Alien: Earth premieres on FX in a few weeks. This is Noah Hawley’s take on the ever-expanding Alien franchise, and this is the first-ever TV series made within the “franchise.” The series stars Timothy Olyphant and Sydney Chandler in the lead roles. Chandler is the 29-year-old daughter of Kyle Chandler, best known for Friday Night Lights, Zero Dark Thirty, etc. Sydney is a nepo baby, with a slim CV for a 29-year-old, but she’s gotten rave reviews for her performance in Alien: Earth – people who have screened the series say that she’s a stand-out and she’s terrific. Which is why she was supposed to be front-and-center for the promotion for the show. Variety planned to put Sydney on their cover alongside Olyphant and Hawley. But Sydney and her team screwed it up completely, and Variety is calling her out:
Her agent texts us: “She’s coming.” Then, minutes later, her publicist writes: “No. She is not coming. Spoke to her just now. Her stylist and glam are not responding. She’s also very sick.”
It’s the day of the photo shoot, and the star of FX’s would-be summer smash is missing. Sydney Chandler, who plays Wendy on “Alien: Earth,” is supposed to appear on Variety’s cover with her co-star Timothy Olyphant and the show’s creator, Noah Hawley. One day before the shoot, though she had agreed to be photographed, Chandler made it known (through reps) that she wasn’t willing to participate in the kind of video interview that is the standard ask at Variety — as at other publications. Prolonged negotiations continued until the morning of the shoot.
At first, one of Chandler’s reps voiced the actor’s concern about playing a game with “two older men” (in other words, her co-star and showrunner, who are, respectively, 57 and 58). The game, the comic test “How Well Do They Know Each Other?,” seemed innocuous to us — everyone from Ariana Grande to Ryan Reynolds to Daniel Craig has done it in the past. But to demonstrate good faith, we offered to show Chandler sample questions. Then, she sent a list of ones we’d never ask. (We don’t ever offer question approval, and there’s good reason why: “How many ‘Alien’ films are there?” was high on Chandler’s list.) After that, she changed her mind and decided a game on video wasn’t something she felt comfortable doing at all. Now, on the morning of the shoot, after some convincing from her agent, we hear she will come. Then Chandler decides, after all that — never mind, she can’t make it.
It’s a fact of life for magazine journalists that dealing with talent can be a roller coaster; no shoot is ever easy. Chandler, at 29, is just emerging, having grown up adjacent to the industry, but not in it — her father, with whom she recorded her audition tape for “Alien: Earth,” is Emmy winner Kyle Chandler, but the actor and his wife, Kathryn, raised Chandler outside Austin, not in Los Angeles. In our first conversation, before the shoot — she was enthusiastic about the show, if clear-eyed about how challenging the production had been. So all of this comes as something of a shock: What happened?
“I’m just a private person,” she says in a subsequent phone interview. She says her opting out was simply drawing a firm boundary, not a response to any problem. “I’m new to press — it’s a bit out of my comfort zone. I was more than happy to talk about anything and everything about the show; that’s what I’m here to promote.”
Hawley, the veteran TV creator who’s made five seasons of “Fargo” for FX, is also dispirited by Chandler’s absence from the shoot. “The show is built around Sydney’s character, and the work she did as a professional was tremendous,” he says afterward. “I’m disappointed that my female-centric show, based on a female-facing franchise, does not have my lead actress on the cover. It felt awkward to be there with Tim without her.”
He tells me he hasn’t talked to Chandler about her decision. “I tend to feel like that promotional relationship that everybody has with the Disney Corporation is their own,” he says. “I don’t have to showrun the publicity.”
“I’m new to press — it’s a bit out of my comfort zone.” People would still call out these kinds of unprofessional antics from an ingenue in her late teens, but ultimately it would be a “live and learn” situation – she would be called out, she would learn her lesson, and make the necessary professional adjustments. But a 29-year-old flaking out on VARIETY? For a cover shoot? And disrespecting her showrunner and costar, who is also a beloved veteran actor? Yiiikes. I also don’t understand Sydney’s beef with those Variety videos – most outlets do videos where the actors play games or quiz each other these days, and for good reason. Those videos are usually more widely viewed than the cover stories. Those videos ARE promotion and they work really well, especially if they go viral. What a mess. How unprofessional.
