Marvelous in Humans

Both are terrific characters and she managed to make them distinct. I'm overjoyed that Humans is returning.

Gemma Chan is the main reason I started watching Humans when it premiered here. She immediately caught my attention in the previews (her obvious gorgeousness probably had something to do with that), but it was her performance as Anita in Season 1 that really impressed me. Along with Summer Glau and Alicia Vikander, Gemma is one of very few actresses who I’ve felt really ‘gets’ how to play a robot/robot-like character. Most seem to think that acting robotic means acting one-note and stiff (and I realise that might seem obvious), but I think that what the three actresses I mentioned brought to their roles was an underlying ‘human’ quality. I think all three characters (Chan’s Anita from Humans, Glau’s Cameron from Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Vikander’s Ava from Ex Machina) gave off something more than just coldness/stiffness. The actresses portraying them added another layer (or two...or three) to their characters that made it clear there was something else going on underneath the surface.

I know that Anita is actually ‘Mia’ and she has her own will now after the end of Season 1 (we’ve just started Season 2 here the last few weeks), but there’s something about Gemma’s performance when she’s playing ‘Anita’ (ie. like all the other synths who haven’t been awakened) that I find absolutely enthralling. The way she talks ensures that I’m always paying full attention whenever she’s onscreen (whereas some of the other characters/storylines don’t particularly hold my attention). I just find her absolutely fascinating to watch.

I was delighted to see her in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – it’s just a shame she had such a minor part. I’m hoping she’ll be more featured in the sequel.


Jack Sparrow: "Look." [shoots the monkey] "An undead monkey! Top that!"