![‘Foundation’: Lee Pace On Playing A Drug-Addled Emperor, Batman Fancasting, & Edgar Wright’s ‘Running Man’ [Bingeworthy Podcast]](https://cdn.theplaylist.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/16121856/Foundation_Photo_030205.jpg "‘Foundation’: Lee Pace On Playing A Drug-Addled Emperor, Batman Fancasting, & Edgar Wright’s ‘Running Man’ [Bingeworthy Podcast]")
On this episode of Bingeworthy, host Mike DeAngelo is joined by Lee Pace, who returns as Brother Day in Season 3 of “Foundation” — Apple TV+’s sprawling adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s legendary sci-fi saga. The show resumed July 11, picking up as empires crumble, timelines splinter, and the Cleon dynasty faces collapse from within. The show stars Lee Pace, Jared Harris, Terrence Mann, Lou Llobell, Cassian Bilton, and Laura Birn.
In the new season, Pace’s Brother Day is emotionally, politically, and spiritually disconnected. Stripped of purpose and clarity, he wanders his palace gardens like a burned-out prophet, high on spores and nursing existential dread. According to Pace, that chaos is precisely what drew him back in.
“He just wants to mind his own business and have fun, get stoned, hang out in the garden, play with his ferret, talk to his girlfriend,” Pace said. “I think that’s what he wants to do for most of the season. He wants to opt out of the bullshit and mind his own business, which I can relate to. And I think a lot of people can relate to.”
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Despite his apparent detachment, there’s still a boiling ego beneath the surface.
“There’s ego, but he gets the joke, though,” Pace explained. “He doesn’t take it seriously. He doesn’t take anything seriously. At least until he learns a piece of information later in the season that he does take seriously, and it gives him purpose.”
The new version of Day – bearded, robed, sometimes naked – moves like a man rejecting the weight of lineage, control, and legacy. “He’s not last season’s Day, who is nothing but ego, thinks he’s the hero of the story,” Pace said. “This one’s just a mess. Like most humans are – a messy subconscious soup.”
According to Pace, that messiness distinguishes Day from the show’s other intellectual giants like Gaal, Hari, and Demerzel. While they represent logic and foresight, Day is ruled by memory and instinct – something older, murkier, and much more human.
The actor also reflected on how empathy changes his character’s relationship with Demerzel this season. “She’s a prisoner in the same thing that he’s a prisoner in,” he said. “And in doing that, he just has a softness to her. She’s so much more magnificent than he ever even considered.”
As for the show’s expanding scope, Pace teased that the mythology continues to widen in bold, brain-bending ways. “This isn’t a linear story… we learn this thing about time. This is a centuries-wide plan to save humanity from extinction.”
While much of the conversation focused on “Foundation”, it also veered into exciting new territory, including Pace’s upcoming role in Edgar Wright’s remake of “The Running Man.” As a longtime fan of Wright, Pace said the opportunity felt surreal.
“I mean, Edgar is great. I’m also a huge fan of Edgar’s, and I was pinching myself when he called me and asked me to do this film,” he said. “Just the opportunity to work with him – he’s such an extraordinary cinephile. He loves movies like no one I’ve ever met loves movies. He remembers them. He’s so excited by them. The energy he brings on set is so creative and fun. And you know he knows exactly what movie he wants to make.”
Though details are still under wraps, Pace added, “I had the privilege of being on this one for a long time and seeing much of the story. I think it’s going to be a good time. It’s going to be a really fun, good movie.”
Before wrapping, Host Mike DeAngelo brought up a common fan-casting on social media: Lee Pace as Batman. Given his knack for playing emotionally restrained characters with immense presence, it’s not hard to see why the idea has stuck. But Pace wasn’t confirming any talks have taken place.
“I can’t answer that in this context,” he laughed. “I mean, Batman is one of the great, fun cinematic characters. It’s so cool. I mean, how fun. And what a great privilege for anyone to get to play a role like that.”
When told it’s not hard to picture him in the cape and cowl, Pace responded with a grin: “Talk about the canon of fun actors who have made that character their own. So wicked.”
Apple TV+ is currently airing new “Foundation” Season 3 episodes weekly. Listen to the full interview with Lee Pace below:
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- “Sinners”
- “The Brutalist”
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