The upcoming second season of Foundation is doing things a bit differently than the first—not least by jumping ahead nearly a century. But it’s also starting out on an unexpected note, as an Entertainment Weekly article makes clear. Lee Pace’s character, the clone emperor Cleon, makes his season-two debut rather dramatically: He’s getting busy with his android aide Eto (Laura Birn) when they are rudely interrupted by a team of would-be assassins.
So Pace fights them off. And it’s not like he has time to put clothes on.
The scene is far less visceral than Viggo Mortenson’s extremely naked fight scene in Eastern Promises, but it’s notable in part for the way that Cleon smirks and stalks. He’s enjoying himself—at least up to a point. And the emperor certainly isn’t bothered about being naked.
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Neither, for that matter, is Pace, who told EW, “You know, I don’t mind being [naked]. It’s a crowded set of people, so I’m not gonna be obnoxious about it. But also, I’m not gonna go through a whole thing of slipping on shorts between every take.” He continued, “I was definitely wearing something, but it’s not a big deal. It’s just a body. That’s my feeling about it.”
It’s not the first time he’s been notably naked for a role; Pace played Joe Pitt in Angels in America on Broadway, a role that required him to drop trou in front of an entire theater on a regular basis. But that scene, to put it mildly, is worlds away from the one in Foundation.
If there is a similarity—besides the lack of pants—it’s in the way Pace compared the setup of the stunt-heavy scene to working onstage. “We tried to form a little mini narrative inside of it,” he told EW. “It was like being in a play. We did that fight front to back many times just so we felt as though we understood it before we filmed it.”
He also knows that this will add to the attention his physical form gets on the internet:
“It’s people having a good time with the show and with the character,” he says. “I love what I do because I know it gives people enjoyment. To be able to entertain people is a real privilege, and I take it seriously because I think it’s a good thing to do in the world. So I hope the fight’s entertaining. It was intended to be. I’m trying not to take myself too seriously here. I hope people are entertained by it, you know? They can call me daddy all they want.”
The second season of Foundation begins July 14th on Apple TV+.
