In 1976's The Man Who Fell To Earth, which was directed by Nicolas Roeg, Bowie’s alien character takes on the name Thomas Jerome Newton. His ship arrives on Earth and, seeing all the water in this world, desperately tries to come up with a means of getting some to his home planet, which is suffering from a devastating drought. Ultimately, though, he becomes distracted and transformed by the corruption and vices that surround him.
In the forthcoming Showtime series version, Nighy’s Newton will contact a fellow alien (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor) to come to Earth to complete the mission he has been unable to. At the same time, after so many years amongst humans, Newton feels as though he may be losing his mind.
In an interview with Playboy, Bowie, who switched to acting from singing for the first time with the film, detailed how he got involved with the project “I was sent the script and was immediately intrigued with the character of Newton, who had a lot in common with me. He dreaded cars but loved fast speeds. He was physically emaciated; there were so many characteristics we had in common. One problem: I hated the script.
“Nicolas Roeg, the director, came over to my house a number of weeks after he’d sent the script,” added Bowie. ”He said, ‘Well, David, what do you think of the script?’ I said, ‘It’s a bit corny, isn’t it?’ His face just fell off. Then he started talking. Two or three hours later, I was convinced the man was a genius. There is a very strong story line, as it turns out, but that only provides the backbone to the meat of it. It works on spiritual and prime levels of an incredibly complex, Howard Hughes-type alien. I still don’t understand all the inflections Roeg put into the film. He’s of a certain artistic level that’s well above me.”
The Man Who Fell to Earth will make its debut on Showtime on April 24 at 10PM with the first two episodes.