‘Constellation’ Season One Finale Post-Mortem Interview with Noomi Rapace

Noomi Rapace in "Constellation," now streaming on Apple TV+.

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the Season One Finale of ‘Constellation’. 
 
Noomi Rapace is a highly accomplished actor that has appeared in a bevy of big franchises throughout her career, and currently she stars as Jo in the hit Apple TV+ series, Constellation, and to properly reflect upon the season one finale, we sat down with Noomi to discuss the finale and so much more.
 
John Betancourt: I would love to know what it means to you, to have Jo’s journey complete and in front of the masses.
 
Noomi Rapace: Um, it feels amazing, you know, now it's out, she lived in me, and she took over my life for a certain amount of… I think it was eight months. And you know, I'm really excited to share the whole journey with all of you. So, I'm excited for people. Also, to hear what people think, like after the eighth episode, if it is what expected, if it wrapped things up, how it lands with people.
 
John Betancourt: It definitely took me by surprise in all the right ways, and speaking of surprise, a lot of what makes this show work, quite frankly, is your performance. Because we at times don't know, if Jo is having a severe PTSD break. Or if something is bigger going on. How did you as an actor, kind of build those beats and build that structure to keep fooling us every week?
 
Noomi Rapace: Thank you. I mean, Jo doesn't know what's going on. (Laughter) So, Jo-A is trapped in Jo-B's body, coming back to reality, that’s kind of like her own, but not, and like, constantly kind of asking herself and analyzing herself. “Am I going insane? No, I'm not, everything else is wrong.” And then knowing how she sounds like, “I do know, I sound crazy, but this is not my baby.” And also, you know, being a scientist, she knows she's analyzing yourself. She's like, like, kind of telling us “I'm looking at evidence, fiding proof,” and then the gut feeling, and all her senses think, something else. So, I had so many tools to work with, to, you know, just -- and also being just like the primal raw human that is like, “Okay, I'm trusting my instincts, instead of my brain.”
 
John Betancourt: Now let’s talk a little bit about that ending. Because you said yourself, you are kind of curious, the way audiences are going react to it, and there’s a lot to process when it comes down to it, such as accepting the hand we’re dealt, and I’m curious what you hope audiences take away from it.
 
Noomi Rapace: I mean, I love that it's not as like, a pure happy ending. It's so like, it you know, it is kind of acceptance and embracing life as it is. And just like, okay, I can never reach there, I can't, I can't reunite. My baby girl is trapped somewhere else, in another universe another reality. And I'm here, and there’s nothing I can do. I could go mad, and just like, start a war with everyone and everyone's gonna think I’m totally crazy, but that's not gonna lead anywhere. And it's like, accepting it. Start taking the pill. Like taking this this girl, this other Alice, to my heart and letting her kind of be my daughter. Like, it's, it's brutal and sad, but also beautiful. So, it has that like, double feeling that I think like the best endings of movies, and series always have, there’s like a bitter sweetness to it. But then you have a Jo-B, up on the ISS, who is like, not really dead, is she? Like, is she looking down at Jo-A living her life and like, having her daughter in her arms? How does that make her feel? You know? So like, I really love that last shot. 
 
John Betancourt: Oh, that’s up there. I was not expecting that at all. Now, I am curious, because I think we all take something away from the stories we enjoy, or work on and I’m curious… what did take away from Jo’s journey in season one? 
 
Noomi Rapace: I really started to look at myself, my own life in a different way. Just like taking a moment to step out of yourself. Look down on yourself, like how does Noomi live her life? What kind of person is she? Is she a good mother? Is she respectful towards people? Is she fun? Am I living the life I want to live? And if I had a different reality, if I could do different choices, what would I do? And that's really just opened up for a different way of looking at things. And it gave me some space in my head like to start exploring different perspectives. And I've been talking to friends about it like, “What if there was a different reality and a different version of you? How would she be? How would he be?”
 
John Betancourt: So, I think it’s safe to say this show is quickly becoming something of a cult classic since people are pouring over the details and the clues and I’m curious what it is like personally to be part of something like that? 
 
