Sissy Spacek on Boldly Going Where She’s Never Gone Before
Sissy Spacek has done it all over the course of her celebrated 50-year career—except travel to space. That all changes with Night Sky, a new Amazon series (May 20) that marks her first foray into science fiction.
Holden Miller’s out-of-this-world eight-part saga stars Spacek as Irene York, a retired teacher who lives with her devoted husband Franklin (J.K. Simmons) in their long-time home in Farnsworth, Illinois. Still mourning the years-earlier loss of their only son, as well as trying to maintain a relationship with their granddaughter Denise (Kiah McKirnan), Irene and Franklin are spending their golden years in tranquil, bittersweet peace and quiet, although theirs isn’t just any old retirement, due to their amazing secret: hidden beneath their work shed is a strange metal door that leads to an even more perplexing chamber. When they enter this area and stand in the right spot, they’re literally beamed up to the far reaches of the galaxy—specifically, a room that looks out on an alien landscape.
The couple’s habitual visits to this intergalactic locale are a balm for Irene’s aching heart, and they provide her with an unexpected chance at healing when, during one trip, she discovers a young man named Jude (Chai Hansen) in the room. The Yorks’ relationship with the enigmatic Jude, as well as the concurrent mission embarked upon by Sandra (Julieta Zylberberg) and her daughter Toni (Rocío Hernández)—who protect a similar portal located in the church near their remote Argentina home—forms the backbone of Night Sky, which spins a mysterious yarn about covert warring factions, divine prophesies, and extraterrestrial civilizations. For all that intriguing insanity, however, the show proves a surprisingly restrained affair, one rooted in grief and regret over choices (and failures) that can’t be undone, as well as in the fear, sorrow and indignities that are common to growing old and, with it, the realization that the end of the road is drawing near.