The new Amazon Prime series, Upload, offers a comedic take on a cyberpunk dystopia. Or perhaps it offers a cyberpunk take on the creative sitcoms of Greg Daniels (Parks & Rec, The Office). Either way, it’s a show that combines comedy, science fiction, mystery thrillers, and more into a wholly unique package.
Set in the not-too-distant future, Upload follows Nathan (Robbie Amell), a software programmer who is critically injured in a mysterious accident involving his self-driving car. His consciousness is uploaded into a virtual reality retirement home called “Lakeview,” where he can live out eternity in a digital space. Nora (Andy Allo) playes his “Angel,” a working-class employee whose responsibilities fall somewhere between those of a nurse and of tech support.
While promoting the release of Upload, Robbie Amell and Andy Allo spoke to Screen Rant about their work on the show. They discuss collaborating with the legendary Greg Daniels and their experience with VR (with special shout-outs to Beat Saber and Superhot). Robbie discusses getting to see a different side of William B. Davis after they co-starred in The X-Files together, while Andy talks about getting to play a character who changes her appearance depending on whether she’s present in the virtual space or the real world.
Upload debuts its 10-episode premiere season May 1 on Amazon Prime.
First of all, the show is incredible. I’m not a binge-watcher, but I watched the entire season in one sitting. Now I’m eagerly awaiting the inevitable renewal news, and if it doesn’t happen, I’m going to be completely devastated.
Robbie Amell: Us too!
Andy Allo: Thank you! Same.
So, when you’re working with Greg Daniels, do you ever take time to be like, “Hey, remember that episode of Parks & Rec?”
Robbie Amell: Right off the bat, I started talking to him about Nick Offerman’s character. I was like, “Tell me about this, how much of it was on the page, how much was developed on set?” It was cool to hear stories about how he worked with these people. Everybody on Parks & Rec and The Office are so talented, and they became such huge stars. But all of them would drop whatever they’re doing in a second if Greg asked them to. I think that speaks to his genius. Now, having worked with him for a season, he’s so collaborative and creates a work environment where you feel excited to come to work. He has no ego. He’s always looking for a better joke, or a funnier joke… And there rarely is one, because he’s Greg Daniels. But he’s always putting you in a position to succeed and feel good about yourself. He’s an 11/10.
Andy Allo: Yeah, he really created an environment where you felt empowered to speak up and share your ideas, and there wasn’t a bad idea. It was like, “What’s better? Let’s keep going, let’s collaborate!” He really gave us the space to be creative. I remember on the first day we were filming, there’s a scene where we’re walking, I don’t know if you remember, but it’s the farting scene…
Cinnamon rolls!
Andy Allo: Cinnamon rolls, yes, and Greg was asking, “Is there a better smell? Is there a funnier smell?”
Robbie Amell: There’s like, 20 different versions, we did laundry detergent, fresh flowers, there were so many… New car smell!
Andy Allo: And that was day one. He was always like, “Can you think of anything else?” So right from the beginning, I felt like, “I have a voice here,” which is cool for Greg Daniels to be like, “Is there a joke here?” It was really cool. He’s so down to Earth and just the nicest guy.
A big part of the show is set in VR. Were either of you into that scene before you got the show? Is VR of interest to you?
Andy Allo: I used to own a VR set. And then I got rid of it, but that’s not the point! The point is, I had one, and it was really cool (Laughs). When I used it, I had a Samsung phone, and I could put my phone in there and watch different things on it, which was really cool. But Amazon set up a VR experience for us, and I got to go play Beat Saber, which is epic, and I had a blast doing it. I was drenched in sweat, because it’s a full-on workout! That was a really cool experience to get sucked into that. It’s such a trip, because it’s so real in your mind, but when you take off the VR set, it’s like, “Oh my gosh,” and you have to get used to get used to reality again.
Robbie Amell: I have a PlayStation VR at home. There’s a game, I’m blanking on the name right now… There’s these polygon-type people, and you’re standing still and you shoot, and if you kill them, their gun comes flying towards you and you have to grab it… It’s called, like, Super…
Superhot!
Robbie Amell: Superhot! Yes! It’s awesome!
Andy Allo: That sounds so fun!
