Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with Skylines’ Lindsey Morgan

Lindsey Morgan is delivering an out-of-this-world performance as Captain Rose Corley in the third installment of the iconic Skylines franchise. When a virus threatens to turn the now Earth-dwelling friendly alien hybrids against humans, Captain Rose Corley must lead a team of elite mercenaries on one final mission to the alien world to save what’s left of humanity.

Pop Culturalist had the pleasure of speaking with Lindsey about Skylines, returning to play Rose, and her upcoming series, Walker.

PC: Tell us about Skylines and Rose’s journey in the film.
Lindsey: Skylines 3 is the third installment in the Skylines franchise. It’s centered around Rose Corley, who, if you’ve seen Beyond Skylines (the second installment), is the child prodigy that was born from half human, half alien parents. She possesses the power of the harvesters, but in human form, so she can fight the harvesters with her power. Before her, the humans couldn’t do anything against them and were pretty defenseless. She becomes their superhero against the harvesters.

Skylines 3 is ten years in the future. Rose has grown into a young woman and is fighting for Earth. She’s their super weapon against the alien invaders. She goes through a traumatic event at the beginning of Skylines 3 and essentially runs away from the government and the world leaders that raised and captured her in this military compound her whole life. She begins to question what she’s done with her life. Was it right—all the killing that she’s caused? Has she done it for the right reason? She’s really questioning herself and scared about who she’s become.

Meanwhile, this gift that she was born with begins to start deteriorating her body, and she’s beginning to die. Every time she uses her power, it ages her body so rapidly that she’s afraid at any moment it could kill her. She’s bearing this incredibly dark secret on her shoulders, and when she’s captured and brought back into this government compound, the colonel needs her for one last hurrah to save humanity against these alien invaders. She’s very reluctant because only she knows if she does this it will kill her, but if she doesn’t do it, her brother, and a lot of the good harvesters are at stake of dying. They seem to be catching this 2020-esque disease that’s making them go crazy and attacking everything in sight. She decides to sacrifice herself in the hopes of saving humanity and her brother, the good harvesters, and bring peace to the world.

But when she goes to the alien planet to do this one last mission, stop this disease, and stop the evil aliens from killing everybody, she learns a lot more about what she’s been told and discovers the truth of what has been happening all this time between the aliens and the humans. It has a lot of twists and is ironically eerily similar to 2020. [laughs] If it had to come out at any time, there’s no better time than now.

PC: You were a part of the second film in the franchise. At what point did writer/director Liam O’Donnell approach you about the direction that he wanted to take this third film?
Lindsey: I shot all of my Beyond Skylines work in a day. I filmed it after principal photography was done. It was all wrapped and ready to go. I was the last little tidbit at the end that they threw in there, so I didn’t really think much of it. I didn’t think I’d hear anything about it or anything, and then Liam O’Donnell emailed me maybe eight months later and was like, “I have a script. Can you grab a cup of coffee?” I was like, “What?”

I was really shocked, but apparently, he was inspired by our time on set and felt like this could be the direction of where Skylines would head—the evolution of this character and this special power she possesses. I didn’t see it coming at all. It was a wild ride. It’s become an epic film that we’re getting ready to release into the world and have everyone see. I’m very excited for that!

PC: There are so many incredible action sequences and you’re no stranger to stunt choreography. How did your previous experiences prepare you for this film and what was that prep work like?
Lindsey: My last show, The 100, was very adventurous and post-apocalyptic. We had these amazing action sequences, but spoiler alert: my character became paralyzed. So, my character and I sat out on a lot of the stunt scenes and sequences because it wasn’t true to my character to have that ability. That was when I really started to grow this passion for stunt work and fighting. I started to take up Thai kickboxing called Muay Thai. First, I was interested in it as a new workout, but then I really started to get interested in the martial art and sport of it.

I just wanted to get as good as I could and feel like a real fighter and feel like I can hold myself in that way. I can defend myself and I can throw a punch if I ever need to, which I think is super important for any woman, any girl in their life. I liked having these new skills, then Skylines came, and it came pretty quickly. We only had two weeks of preparation and rehearsals, and then we were shooting. We were making it work on the day. We practiced in between setups, we practiced behind the set before we went on—we were always working on it together. It was fast, but it gives me a lot of hope that if we get to do another one, we’ll have even more time.

PC: The film has made its way around a few festivals and it’s been incredibly well received. What do you think is resonating most with audiences?
Lindsey: The best part of the film is its genre-bending—we have action, we have sci-fi, but there’s also a lot of heart and emotionality to it. There’s some comedy too. It’s fun.

We also talk about some serious subject matters, like how our society is now and the way we govern ourselves through satire. I think the fact that we draw from all these wells to make this super movie is very appealing to people. That’s what appealed to me. I love that I get to have a little bit of everything in this film.

PC: You’ve done films and television of all sizes. What is it about independent filmmaking that excites you?
Lindsey: You get a lot of freedom. I’ve worked for amazing studios and networks, and I always enjoy every network and studio that I have had the chance to work with, but there’s something that’s very back to basics with independent filmmaking. It’s like being a child and getting to play and do anything.

Of course, we have a budget and time limit, but it’s flexible and it’s a bit more malleable. A lot of the time, we may not have as much money as other things, so we have to be really resourceful. When you’re resourceful, it makes you really creative. It gives you different eyes and challenges. You’re more hands-on with what you’re able to do and make, and that’s exciting. I’m an artist in more ways than just an actor, so I enjoy that.

PC: In addition to the Skylines, you’re going to be starring in the upcoming Walker. Is there anything you can tease about that project? What can your fans expect?
Lindsey: It’s going to be great. It’s going to be quite special, and I think we’re making something really fun and heartwarming, but also bad-ass and exciting. We get a chance to really learn about these people and look into their lives, so I feel like in a procedural—which this technically is—you don’t always get that chance. We have a good balance of really understanding our characters and developing them, and also capturing the bad guy of the week as well as longer stories of adventures throughout the season.

To keep up with Lindsey, follow her on Twitter and Instagram. Catch Skylines in select Theaters, Drive-ins, On Demand, and Digital today!