Roseanne Liang is no stranger to genre-bending storytelling, and with Murderbot, she steps into the world of awkward, action-packed sci-fi with her blend of wit and humanity. Known for films like Shadow in the Cloud and local series Creamerie, Roseanne brings a fresh perspective to this adaptation of Martha Wells’ cult-favourite books. We caught up with her to chat about directing two episodes of Murderbot, her growth on set, Canadian extremities (including bears), and the wonderfully analog ways she breaks down epic action scenes.
Okay, Murderbot, what's up? I haven't actually seen it, but it looks very clever and very funny. I can’t wait to see it!
Yeah, it's pretty funny, and it's pretty out there. It's a very different kind of vibe, in a good way, in a really nice way, that I think people appear to be responding to. It's just an awkward sci-fi. It's got excitement, it's got action, it's got, you know, real feelings — but it's also incredibly awkward.
How did this project come about in your path?
I’ve had Hollywood representation since 2017, and it came across my desk. I'd done one American TV show before this — Avatar: The Last Airbender with Netflix. I guess they were looking for directors for MurderBot. I met with Chris and Paul Weitz, and the producers of the show. They told me what it was and I read some scripts. I wasn't an original fan of the novels by Martha Wells, but I immediately clicked in. I'm a sci-fi person and I was like, I can't believe I haven't discovered this series earlier! I love it.
What was really exciting for you about this world?
Just the human themes — it’s about the awkwardness of human life. It’s about life in all its messiness, and why it’s kind of annoying and distasteful, but also wonderful and enticing and endlessly fascinating. All the best sci-fi speaks to some kind of human experience or the human condition, and this is so different. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it put quite this way before.
You have this very hilarious premise — this slightly, for want of a better word, neurodiverse robot who is really confused by people. And yet it’s really attracted to people. It wants to be around them and finds itself having feelings. I love looking at the in-betweens of humanity without sugarcoating how terrible we can be as well.
Where were your edges, your growing points in this project?
Just having the experience of working in a different part of the world. I’d worked in Vancouver, but not in Toronto. Canadians are so hard. I thought New Zealanders were hard, but in Toronto, if it’s snowing, raining, gale force winds — they just work. They just go through it. They just put on another layer. We were scouting in winter, and I’m like, why is no one batting an eyelash that this frickin’ snow is coming at us sideways?! And here we are walking over alien-like rocky terrain… wow, it’s quite an adjustment.
There was a bear in the crew car park one morning. The safety guy was like, “Alright, here comes my bear spray.” I’m like, the Canadians are off the hook, man. That’s crazy town. I can’t believe there was a bear in the crew parking lot. Someone took a picture and showed it to me — it was not a small bear. It was a big black bear or brown bear — at least it wasn’t a grizzly. But it was a sizable frickin’ bear just walking around.
Can you tell me a little about your process — how you prepare for directing this?
Reading several times, then breaking it down into departments. Lots of meetings — heaps of meetings. I was lucky enough to have some stunt sequences. I think that might’ve contributed to why they hired me — I love and am confident with stunt sequences.
I’m more used to working with New Zealand crews. The stunt teams work slightly differently over there. But once we got into a groove, we broke it down quite similarly.
I had a second unit director — Toa Fraser (fellow New Zealand director). I couldn’t have had a better relationship. Toa and I would talk about the stunt sequences. He had these little old-school retro Star Wars figurines in his room. We’d literally lie down on the floor, sometimes on our stomachs, playing with the toys, like: “This guy’s gonna come here, and this guy’s gonna come from the sky…” and then communicate that to the stunt team. It’s epic and surprisingly analog. Just a lot of communication.
I had an incredible storyboard artist. On low-budget stuff, you don’t always get that. It was really wonderful. We only storyboard the big scenes — the complicated ones. Like in episode seven, there’s a dream sequence — we storyboarded that to get the vision across.
The other unsung hero of Murderbot is the visual effects team — working in perfect harmony with production design, the art department, wardrobe, and makeup. There are special suits, lasers that come out of arms, masks that open — it’s quite technical. We had such a wonderful VFX team. Oh my God, I love them. They have made me look so good in the episode. The whole thing about “fix it in post” is more true now than it has ever been.
They really have made me look quite good. VFX and the editor, actually. I owe it to post.
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Roseanne shared enthusiastically it's a team effort this world of film, but that doesn't take away from celebrating her incredible skill. We are proud of you Roseanne and all you've accomplished. She brought her sharp eye and playful spirit directing Episodes 7 and 9 of Murderbot. The show has been met with enthusiastic praise — a response Roseanne finds both heartening and energising. With a smile, she urged: “Go watch it on Apple+!” and shared that conversations about a second season are in motion. Here’s to Roseanne’s latest sci-fi triumph! Congratulations!