This week's cover story:
‘Alien: Earth’ Is Wildly Ambitious, Expensive and Stars a Talented Actor Who Refuses to Play by Hollywood’s Rules. Inside FX's Risky Bet for a New Blockbuster Serieshttps://t.co/hp65DhoBtu pic.twitter.com/ZyuVYCc0vZ
— Variety (@Variety) July 23, 2025
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- L-R: Babou Ceesay, Sydney Chandler, Timothy Olyphant attends the 2025 Disney Upfront, held at the Jacob Javitz Center in New York City, Tuesday May 13, 2025,Image: 998752481, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Jennifer Graylock-Graylock.comJennifer Graylock-Graylock.com/Avalon
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- Sydney Chandler attends the 2025 Disney Upfront, held at the Jacob Javitz Center in New York City, Tuesday May 13, 2025,Image: 998754779, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Jennifer Graylock-Graylock.comJennifer Graylock-Graylock.com/Avalon
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- Sydney Chandler attends the 2025 Disney Upfront, held at the Jacob Javitz Center in New York City, Tuesday May 13, 2025,Image: 998766162, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Jennifer Graylock-Graylock.comJennifer Graylock-Graylock.com/Avalon
And now the story becomes “she’s difficult to work with.” And honestly? Yeah.
so disrespectful to her co-workers.
Variety the same publication that put out a whitewashed a cover with the “women of The Pitt” and had non of the Indian or Black leads from season one? The same Variety that tried to denigrate the success of Ryan Coogler’s hit film Sinners and got called out by Ben Stiller? That Variety? They can kick rocks. Sydney is pretty and white — she’ll be fine.
I’ll sit with you over here. It does seem unprofessional on her part but at the end of the day my dislike for variety as a publication is far far greater.
Yup. Variety is straight up trash.
If she is uncomfortable with the press then she is in the wrong business. You really do have to go and promote your stuff especially being new you want to make sure you are front and center. Yes some of the actors and actresses that have been in the business longer and are very famous can get away with not doing these PR events but even they do all they can to be front and center because you want to promote your work.
It’s the work. I frankly agree that the promotional media around all this stuff is worse than ever, but it’s still the work! Show business…emphasis on business.
And the PR people did exactly the thing that tends to help actors who are new to big franchise stuff or have anxiety: they group them up or they pair them with more experienced co-stars. They don’t send them in alone. It was textbook PR, so normal! Bad move on her part, absolutely.
I was in a band. I hated doing interviews. Being in a band was not for me. My husband is an artist, but the job isn’t painting, it’s going to events and talking to people. He used to make jewelry, but the job wasn’t making jewelry, it was going to markets and talking to people. He hates all of that. We don’t do it for anyone but ourselves any more. As noted above, until you are top tier in anything, making isn’t the job, selling is the job.
I can understand being uncomfortable with the press, but it’s not like she got a phone call 15 minutes beforehand. She had time to prepare. Not doing so makes me think she’s kind of underqualified to be a grown-up, much less a professional in a public-facing role.
As someone who had no clue about who this was before this story dropped, or anything she had been in, I’m glad Variety aired these details out. If only because her “reason” for not wanting to make a quick social media video is the appearance of her doing it with older men has brought people to the comments to remind everyone about her own relationship with a 17-year-old at the age of 25. So I guess she and Drake have that in common.
I certainly had no idea about that until this story started circulating. Now I do. Yuck.
Textbook Streisand effect, bringing attention to something by not trying to bring attention. There was no way in a million years Variety would have asked her about that. It would have been “what’s your favourite Scifi movie?” or whatever. Now with this strange story circulating, other things get magnified.
I also just found it weird that she was upset about doing the interview or dumb “how well do you know” questions with older men. She’s 29. At 29 I was working with plenty of people in their seventies. In her field she could be working with an 8-year old or a 90-year old. Tim was her co-star and presumably they knew each other fairly well after shooting for an entire season. Maybe there is something we don’t know, but her excuse is really awful as it stands.
Girl, you picked the wrong profession if you aren’t willing to play the press game. A terrible look all around (and I don’t just mean that bad haircut).
I actually think that haircut is a cute look for her! As for the rest of it, eh, I think Variety is making a mountain out of a molehill. If they’re used to people flaking out on them, why make it such a big deal?
I wonder what Timothy Olyphant thinks. And the praise for her “as a professional” suggests she was a problem when it came to the personal.
It’s not enough (especially for women) to do well at one part of their jobs — they’re expected to do the promotion, too, especially when they’re starting out.
If I were the PR people I would be PISSED and as a costar I wouldn’t think I could count on her in the future.
