“Each season, I go closer to myself” – Laura Birn About Finding Humanity in Playing a Robot

“Each season, I go closer to myself” - Laura Birn About Finding Humanity in Playing a Robot

text Natalia Muntean

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What first draws a person to a life of performing? For Laura Birn, the Finnish star of Apple TV+’s Foundation, it was a discovery of freedom and connection found far from home. “I moved to Brazil when I was 17 as an exchange student, where I met some theatre people,” she recounts. Though she barely spoke Portuguese, the community was inviting. “They let me be part of a play. At first, I was a mute girl because I didn’t speak the language well, but I fell in love with the group energy.” That same energy, found later in Finnish theatre, offered a thrilling sense of rebellion. “We’re a nation of obeying rules,” she says, “but in theatre, it was like, maybe you don’t always have to. It led me to this opening of a new world. I fell in love.”

The journey to playing the silent, powerful android Demerzel on a global stage is a testament to that initial spark. During our photoshoot in Helsinki in mid-August, we traced the city’s architectural dialogue between stark minimalism and ornate history, a metaphor for Birn’s artistry – balancing the cold precision of a robot with the fiery, secret heart of a living being.

Natalia Muntean: What’s your favourite thing about acting?

Laura Birn: Being able to dive into different worlds and study different sides of myself. I’d be so bored just being me. I love that I have to pull different sides of me or let a character affect me, opening my mind to different views, seeing the world from a perspective someone else feeds me. It’s a privilege. It’s that adventure of entering a different world or seeing this world differently.

Natalia Muntean: What’s your favourite thing about acting?

No one’s mind is lazy. But your roots shape how you think. The way I was raised, I look at things from a certain perspective. So sometimes it’s explosive to think, “Oh, I never thought of this from that perspective,” or someone’s imagination has created a whole universe I get to be part of. It’s very special.

NM: How do you choose your roles?

LB: There are many ways. Sometimes it’s intuition about the people involved. Sometimes, if there’s an amazing script, there’s no question. But sometimes I’ve jumped into projects without a script because someone was passionate and interesting, and I wanted to see what world we would enter. Sometimes there are people I’ve worked with before, and I say yes even if they don’t tell me much about the project.

For Foundation, I auditioned with a self-tape. My agent sent me the pages, and I called her, saying I didn’t understand a word. She read them too and didn’t understand. We kept trying to figure it out, but I knew there was something there. It felt intriguing and different, wild and weird, and I was interested.

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NM: Demerzel is one of the series’ most complex characters, a robot with emotions. How did you prepare to play such a layered, non-human role?

LB: It’s been a lovely puzzle. We started shooting season one just before the pandemic. We’d been shooting for a couple of months when lockdown happened. Then we took a break and continued.

In the beginning, I didn’t have much information. I just had glimpses. We talked with David S. Goyer, the showrunner, who gave me little hints and taught me a new phrase, “slow burn.” He said, “Be patient, the secrets will start opening,” because I had many questions.

At first, Demerzel is very observant, holding back, not revealing much of her universe. Little by little, it’s been a joy because I now know so much more and can give more or hold back more. Her arc works well when you watch season three and then go back to season one; you see those little hints building her complexity.

The writing is amazing and easy to lean on. Then there’s the mechanical, physical side; she’s held together, but her inner life is rich. Each season, I go closer to myself, asking questions like, “Who am I? How did I become me? How much are my choices really mine, or shaped by upbringing or society? Is there a ‘pure me’ inside?” I find the question of programming interesting. In a certain sense, we are all shaped by our parents, by society, and by the people close to us.

In season three, she goes through an existential crisis, trying to understand her programming and place in this dynasty with the weird boys, her family, and what choices she’d make if not programmed. So many questions around identity and purpose or meaning, it was interesting and complex. I even noticed myself thinking, “Maybe it’s a midlife crisis for me, and for her, an 18,000-year crisis.”

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NM: What’s your favourite thing about playing Demerzel, and what’s the most challenging?

