Common back for more sci-fi dystopia on ‘Silo’ S2

Common may have three Grammys, an Oscar and an Emmy but when it comes to joining the AppleTV+ sci-fi series “Silo,” it’s time for superlatives.

The series, created by Graham Yost (forever famous for scripting the Keanu Reeves-Sandra Bullock classic “Speed”) and based on Hugh Howey’s books, finds the last 10,000 people on Earth surviving in an elaborate silo miles and miles below ground. To ventures above is to immediately wither and die.

Rebecca Ferguson (three “Mission: Impossible” films with Tom Cruise,  “Dune 1 & 2”) is the silo engineer who questions what’s going on. Tim Robbins, also new to the series, is the IT head.

Common, 52, is security chief Robert Sims, responsible for maintaining order.

“I was blessed and grateful that Graham Yost even considered me for this role. Because when I read those scripts, I was overwhelmed with how great, how creative, how intriguing they were.  I love great writing,” he enthused during a Zoom interview.

The silo’s design has won praise, as has Ferguson.  For Common, “Man, this is a stellar project. What I’ve been dreaming of and praying for: Science fiction with a totally elaborate world that they’ve created.

“And I’m super happy how people have responded. To just get calls from different walks of life, from young people, older people. My mother telling me they watching, they want to know what’s going on. It’s a great feeling to be a part of something that resonates with people.”

But as a look at how so many people try to live together, survive and thrive, what is “Silo” really about?

“For me, I know it’s science fiction. I know people say this is a dystopian world. But it’s more about survival and humanity.

“Things that people are experiencing in the silo are things that since the beginning of time man has had to deal with, women have had to deal with: That’s power. People trying to overpower you.

“There are things we’ve been told that we just accepted. Things that were removed from history. What is truth?

“As much as this is sci fi, to me it has more of a mystery tone than anything. And just a dramatic and human story connection,

“Because you don’t see a lot of futuristic gadgets or things coming from other worlds. It’s more like, this is the world we live in and this happened to be in the future. But, man,” he said smiling, “we don’t have cell phones in the silo.

“It’s like back to the basics — and that’s survival, and how to move and how to exist.”

“Silo” Season 2 streams its first episode Nov. 15 on Apple TV+.