How new series The Peripheral 'blows the doors off' cyberpunk

Chloe Grace Moretz stars in the new sci-fi series The Peripheral, streaming now on Amazon Prime Video.

Acclaimed novelist William Gibson has a larger influence on modern culture than his IMDb credits suggest. Since pioneering the "cyberpunk" genre with his landmark 1984 book Neuromancer, Gibson's ideas and themes have been "borrowed" by popular sci-fi entertainment. Plus much of the technology he explores in his novels – usually centred around humans interfacing with technology - has come to pass.

But aside from the not-very-fondly-remembered 1995 Keanu Reeves film Johnny Mnemonic, Hollywood has struggled to (officially) adapt Gibson's works.

But according to star Jack Reynor (Midsommar), new series The Peripheral, adapted from Gibson's 2014 novel, is correcting that.

"We're taking a big swing at blowing the doors off the William Gibson world," Reynor tells TimeOut on a zoom video call alongside co-star Chloe Grace Moretz (Kick-Ass). "It feels like this might be the first time there's been a successful adaptation of William Gibson's work that reflects the complexity of what he writes in a way that an audience can really relate to."

Reynor and Moretz play Burton and Flynne, siblings in 2032 Virginia who excel at playing online video games in a virtual reality environment. After receiving a new VR headset, Flynne enters an especially realistic game, eventually discovering that it's not a game at all - she is actually inhabiting and controlling an android version of herself (a "peripheral") in London in the year 2099.

They are then swept up into a time-spanning conspiracy which sees figures from the 22nd century attempting to kill them in the past, all the while experiencing a glimpse of humanity's mysterious dystopian future.

Moretz says she didn't need any tips on how to portray an expert gamer.

"I'm a really big gamer," Moretz tells TimeOut. "I grew up with four older brothers who were a lot stronger and bigger than me and it was one of the big equalising factors: I would definitely at least be able to kick their butts when I was playing video games with them. I still game a lot."

Reynor says the gaming aspects of the story provide a relatable entry point for today's audience.

"[Gibson is] the godfather of speculative fiction, the kind of sci-fi that's just around the corner, so I think now is a great time to adapt Gibson's work for a generation who are growing up with video gaming," he says. "[They] are growing up in a world that he predicted not so long ago."

In the 2099-set scenes, Moretz portrays an android version of herself, a unique acting challenge in a show where she also plays her "normal" self. Moretz says she wanted her robot performance to be distinct from those in Westworld, another android-centric series produced by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, who are also behind The Peripheral.

"I wanted to play it with the sense that the peripheral body doesn't fatigue," says Moretz. "The rigidity, the stiffness of your back being more erect and maybe sitting differently or standing differently because you just don't have the physical fatigue."

Reynor's character is a war veteran with technology implanted in his body that allows him to mentally coordinate attacks with the rest of his squad. It makes for some pretty cool action scenes,

but again, presents something of an acting challenge.

"I envisaged that this guy would be someone who does a good job of staying in control, but that we can always feel under the surface that there's a violence that could just explode out of him," says Reynor. "This futuristic technology that's built into their physical bodies brings with it this very unique version of post-traumatic stress and trauma. It was really a fascinating thing to get to dig into."

As our time comes to a close, I ask Moretz about her memories of shooting World War II thriller Shadow in the Cloud in New Zealand in 2019.

"I absolutely loved being in Auckland," she says. "It was only a month and a half, but there was just such a strong pride and love of the country with everyone that I filmed with. It was a really special and really unique experience."

LOWDOWN
Who: Chloe Grace Moretz and Jack Reynor
What: Stars of the new sci-fi series The Peripheral
When: Streaming now on Amazon Prime Video