Movies & TV Foundation Foundation: Pilou Asbæk Channeled The Little Prince in Order to Play The Mule “[It’s] kind of weird because I’m the least evil person in the world. I wouldn’t hurt a fly. I wouldn’t do anything to a fly.” By Vanessa Armstrong | Published on July 9, 2025 Courtesy of Apple TV+ Comment 0 Share New Share Courtesy of Apple TV+ Season three of Apple TV+’s brings us the rise of The Mule, played with maniacal precision by Game of Thrones alum Pilou Asbæk. The Mule, for those who need a refresher on Isaac Asimov’s source material, has the ability to bend people’s minds to his will, and his apparent desire for power, if left unchecked, would lead to the end of humanity. I talked with Asbæk in the lead up the season premiere, and he shared that he turned to an unexpected source for inspiration: The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. “The Little Prince is isolated on a planet. His best friend is a rose. He gives the rose a glass box, and he doesn’t understand love. He doesn’t understand friendship. So he goes to the Earth to understand these things. And that’s how I felt like The Mule is—he’s caught in a time bubble. He never really had a childhood himself…” he explained. Read on for our full discussion, including other sci-fi stories he loves, and “his weird way of understanding evilness.” This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity. Screenshot: Apple TV+ One thing that really struck me when watching this season is that, and this is the highest compliment, you play an unhinged character extremely well. How did you prepare to get in that headspace when you were performing those scenes where The Mule just really goes off the rails? The director and the showrunner gave me a lot of creative freedom to just focus and concentrate and do unexpected stuff. They said, “Feel free to do whatever you feel like in the scenes. If you want to do something, go with your instinct. We want you to do your version of The Mule, because we think what you did previously on Game of Thrones and Overlord, and a million other villains, that you have this weird way of understanding evilness.” Which is kind of weird because I’m the least evil person in the world. I wouldn’t hurt a fly. I wouldn’t do anything to a fly. So it’s a mixture of concentration and a well-written script. The character arc is there on the paper—that’s how he’s written, so all you have to do is just honestly memorize the words and not try to bump into the furniture while you’re saying them. Screenshot: Apple TV+ One interaction I thought was interesting with The Mule was with the girl he has tag along. Can you talk about how you approached those scenes and how The Mule thinks of her? The Mule has never felt any love in his life, and the only true love that he finds is in a twelve-year-old assistant, a companion, and she, the actor, is doing an incredible job on this season. And you asked me my inspiration for the character, I just want to answer that first. My inspiration for the character came from a book called The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. And the reason why is because the Little Prince is isolated on a planet. His best friend is a rose. He gives the rose a glass box, and he doesn’t understand love. He doesn’t understand friendship. So he goes to the Earth to understand these things. And that’s how I felt like The Mule is—he’s caught in a time bubble. He never really had a childhood himself, and therefore the only one he’s really connecting with is a twelve-year-old girl whom he thinks is the best thing in the world, and his best companion. She’s like a little pet. Screenshot: Apple TV+ You mentioned The Little Prince: Do you have any other personal favorite sci-fi books or stories that you enjoy? The thing is this, if you’ve read Asimov, you have read them all. There’s not a sci-fi show in the world that has not been inspired by his books. You wouldn’t have Star Wars, you wouldn’t have Star Trek. But if I have to say one specific sci-fi film—I’m not going to say one, I’m going to say two: It’s Blade Runner and it’s Her. Blade Runner is just phenomenal. I love that film. I love the performance. I love the villain in it. I love the whole android storytelling. But for me, Her is the most incredible love story, but now it’s also one of the most horrific films I’ve ever seen, because that has become our reality. It’s so real that it’s not in the future—that is now. You should watch it again. It still stands, but it’s brutal. Season three of Foundation premieres on Apple TV+ on Friday, July 11, followed by new episodes weekly, every Friday through September 12, 2025.[end-mark] The post <i>Foundation:</i> Pilou Asbæk Channeled <i>The Little Prince</i> in Order to Play The Mule appeared first on Reactor.