Jovan Adepo On What Connects Babylon To His Upcoming Sci-Fi Epic

"Babylon" takes place, as mentioned, during the 1920s in Hollywood, with many of its players inspired at least partially by real-life figures of the era. On the other hand, "The Three-Body Problem" — while set to some degree against the backdrop of China's Cultural Revolution — is a tale of astrophysics, conspiracy, and extraterrestrial contact populated by wholly fictional characters.

Yet even though the two couldn't be more different on the surface, Jovan Adepo tells Looper that they share one common element. "[Benioff and Weiss] are doing a great job [with 'The Three-Body Problem'] of trying to make sure that people can understand the size and scale of everything ..." he explains. "With all these projects, with 'Three-Body,' with 'Babylon,' it's about people, and that's what brings people [to] the seats. That's how you get them to care about the stories, because they care about the characters."

Benioff and Weiss certainly got millions of fans to invest in the characters on "Game of Thrones" for eight seasons, while "Babylon" writer-director Damien Chazelle has created indelible characters in previous films such as "Whiplash," "La La Land," and "First Man." Adepo says that this tradition continues with their latest projects.

"Benioff and Weiss did that with 'Three-Body,' and Damien did that with all the characters he introduces in 'Babylon,'" the actor says. "It's all about getting the audiences to understand the circumstances that all of the characters are going through and getting them to care about their journeys. That's the mission, and when ['The Three-Body Problem'] comes out sometime next year, I think they'll be able to do that effectively."

"Babylon" opens in theaters this Friday, December 23.