Olyphant tends to be very, very good at promotion. He comes off as charming and casual and then throws in some light gossip. He also does it in a way that gives little away about his personal life. Does he have it easier as a white man of a certain age? Absolutely. But I think he would have been ideal to have as a promotional partner.
Idk. Too many publications like to amplify any inkling of a flaw, especially in women, so I can see why a young woman new to press would be apprehensive to participate. Especially in this day and age where people will zero in on social media and pick them apart with so much hatred. Yes, she should know about the Alien franchise history and how many movies there are, etc, but if she gets anything wrong at all people will jump down her throat and turn on her and she knows that. Growing up in the social media era, I get why young people struggle to protect their mental health. And we never hear these publications/production companies etc defending these actresses, so if she feels alone in it I get that.
Okay, but the questions about the franchise were suggestions FROM Sydney to replace the usual questions in these type of videos. So if she was worried about people jumping at her for getting something wrong on a question that she herself wanted added…bigger issues are at foot. And she is young, but I don’t think it is crazy to expect a 29 years old to complete the requirements of her job. She doesn’t want to do press? Great, there are plenty of regional theatre companies she could be turning in great work at instead of cashing a check from a huge franchise.
Yes, she suggested the question about how many Alien films there are. If she feels a need to draw “a firm boundary”, then make a decision in a way that still respects your costars and the other people part of the production. She may be new to the industry, but 29 years old isn’t that young, and she has a ready source of advice in her father, who helped her do her audition tape. Don’t hem and haw for days, finally say yes on the morning of the shoot, then decide not to show up. That’s just rude and unprofessional.
It is unprofessional! I also hope she is not one of the people that have crippling anxieties or other issues. We don’t know. I also hope it is not a spoiled lady who does not feel like doing certain things.
As a person born anxious, I can absolutely see agreeing to the interview then as the time came closer & closer to doing the interview having the anxiety ratchet up & really thinking, oh, gad I don’t want to do this! But—and here’s the difference–if it were work-related I would do it anyway, no matter how uncomfortable, because I’m an adult and that’s what adults do. We do the job for which we were hired.
She does seem pretty old for this response. But I think there are going to be many more kids coming up who lose out on opportunities because they think that all discomfort must be avoided. (We probably won’t hear about them because they won’t make it as far as this nepo baby did.)
She’s nearly 30 years old and when offered a Variety cover to support her starring role in what is a hotly anticipated series, she said “nah….I’d rather piss off Noah Hawley, the leading Hollywood publication franchise and everyone at Disney.”
How unprofessional. She has absolutely no excuse for this kind of behavior and I would imagine it will not result in starring roles in the future
Maybe she’s wary of dealing with Variety. I would be too.
Variety is still big in the industry and did she really think they wouldn’t call her out when she was a no show? And come on…they couldn’t reach glam and hair oh and she’s also sick? They had to address it when you don’t have the lead of the show as part of the story. Also, she was doing the interview with the writer and her co-star, presumably people she was somewhat comfortable with and could be a buffer.
Lastly, It would be a bit more understandable had she not grown up with a parent in the business. Kyle Chandler definitely did his share of cheesy photo shoots and awkward interviews to promote his work. He would also know that getting a cover of Variety as a newbie was a big deal you don’t flake on. Hopefully the show gets big ratings and/or some awards because otherwise this might be hard for her to overcome for future jobs.
Not a fan of Variety but girl, a lot of struggling actors and actresses would kill for this kind of opportunity.
I wonder if there’s a season 2 of this series, they will kill off her character or reduce her screen time altogether.
Variety was the publication that printed that a nobody white male country star had Beyonce “in the crosshairs” because he didn’t like that a Black woman did a country album. I’m not really here for any of Variety’s complaints about women.
I agree with you that variety is a r*cist s*xist pub. However, it (unfortunately) is still an industry bible. Promotion is something all actors in a project are contractually obligated to do. As a new actor, if you don’t do the interview that you are obligated to do, and make a big drama about it, it just doesn’t speak well to how you will behave in the future, and not in your favor. So, yeah she very possibly torpedoed her career. Now, if she didn’t want to do an interview w variety specifically because hello r*cist s*xist , and announced that that is why she didn’t want to do the interview, different story.
Timothy🥰just cause she grew up in Austin doesn’t excuse her from not knowing how this works. I’m sure her dad has done interviews where they ask him silly questions. She seems to think she’s above it all is how she comes off to me with all those excuses.
