people. So many departments have to come together."
Sheridan goes on to add that he always envisioned Bruce "as one of those Russian spies who comes to spy on the U.S., but actually kind of likes it here and ends up being turned." The only major difference between Bruce and a Russian spy is that Russian spies don't melt into slimy piles of literal "grey matter" after spending too much time in foreign territory.
Tudyk is always down to interact with a good puppet, even when its smearing goop in and around his mouth. Tomko, on the other hand, has an understandable fear of strange textures, particularly those of the "sticky, gooey" variety.
"The great thing about it is, from a thematic standpoint, it really played into this thought about the quality of life as opposed to the quantity of life," Sheridan concludes. "I believe that Bruce got more appreciation out of the two days that he was on Earth than most humans get in a lifetime, so there's a lesson in that, too."
How to watch Resident Alien
New episodes of Resident Alien premiere on USA Network and SYFY every Friday, with each episode available to stream on Peacock a week after air. The first three seasons are now available to watch right here!
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