For Sean Kaufman, trading summer for space created some surprising — but invigorating — challenges in For All Mankind.
“It was such a joyous [transition],” Kaufman, 25, exclusively told Us Weekly about season 5 of the hit Apple TV series. “I’ve been telling everybody that the only thing that I want to do in this career is things that scare me. I want to do complete 180s.”
Kaufman, who rose to stardom playing Steven on The Summer I Turned Pretty, appreciated the change, adding, “Anything that I don’t know or anything that I am unaware of how to do [is something I want to try]. If I ever know how to do something, then I shouldn’t do it. I love being uncomfortable. I love uncomfortability. I love not knowing what a joy that is, what a privilege that is and to be able to learn.”
He continued: “I feel lucky enough that For All Mankind gave me an opportunity to do that where I was all of a sudden surrounded by green screens and on a space motorcycle. I was like, ‘What am I doing? This is so cool.’”
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For All Mankind, which premiered in 2019, introduces an alternate version of history where the Soviet Union lands on the moon before the United States. The series explores the consequences of the continued Space Race, drawing inspiration from the lunar plaque left on the moon by the crew of Apollo 11.
The show features historical figures including astronauts, NASA officials, American presidents and other politicians. For All Mankind originally starred Joel Kinnaman, Shantel VanSanten, Jodi Balfour, Wrenn Schmidt, Sonya Walger, Krys Marshall, Cynthy Wu, Coral Peña and Edi Gathegi, with Toby Kebbell, Tyner Rushing, Svetlana Efremova and Daniel Stern rounding out the cast.
In April 2024, For All Mankind was renewed for a fifth season with a new generation at the center of the show. Kaufman plays the present-day version of Kelly and Alexei’s son, Alex Poletov.
“The biggest thing that I was worried about [when joining the show] was being on the actual surface of Mars and how that was going to look,” Kaufman recalled. “I met with an astronaut and I was so nervous talking to him. I was practicing for weeks. I was doing my slo-mo moon walk and I thought I got it. I showed him, and he was like, ‘What are you doing? It’s basically the same gravity as Earth. You would walk pretty much the same.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, so that was all for nothing.’”
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For All Mankind allowed Kaufman to have fun in scenarios, like when Alex rode around Mars on a motorcycle in the season premiere.
“That was so much fun. That was on a little rig they set up. I had four walls of green screen around me and I had this little toy bike that I think actually worked,” he noted. “It was an actual motorcycle but it was set up to a rig, and it only worked in the way that those mechanical horses work outside of supermarkets. It was just me for three hours [moving around in the same place] in a full space outfit.”
Kaufman was also grateful for how the OG cast welcomed him.
“I feel lucky enough that they just shared their experiences with me,” he explained. “They are all wonderful people who I worked with. They bared their soul unto me, which was incredible. They really helped me feel so comfortable. I initially felt like I was a little nervous and a little lost. I’ve never felt more acclimated to a set ever than this one because they’re like my family.”
New episodes of For All Mankind air Fridays on Apple TV.
