How 'Foundation' star Pilou Asbæk' tapped into that crazy mad vibe' to bring Asimov's villain to life (exclusive)

Pilou Asbæk, "Foundation's" menacing telepathic mutant and all-around intimidating intergalactic foe, says he's through playing any sort of pirate characters after his savage turn as The Mule in the third season of Apple TV+'s sensational sci-fi saga based on the iconic novels of Isaac Asimov.

The charismatic and mercurial Danish actor was one of the most captivating reasons for Season 3's overwhelming appeal, and many fans might recall his role in "Game of Thrones" where he played the reckless marauding King of the Iron Islands, Euron Greyjoy.

For "Foundation," executive producer David S. Goyer altered some key aspects of The Mule for the episodic TV series. Asimov originally had him masquerading as a goofy, lanky jester named Magnifico Giganticus, when they were actually both the same person. In Apple TV's looser adaptation, that notion of clouded identify was still retained, but Magnifico became a distinct musician character played by Tomas Lemarquis who acted as a herald for the controlling cosmic interloper.

Spoilers for "Foundation" Season 3 ahead!

"'Foundation' is enormous and I got much more screen time than 'Game of Thrones,'" Asbæk tells Space.com. "The parallels were very important for David Goyer. He wanted that chaotic madness. He wanted the unpredictability. Like in 'Game of Thrones' you didn’t know if The Mule was going to kiss you or kill you. I told him, 'David, I don't want to do another pirate. I want to do something else.' He's like, 'This is completely different. Just read the scripts and you'll see how different it is.'

"Then on the first page I turn it and it says 'space pirate!' But he told me that with The Mule I'd get more screen time and I'd be able to portray a bigger menace and threat than I got to do on 'Game of Thrones,' even though I love both. But I feel like I've done my share of pirates now. This might be my last villain for quite a while. Unless James Bond is going to call!"

Last week's wild finale twist revealed that the galaxy conquering villain called The Mule was actually Bayta Mallow (Synnøve Karlsen) and that Pilou Asbæk's space pirate was being used and controlled by her all along. But none of this takes away from Asbæk's raw performance and inevitable showdown with Gaal Dornick (Lou Llobell) leading to his death.

"I think you can see with this season they took Asimov's book and they translated them to wonderful entertaining TV," he notes. "You cannot say sci-fi without saying Asimov. He's like the godfather of contemporary sci-fi, even though it was written 70 years ago. For me with The Mule, we did hints and bits of pieces throughout the entire season where we asked things like, ‘have you ever felt like you weren’t in control of yourself”’ Where I’m looking at Bayta at the hospital and she says, 'Stop it.'

"I knew she was The Mule and I just give her an extra second look. So we had the hint of it, if you have been aware of it. In the books The Mule is the court fool, this little weak guy with a big nose. I'm not like that. People were so irritated that I didn't look like The Mule or feel like The Mule. It's because I'm not the f***ing Mule, guys."

However, the series couldn't exactly say that explicitly, so Goyer invented an imposing villain with the savage energy that Asbæk exuded on "Game of Thrones" to sell a convincing mind-manipulating conquerer.

"He needed to establish an antagonist that viewers would consider a big enough threat for Empire and Foundation. We tapped into that crazy mad vibe of the character. He's not possessed, but controlled. When we were doing the scenes and we didn't feel it was super important to do little easter eggs, I always considered myself being The Mule and the story itself would do the revelation and turn everything upside down."

With his bold nuanced performance, Asbæk's The Mule will go down as one of the most terrifying villains ever to grace the screen, and the actor's time in Eastern Europe during Season 3's production included checking out some of the historic city's more livelier establishments.

"When you're coming on a show as big as 'Game of Thrones' or 'Foundation,' there's a hierarchy for the main cast, and they were so sweet and so wonderful," he recalls. "But you also bring a lot of fresh air and a lot of fresh energy. I can only tell you one thing… there's not a bar I missed in Prague. There's not a club I haven’t danced at. You only work 12 to 14 hours a day. The rest of the time you want to see the nightlife. So I brought a little bit of fun. I like having a beer sometimes.

"At the end of the day I'm just super thankful that I got to work with David Goyer, with the cast and the crew, and I got to be part of one of the flagship shows of Apple, whom I consider our generation's HBO."

All three seasons of "Foundation" are now streaming on Apple TV+.