This! Her dad did all sorts of cheesy/beefcake photo shoots, interviews, etc. over the years, esp work he did before FNL.
Also, Austin isn’t exactly growing up in the sticks. Between all the celebs, SXSW, Austin City Limits, etc. the city has its own entertainment culture she was inevitably exposed to at some point.
Flaking out at the last minute no less is a huge deal. I feel for her publicists. This actress has now angered a major trade outlet, the journalist, her costar, director, the entire photo shoot team, her agent and probably a half a dozen others who arrived at the studio at 5 am to set up this shoot. Oh and Disney/FX. I hope it was worth it!
I can only imagine the actresses who auditioned for that role who would have done the Variety cover for free, and gladly. The optics of a nepo actor behaving this way are particularly bad. So many people wouldn’t have f*cked this opportunity because they wouldn’t have dared, they don’t have family money and connections to flop back on. Pffffff…
Ohh, now I know why she looks familiar–she resembles her dad (never heard of her before this item). If she wants to flake on a cover shoot, okay. Silver (fox) lining? More cover real estate for Olyphant, and I’m all for that. Golly, he’s aging nicely.
I love her haircut. Love a little personality in this world of Instagram face.
I think that you can set reasonable professional boundaries for interviews or press but you have to show up. THEN if someone pushes that line you can say, “this isn’t what we agreed to and I’m not participating any longer.”
This seems like she’s a bit green and doesn’t have a good baseline for what will be expected of her in the industry. She needs a person on her team who can better work with her on this stuff.
This may be her first big role/interview but she’s hardly a neophyte at almost 30 years old with a parent who knows, and successfully, navigated the business for a couple decades.
I glanced at this story this morning and came away with thoughts that she was acting unprofessional and should know better being the daughter of an actor. But! I’m still watching this show!!!
This seems really unprofessional but I wonder if she has some type of issue with Noah or Timothy from set and didn’t want to have to engage with them.
I would highly, highly doubt this. Both Hawley (as a show-runner) and Olyphant (as an actor) have lengthy careers with no history of problems. I’ve only ever heard good things about Olyphant in particular.
If you don’t want to do promotion, you put that into your contract and get a reduced salary. Actors don’t do promotion for free, their contracts include it. You can even negotiate what kind of promotions you are comfortable with. Some just do emails, don’t even talk to journalists face to face. She sounds very unprofessional, because she wasted other people’s time with her indecision. If she wasn’t a nepo baby, I don’t think she could do that, because she would know she wouldn’t get another job in the industry.
Is this nepo baby serious? Girl Variety questions are “what’s your favorite late night snack?” They’re not gonna ask your opinion on Palestine. 🙄
she couldn’t do this??? She’s in the wrong industry. And as usual, there are thousands of actors who have paid their dues and would kill for this and jump right up to play charades on Fallon, cook on Today show, do mad lib theatre on Seth and tell Colbert all about growing up in Austin.
She needs to only take smaller roles then if she can’t promote like a lead actress. Ugh this nepo actor thing needs to run its course so we can get back to those who did the grinding for years.
Nepo babies are going to nepo. Maybe she’ll be one of the ones that are actually talented. But her dad should have told her, this is the job. Let me tell you how many PR interviews, promos, and photo shoots I had to do for FNL alone!
Then again, maybe he did tell her. She’s all grown up now and gets to own all of this. It’s my opinion that nepo babies, the ones serious about the occupation, DO need to do a little extra to try and shake the label (while still sliding through doors that are closed to us normies). That’s on top of being a woman (even a white woman) having to do a little extra to be taken seriously. She’s, sadly, doing herself no favors.
I hope she learns and grows from this.
I don’t care what the girl did or didn’t do. I know I wouldn’t want to come face to face with the media machine that makes or breaks. All I came to say is…good lord, she looks exactly like her father. Not a bad look at all.
She should pull up the Barbara Walters’ interview with Dolly Parton. Walters’ was poisonous but Parton kept her cool and it was a lesson for all to witness and learn in outdistancing a figure who aligned/bearded with the lethal Roy Cohn.
Two things can be true: Variety is a trash publication and Sydney was unprofessional because Variety is still a trade paper that answers to the industry. And sorry that whole “I won’t play a simple game with two older men” is weird. Is she one of those “I’m just a 29-year-old baby” types?
She is otherworldly looking.
Sounds to me like she has hyperanxiety. Probably undisclosed mental health condition.