Noomi Rapace: Oh, thank you so much. This show is so close to my heart, it’s really one of my, um, I kind of had this feeling with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo way back then. It's like a character I love and she's very close to me. And I carry her with me. And I love the show. I love everyone involved. Like the actors are amazing. The three directors, working with Apple TV Plus, like everyone, the executives, the producers, it was really like, a project with so many great forces. And I'm really proud of it. So, makes me very, and it was very emotional for me. And it was hard, it was a brutal shoot. Because, you know, I just went to places in myself, that was really challenging. And shooting in Morocco is extremely hot, shooting wirework, floating, very, very intense for the body. And then going up to northern Finland, which was like minus 20. So, we really kind of went to the extremes. So, I mean, I'm very, I feel so blessed and honored by the reactions. 
 
John Betancourt: We’ve definitely talked at length about your relationship to Jo and how deeply intertwined she is to you, and I’m curious what you love about the character so much?
 
Noomi Rapace: Um, I mean, I'm talking about Jo-A. (Laughter) Because Jo-B…
 
John Betancourt: Oh yeah, there’s nothing to like about Jo-B’s path. (More laughter)
 
Noomi Rapace: So, Jo-A is… she's a very hard working, passionate, driven woman. She's a real woman, she's not a superhero. She's not perfect. She's struggling. She's not… she's not a perfect mother, but she does her best. And I love flaws. I love cracks in personalities. And I mean, she's been working so hard to become an astronaut, she’s gone on this mission. She's prepped for this, for the EVA walk, you know, it took years and years. And then this accident happens, and she’s brought back to something that looks like her life, but it's not. It just feels like it was the perfect way to explore a character in a kind of slightly twisted reality. And she’s so, I mean, her being a scientist with a scientific mind, reading every situation from that angle, and looking for evidence, looking for proof, being someone will look to facts and then your heart, your body is telling you something else. It's like, friction inside, which is like a great gift to be given as an actress to have that whole, like, buffet of characteristic tools to play with.
 
John Betancourt: I’ve heard a lot of passion in your voice today about your work here, and I’m also curious as to what you enjoyed the most about working on season one in general? 
 
Noomi Rapace: Working with Michelle McLaren was for me, one of the highlights. She's so incredible. She's so passionate. She's a perfectionist. And she works really so close with the actors she's so in it with you. And there's like, when we shot all the scenes, when I'm in the Soyuz, where it's like I'm kind of trapped, and there's no space, I’m in this so-called suit. And I had an earpiece, no one could come in, and sometimes we had to block shoot scenes. Because I'm shooting five scenes at the same time with like, with the camera from one angle side, So I had to keep so much in my head. And then I had Michelle on an earpiece in my ear, and I was just like getting her directions, like straight into my brain. And she kind of felt like, you know, it’s like God is speaking to me. But we had such a strong bond and such a strong connection. And you know, and I'm a perfectionist, I see everything, I have like eyes in my neck. And then I was like, sometimes I was like, “Oh, we need to—" and then she like, she was on it already. So, we just worked, it was like a beautiful dance working with that. 
 
John Betancourt: Last question I have for you today, what are you most proud of when it comes to your work here? 
 
Noomi Rapace: Wow, um, that this series has been made. That Apple TV Plus took a shot on something that is quite complex. This doesn't really – it’s its own genre. It's sci fi, drama, horror. It's a family drama, it's about motherhood. But it's, the setting is really like cinematic and, you know, powerful, but it's also intimate. It just… a lot of people took risks. And then it turned out to be something that I'm like, I'm really proud of it. And I'm really grateful because I don't think any algorithm would kind of point in the direction that this should work for everyone. Like I think everyone has worked on this, really believed in it and really kind of been fighting for it, and the whole team… I'm just proud of being part of this. I feel really blessed and honored. And like everyone from the you know, the publicity team at Apple, my team, the actors, the executives, the producers in France, the producers in in Germany, it’s a bunch of people with like souls on fire for this, so it just feels very… it's a big moment for me, and it's… I really feel like this is one of them… a project I've been waiting for probably throughout my career and it came, and it came out. 
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity. 
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