LB: I really love working with all the Cleons Lee, Terry, and Cassian, who’ve become close friends. We’ve been through a lot, including many incredible occasions and challenges, such as COVID-19 and the strikes. During COVID, we were in a bubble on an island, a tiny, weird family.

From Demerzel’s side, I love the emotionally difficult scenes. It´s always intriguing to figure out how this human-like machine responds to unexpected events that affect her or the whole galaxy.. This season, the pressure is harder than ever. Sometimes her behaviour felt like a malfunction, because she’s always been so composed. This season, there are moments she just loses control for a moment. I loved that challenge.

NM: Can you talk about your first scene in Foundation?

LB: It was a 10-minute-long courtroom scene with Hari Seldon and Gaal being interrogated. I just had to stand back and observe, not say anything. It was my first day in Berlin. The set was huge. I’d never been on a set that large with so many people. I had this still dress and very high heels. I stood there, realising the take would last 10 minutes with two cameras coming toward me, and I was supposed to stay very still; I couldn’t move or say anything. My heart was beating so fast I thought I would faint, but somehow I managed to keep it together.

Afterwards, the sound guy told me he needed to move my microphone because my heartbeat was so loud they couldn’t hear the other actors´ lines. I felt embarrassed. Later that day, I called a friend who’s an actor, and he gave me beautiful advice: “That beating heart is the secret she has. It’s all the life inside her that nobody sees but feels. It’s the fire inside her. Embrace it.”

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After that, I felt like I had a secret weapon inside me.. People might think she’s just an observing, empty woman, but inside her, there is an enormous amount of life and power. She chooses when to show it.

NM: How does Demerzel’s relationship with power and servitude evolve in season three?

LB: Her relationship with the Cleons is what I love about Foundation because it is so complex and layered. We know she can be a mother. She’s taught them everything they know. She loves them, but she also manipulates them when needed. At the same time, they’ve enslaved her. It’s a psychologically very twisted relationship.

In season three, they’ve drifted further apart than ever. The galaxy is under a major threat, and she has more knowledge than ever because she has a hold of the Prime Radiant. New paths are opening. She realises they might be headed toward the end. There’s this lonely weight she carries; she’s the only one of her species left, carrying the responsibility of the fate of humanity on her shoulders. The Cleons sometimes love her, sometimes despise her. She needs the Cleons; they need her, but they’re pulling apart. Their relationship is needy and destructive, lonelier than ever.

NM: Do you have any rituals before filming? For example, in season two, you showed pain. Now, when you have to portray loneliness, how do you approach it?

LB: I don’t have specific rituals. Well, maybe I do. I have my own playlist for Demerzel that I listen to, but it’s very private. Part of the preparation is training physically. She is a physically very composed character. The stronger I feel, the easier it is for me to gain her stillness without being too aware of my body. And when my body feels strong and solid, my mind runs more freely.

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Loneliness wasn´t hard to enter. I think most of us recognise that feeling of isolation. The beauty of her, even though she’s a robot, is that what she goes through is very human.

In any part, you try to find points in the character that touch your inner weakest, most shameful, or most joyful parts, the softer spots you don’t want to reveal in your normal life. Acting is where you want to go to those places you don’t want to go.

NM: Do you process things through acting?

LB: Yes, very much!. Before shooting, you use a lot of time and energy inviting the character or thoughts into your mind. You read and listen to things to activate whatever questions or themes the character opens for you. That energy and time take you somewhere. It might not solve your problems, but you can have new, fresh ideas.

NM: With new cast members in season three, were there any unexpected on-set dynamics that influenced your portrayal?

LB: I fell in love with Cherry Jones, who plays Ambassador Quent. She’s just the most amazing woman.. Every little thing she does, the tiniest moments, she makes them feel so real. We’re in space, in costumes, in weird situations, talking about things not from everyday life, but she made them feel so real. It was a pure joy watching her.

Then also Pilou Asbæk, who plays the Mule, brings his energy on and off screen, just bringing people to life. He’s wild, funny, unpredictable. I felt he sparked all of us. It was really lovely to have him on set.

