Inside the cruel confines of Apple TV's 'Star City' with star Rhys Ifans and series creators (interview)

In Soviet Russia, you don’t watch "Star City," "Star City" watches you! Apple TV"s stellar spinoff of "For All Mankind" has blasted off to enthusiastic reviews with its first two episodes and we’re all being indoctrinated into the dehumanizing Cold War oppression and super-secret town near Moscow where cosmonauts and their families lived and worked under intense control. Rhys Ifans, who plays the stoic Ser Otto Hightower on HBO's "House of the Dragon," portrays the Soviet space program’s Chief Designer in " Star City , " a designation left intentionally anonymous due to the notoriously paranoid Russian regime of the era. It's based on the real-life father of the USSR’s push to the moon, Sergei Korolev, who died in 1966, ending their lunar mission plans. But he's alive in "Star City's" alt-history plot. We connected with Ifans plus "Star City" co-creators and showrunners Ben Nedivi and Matt Wolpert ("Fargo") to learn more about the inspirations and production secrets behind this instantly-absorbing 8-episode show. STAR CITY Official Trailer (2026) Rhys Ifans - YouTube Watch On "It's always exciting for any actor to play a character that has obstacles," Ifans tells Space. "Obstacles are wonderful things. Things that make that character's life difficult are always the most pleasing things to play. In this story, in this world, that's the case for all the characters. …