Here’s the Real Reason Everyone Speaks English in Apple’s New Soviet Sci-Fi Show ‘Star City’

Apple’s new sci-fi series “Star City,” part of the “For All Mankind” universe, has surprised some viewers with a simple but noticeable choice. Even though the story is set in the Soviet Union during the late 1960s and early 1970s, almost all the characters speak English.

This has led to questions from fans about why the show does not use Russian dialogue or heavy accents. The answer comes from the show’s creators and cast, who spoke about the decision in an interview with Inverse, as reported in the original feature.

The “For All Mankind” franchise has always tried to stay close to real history while also building an alternate version of the space race. In earlier seasons of the main series, Russian characters were often played by actors with Russian backgrounds, and when Russian was spoken, the show used subtitles.

Actors like Svetlana Efremova, who plays Irina Morozova, and Costa Ronin, who plays Leonid Polivanov, are both native Russian speakers. This helped give earlier parts of the franchise a strong sense of realism.

But “Star City” takes a different approach. The new series is set entirely inside the Soviet Union and follows Russian characters working in the space program. Still, instead of using Russian dialogue, the entire show is performed in English.

Showrunner Ben Nedivi explained that the team did consider making the show fully in Russian at an early stage. He said, “It was a thought. Because I think you know how important it is for us to make things feel authentic and real.” However, he also said that the idea became difficult to maintain as production plans developed.

Nedivi explained that the decision was also influenced by the current global situation and the practical challenges of producing a show in a fully different language. In the end, the team decided that English would make the story more accessible for audiences while still keeping the setting believable.

The show’s creators also consulted filmmaker Craig Mazin, known for “Chernobyl,” which used English-speaking actors to portray Soviet characters. Mazin reportedly encouraged them to keep the dialogue in English. He told them, “This is the only way to do it. Do it this way. Trust me.”

According to Mazin’s advice and the showrunners’ own thinking, the focus should be on storytelling and emotional truth rather than strict language accuracy. They believe that audiences quickly adjust and stop noticing the language difference after a short time.

Another reason behind the decision is how accents would have worked. Actor Rhys Ifans, who plays the Chief Designer, explained that using heavy Russian accents across the cast could become distracting. He said, “As beautiful as the Russian accents are, when someone who isn’t Russian is doing the Russian accent, it works well for 10 minutes. And then you think, oh, come on, please.”

Instead of trying to force a single accent style, the actors were encouraged to give their characters unique voices. Ifans also based his character’s speech patterns on historical inspiration, connecting the role to real figures in Soviet space history.

Showrunner Matt Wolpert added that there was no single “correct” way people spoke across the Soviet Union. He explained that different regions had different speech styles, even during the same time period. Because of that, the production team wanted to avoid creating a fake or overly uniform version of Russian speech.

Wolpert said, “It’s not like everyone sounded the same. I think that’s what we’re trying to capture here.”

The goal, according to the creators, was not perfect realism but emotional and narrative clarity. They believe that once viewers become invested in the story, the language choice stops being important.

“Star City” premieres on Apple TV+ with two episodes on May 29, followed by weekly releases. The show continues the “For All Mankind” universe while exploring a different point in history, with its own creative approach to language, performance, and storytelling.

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