'Mrs. Davis' star Betty Gilpin says Peacock series encompasses '11 genres that deal with 57 themes'

What do you get when you throw an ass-kicking nun into a high-powered blender with an AI algorithm hellbent on taking over the world? You'd get the absolutely bonkers Mrs. Davis, a brand-new television show slated to hit Peacock next month from co-creators Tara Hernandez (The Big Bang Theory, Young Sheldon) and Damon Lindelof (Lost, Watchmen).

No one understands just how strange and unique this show is more than the crew that helped bring it to life. Sitting down with Empire for the magazine's May 2023 issue (now on sale), star Betty Gilpin proclaimed that the project encompasses some "11 genres that deal with 57 themes." We're not going to argue with the Emmy Award nominee, who dons the stylish habit of Sister Simone of Reno, the aforementioned nun on a do-or-die mission to destroy the sentient machine intelligence that gives the series its innocuous title.

"I think the nuns we're used to seeing onscreen are, like, haunted ghost-nuns who eat children's faces," Gilpin noted. "I had this idea in my head of nuns existing out of time. It's like they were living meditations, and seemed very feminist to me."

RELATED: Meet the cast and creators of Peacock's sci-fi series 'Mrs. Davis'

It seems that Simone is the only individual on the planet who sees the malevolent AI for what it truly is and nothing — not even restrictive religious garb (costume designer Susie Coulthard "came up with her wearing pants instead of it being a full-dress habit") — will stop her from carrying out her master plan to take the Skynet-level threat offline before it becomes unstoppable. For Gilpin, Mrs. Davis represents a cautionary tale about the omnipresence of smart phones and similar technology.

"We're playing with fire by having answers in our pocket all the time," the actress explained. "We're sealing off access to those intangible, fantastical, dark and mysterious, wonderful things about life."

Jake McDorman (Limitless), Andy McQueen (Station Eleven), Ben Chaplin (The Nevers), Margo Martindale (Cocaine Bear), David Arquette (Scream), Elizabeth Marvel (Helstrom), Katja Herbers (Evil), Chris Diamantopoulos (The Twilight Zone), Ashley Romans (Y: The Last Man), Tom Wlaschiha (Stranger Things 4), and Mathilde Ollivier (1899) round out the ensemble cast.

Lindelof and Hernandez serve as executive producers alongside directors Owen Harris (Black Mirror: San Junipero) and Alethea Jones (Rise of the Pink Ladies). Hernandez pulls double duty as showrunner. Warner Bros. Television is the producing studio.

The first four episodes of Mrs. Davis debut on Peacock Thursday, April 20.

Looking for more sci-fi content? Check out shows like The Ark, Resident Alien, Brave New World, Project Blue Book, Eureka, Heroes, Intergalactic, and more streaming now on Peacock.