Amazon Prime Video’s new sci-fi comedy series Upload premieres May 1. The show is set in 2033 where hologram phones, 3D food printers, and automated grocery stores are everywhere. Humans can also choose to be “uploaded” into a virtual afterlife. The afterlife is what brings Nora and Nathan together. When Nathan dies, he’s “uploaded” to the luxurious Lakeview, a digital afterlife. His customer service “Angel” is Nora, and she guides him through this afterlife. Nora and Nathan’s connection only grows stronger as the season goes on, even though she’s alive and he’s dead. HollywoodLife talked EXCLUSIVELY with Andy Allo about why Nora is so drawn to Nathan (Robbie Amell).
“There is this impending loneliness, and she’s yearning for that connection, especially after seeing her parents have this kind of fairy tale love that played out until the end,” Andy told HollywoodLife. “For her, she wants that. She keeps looking for it in all the wrong places, which is so relatable, but then finding it in the most unlikely place when she’s least expecting it. I think that’s what’s so beautiful. Her guard is completely down. You get to see these two people just get to know each other as opposed to going into it with preconceived notion or expectations of how it should be. For Nathan, I think he sees in Nora just how much she cares and he realizes that he doesn’t really have any friends, which is so sad. Nora becomes his only friend, but you only really need one if they’re great. Nora happens to be fantastic.”
Nora and Nathan face their fair share of complications since she can only see him through a screen. This aspect of Upload eerily mirrors what’s going on in real-life as the coronavirus pandemic continues and millions of people are separated in their homes. “I feel like I’m living Nora’s life right now because so much of my conversations and me connecting with loved ones right now is through a screen,” Andy said. “That’s literally what Nora does all the time. I’m getting a first-hand experience of living her life.”
The digital afterlife in Upload allows people to never have to say goodbye to their loved ones. Nora’s feelings towards the afterlife are anchored to her father. “I mean for Nora, it’s a struggle because her mom’s passed away and has gone to heaven, so all she has is her dad,” Andy said. “That’s a big motivator for her because all she wants is to stay connected to him and not to lose him. That’s a big driving force for her to believe in uploading and wanting him to upload to Lakeview because then they can be together forever. Throughout this series, you really get to see them having those tough conversations because her dad doesn’t believe in it.”
Andy revealed she loves that Nora has a “huge heart” and is so “grounded in reality.” Upload also made Andy ask herself some tough questions. “I think something that was part of Nora’s journey throughout the series but also really made me think was: can you be the person that you want to be? Or does your past or your memories or who you used to be define you? Can you change? Can you decide that? I think part of Nora’s journey is her letting go of her ideas of certain people or ideas of the way things should go or what people should do because she wants them to do it. It made me ask myself: how can I let go more? How can you just accept people as they are now? I think that’s a big question,” Nora said. All 10 episodes of Upload are available now on Amazon Prime Video.
