Sigourney Weaver may be the face of the Alien franchise for most of its history, but KY jelly was the unsung hero of the original movie. Such is a slippery tradition Alien: Earth is honoring by continuing to use it in a similar way.

During a visit to Alien: Earth’s set, Wētā Workshop’s Tim Domett, the show’s creatures episodic supervisor, shared how the 1979 original movie inspired the TV series to use lube meant for sex for some of the practical effects.

“We looked to [Alien] for any inspiration around how it should look and the guideline of what we’re trying to achieve. […] They used KY jelly for this,” Domett told GameSpot and others during a group visit to the filming set, while pointing to the Xenomorph model’s drool-like goo secreting from its mouth. “We [also] use KY jelly. We use other types, but similar. It’s just safe for all things, for going to people’s faces. [The Xenomorph] is obviously looming over the cast a lot, dripping onto the costume. Obviously, [we] want to be able to clean that off.

“So we don’t have any special recipe, we just use that. All we do is dilute it a little bit if it needs to come out of the mouth, or if it needs to look a little bit blue here, or that kind of thing […] It’s been quite a slimy, sticky job for us.”

Alien: Earth premieres on August 12 via FX and will debut a new episode each week on Hulu during its eight-episode first season. There’s lots more to read on the series, including how it fits into the Alien timeline, how COVID affected the production, and how its lead feels about stepping into the Ripley-esque starring role.

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