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NM: How does the Mule’s chaos affect Demerzel?

LB: She’s lived 18,000years. She’s seen everything, humanity through greatness and disgrace. Her gift and trauma is that she doesn’t forget anything. But with the Mule, there’s something new and unpredictable for her because he’s a mutant, something she’s never seen before. All this chaos and unpredictability that she can’t see fully opens her up, but it’s not simple.

She needs to operate to secure the dynasty, that’s her programming, always. But suddenly this chaos brings new questions: what if this all ends? Maybe she’s free? Could she dream of freedom? What would she be? Because she exists because of programming, what if it fails? What is left of her?

The chaos makes her take decisions; she’s capable of horrible, cruel actions to secure the dynasty. But at the same time, it opens a weird chance of something new, a dream of something else. So it brings a little chaos inside her, like a malfunction after years of functioning straight.

NM: How did you collaborate with Lee Pace to develop the relationship between Day and Demerzel in season three?

LB: I love working with Lee. From day one, he’s been so open to this creative collaboration. He is intelligent and funny. He has that little twinkle in his eyes like, “We’re in space, ruling the galaxy, it’s serious fun.”

I love the playfulness he brings, but he goes deep. He really works on the depth but makes it fun. I’m always surprised by the choices he makes and how he can shift a scene into many versions. With him, you have to be awake and ready to react.

Their relationship is so toxic this season; he hates her so much that he calls her “it.” On set, he teased me by mimicking me, doing a little robot thing. He finds ways to annoy me in a fun way. You need that energy. For her, it’s like having a child who behaves horribly; you love them and want to make it right, but can’t. It’s hatred and love twisted together.

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Towards the end, without spoilers, their relationship opens a new, pure, connected level in a different way. In writing, their characters go deeper and find surprises every season. It’s a joy to wait for scripts. We’ve become close friends, so it’s fun to build their relationship together.

NM: Do you see Demerzel as a tragic figure or a quiet revolutionary?

LB: We always argue about this with Lee.. Who is actually controlling whom? I do see her as a tragic figure, but she is indeed capable of committing horrific, cruel acts. Sometimes it feels like she doesn’t have a choice, but don´t we always have one?. She maybe could do things differently. Yet again, she’s enslaved, obliged to keep working for them no matter her own beliefs.

What I find interesting is that compared to many characters, like the Mule, the Cleons, Hari Seldon, they often operate from ego or trauma. But she doesn’t operate from ego. She has struggles, can be cruel or loving, but her ego isn’t driving her, which I find interesting. It´s really hard to determine whether she is a villain or a hero

NM: If you could borrow one trait from her, what would it be and why?

LB: Maybe to fix my brain. To open it and just fix things. Some days, I wish I could “remove, delete” certain thoughts. Though those low, shameful thoughts have shaped me and my work, so maybe I wouldn’t want to erase them.

NM: How do you unwind after intense roles like this?

LB: After a long shoot, it feels empty, but you have to live through the emptiness. See friends, do normal stuff. It takes time to be okay with the melancholy that comes with it. If you feel melancholy, it means you did something that mattered. I embrace it now; it tells me I’ve been through something special. And I do a lot of sauna and swimming in the sea to unwind.

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NM: What do you hope viewers take from season three?

LB: I hope they have fun and enjoy it! Foundation is visually stunning. Every aspect is executed with care – directing, writing, production design, visual effects, make-up and the costumes, I´m always amazed by the richness of the world. And at the core of this visual spectacle, there are small human beings and their profound questions about life. It all happens in space and in the future, but a lot of it, the politics, religion, leadership, ego, and family relationships, can easily be paralleled to 2025 on planet Earth. I find that entertaining.

NM: What are you most looking forward to in the next couple of months?

LB: I’m starting work on a new film here in Finland. It’s an early stage, so I can’t say much, but I know where I’ll start digging., I love doing Foundation, but I also love making intimate films where you know everyone on set by name. In small films, you become a tight group. I love that and am very excited.