Robbie Amell: That game is so sick! It’s so fun and so addicting, and when you finish a level, it goes, (in a deep voice) “Superhot.” it’s really cool. And I went to Las Vegas a couple of years ago, and MGM Grand has a full immersive VR experience, kind of like “The VOID,” but instead of just walking through the experience, you’re doing, like, a first person shooter. It’s almost like… I went with a few friends, and it’s like a level in Destiny. We were walking through a giant room, and you go into an elevator, but it’s not a real elevator.
But because of the headset, it feels real.
Robbie Amell: You’re covering a lot of ground, and it really tricks your brain, because your brain doesn’t think you’re in this room anymore because you’ve moved around so much. I love where it’s going. I’m excited for five years from now, it’s going to be wild.
Robbie, I have a fanboy question for you. You have some scenes with William B. Davis, and I don’t think you had any scenes together, but you were both in The X-Files.
Robbie Amell: We had one scene together where I pull David Duchovny out of his place, where he’s pretty messed up, and I turn around and look at him. We don’t share any lines; I’m just kind of looking at him, thinking, “Who the hell is this guy?” It’s cool, we actually shot that scene in the same house that Upload take in in Vancouver. It was pretty wild. It’s Vancouver, so you use a lot of the same locations. It was cool to see the comedic side of him. I think he’s so funny in Upload, like when he goes walking into his house and goes, “Nobody murders anybody!” Being able to work with him on both sides is so great.
I’m glad you mentioned the murder subplot, because, yes, Upload is a comedy, but like all of Greg Daniels’ shows, it’s all about these character and their hearts and souls. I want you two to be together so badly! I mean, in the show. I don’t know what kind of chemistry you have in real life. That’s none of my business.
Robbie and Andy: (Laughs)
But there’s this cyberpunk thriller murder mystery element to the show. Without spoiling anything, can you talk a bit about that side of the show?
Robbie Amell: Yeah, I mean I think it’s really cool that they tease it right at the beginning. When Nathan’s talking to Luke, it’s like, “Yeah, self-driving car crash.” And he’s like, “Woah, those things are supposed to be foolproof!” And then, like, Nora’s uploading him, and she’s like, “Hmm, car crash.” And Alicia says, “You mean, motorcycle crash.” And she’s like, “No, it says car crash.” So right off the bat, something’s a little fishy. And talking to Greg, he’s like, this show is blend of genres. It’s murder mystery. It’s romantic comedy. It’s sci-fi. And he’s so good at grounding his stories in relationships. The relationship between Nathan and Nora, and Nora and her father, and Nathan and Ingrid. That’s where the heart of the story is, but you’ve got all of these other fantastical elements around it, which I think makes it so much more fun to watch.
Andy Allo: Yeah, I think you get a lot of different elements. What I love about this world Greg created is that it doesn’t hit you over the head. There’s the sci-fi aspect of it, but that’s just the world you have to buy into. And then the murder mystery is peppered throughout, but you get distracted with some other aspects of the show, the romantic comedy aspects. I like that it’s not “Upload for dummies.” It’s like, here’s the world, you just have to jump in. It doesn’t push too much of the murder mystery, but you know it’s there in these really subtle moments like the ones Robbie mentioned. You’re like, “Huh, okay, that’s interesting.” As you get to learn about the world, you also learn that aspect about it. Especially Cousin Fran, who’s hilarious.
I love her.
Andy Allo: She’s so great. And diving into that through her character is so fun.
Robbie Amell: I think Greg is so great at, like Andy said, not spoon-feeding the audience. He knows that the average viewer is smart and doesn’t want to have their hand held through the show. I think he does a good job of giving people enough without overfeeding them.
Andy, your character, Nora, spends half of the show in her human form, and half of it as the Angel in VR. I guess this is a bit of a lore question and a bit of a style question, but does Nora choose her avatar’s outfit? Because she is so chic.
Andy Allo: She definitely chooses her look. It’s an opportunity, because she would never be able to afford any of this in real life. So her avatar is a chance for her to be like, “Alright, I can get my hair done, have a little makeup on, have a nice coat, I get to switch it up.” The company-mandated stuff is the color, that burgundy/black color scheme. And within that, you can have a little fun, but still keeping it very professional. That was a lot of fun for me, because Nora gets to exist in these two worlds. A lot of times, I got to do scenes twice: once in Lakeview, and once in the office or in Nora’s room or wherever. It was a lot of fun getting to explore what she’s like when it’s a little more dingy IRL and in VR where she gets to be more classy and polished than she gets to be in real life.
Upload debuts its 10-episode premiere season May 1 on Amazon Prime.
