Sydney's joy as she steps into robot role next Alien adventure

Sydney Chandler has described her first experience of leading a cast in the new sci-fi drama Alien: Earth as a joy.

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The 29-year-old American actress plays Wendy, a humanoid robot with human consciousness, in Emmy-winning producer Noah Hawley's new series based on the acclaimed franchise.

The Alien franchise began with Sir Ridley Scott's 1979 film starring Sigourney Weaver as warrant officer Ellen Ripley, who takes on an extraterrestrial lifeform called the Xenomorph.

In the movie Alien, the robot character is named Ash, an android science officer aboard the Nostromo space ship. He was played by English actor Ian Holm.