‘Beacon 23’ Executive Producer Talks New Series With Lena Headey and Stephan James (Exclusive)

MGM+ continues to grow its original series library with the addition of the science fiction thriller Beacon 23. The series features Lena Headey from Game of Thrones fame and Stephan James from the film If Beale Street Could Talk. The two play characters who have trouble trusting each other while surviving in the deepest parts of space. PopCulture.com spoke to Beacon 23 executive producer Glen Mazzara who revealed what fans can expect from the new television series. 

“Fans can expect one, to see Lena Heady in a way they haven’t seen her before,” Mazzara told PopCulture. “They can expect to see fantastic acting from her and Stephan James. They can expect a cool show set in space that’s unlike anything they’ve seen before. Honestly, this is a show that is about the terror of living out there on the edge of space. So it’s a character drama. 

“These characters are in a lighthouse on the edge of the galaxy, and they each have their own emotional baggage and their traumas and their journey and all of that. But it’s really a character piece. So I think they’re going to see some great acting and hopefully some great drama and be surprised because as soon as you figure out, you think you know what the story is, we’re going to throw you a curveball. So it’s I think going to be a very unique experience.”

Headey plays a government agent named Aster who finds her way to a Beacon run by Halan (James). The Beacon serves as a lighthouse for intergalactic travels, and every Beacon is run by a highly trained human and a specialized Artificial Intelligence. Aster and Halan battle each other since they hide their motives for being on the Beacon. At the same time, they have to take on other foes who traveled to the Beacon for other reasons. 

“They are at each other’s throats, and I think they would happily love to not have the other person around, but they need that other person around one because of things that are happening,” Mazzara said. “Look at Episode 2, but then also they both want connection. They both want to kind of get past, I think they want to figure themselves out. I think each place is a mystery to the other. And they realize that the only way they can survive is together, but they’re driving each other crazy.”

Mazzara enjoyed working with Headey and James because of what they brought to the table. “They are incredibly talented,” he said. “They kept bringing layers to it, and as we were editing and writing the show, you see things. You see things that they’re doing. You say, ‘Oh wait, what’s that look? What are they thinking? Oh.’ And then that generates a story, or that gives you a new approach. So a lot of it was catching up to them and they really, I think, brought so much to the show and really kind of developed those characters in a way that it was a very collaborative process. I’ve never really had this type of process before, so it was just a great experience.”

Beacon 23 premieres on MGM+ on Nov. 12 at 9 p.m. ET/PT with new episodes airing every Sunday.