Sara Tomko, Meredith Garretson Talk Resident Alien Roles, Real-Life Friendship

Sara Tomko and Meredith Garretson didn't have to dig too deep to form a bond on the set of SYFY's Resident Alien. They were already best friends in real life. In a new video, the two broke down how they met as undergraduates at James Madison University in Virginia, and how that bond has helped them while working on the sci-fi mystery show that's set to return for a third season later this year.

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Tomko plays Asta Twelvetrees, who works for the town doctor in the rural area of Patience, Colorado, where an alien (Alan Tudyk) landed on Earth and took on the identity of a doctor after killing him. Garretson portrays Kate Hawthorne, a teacher and the wife of the town's mayor. In a new clip posted to Instagram, Tomko and Garretson talk about bonds between the female characters on the comedy-drama.

"There is a theme on our show about strong friendships, female friendships, the badass women of Patience," Tomko says. Garretson chimes in, "There’s such a theme of women joining forces and like binding hands and getting strong ... strength in numbers, which I think is just awesome. I love this show, how much it offers us female camaraderie and it’s very much echoed in the friendships that we have in real life.”

Watch Sara Tomko and Meredith Garretson discuss their Resident Alien roles and real-life friendship:

Tomko adds, “I really loved that scene when we were in the car and [Kate's] wearing this really hot Cher outfit cause it’s Halloween and we’re like, ‘Hey, do you want to join us?' She's like, 'I didn't know you guys were gonna be here.' We're like, 'C'mon,' and we literally pull her in and her feet are sticking out of the car and we're like, 'Let's go'!" 

Garretson explains that her character Kate is a little standoffish with other people while Asta has an "Earthy energy, that, along with the other women, helps shake things up and helps her come around to what's available in Patience." The actress then turns to Tomko and says, "You helped me come out of my shell in undergrad and you helped me come out of my shell in Patience. Isn’t that crazy? It’s true."

Tomko explains that she and Garretson have been real-life BFFs for "lifetimes," since meeting in freshman year of college and starting their friendship in sophomore year. "At first I had like deep crush and admiration for her from a distance and then we got close," Garretson says.

As for how they got cast in the same show, they say that Tomko told Garretson she got a role as a series regular on Resident Alien while the latter was driving from the East Coast to Los Angeles to visit her. “I was about to leave L.A.," Garretson says, and on my last day, my manager called me and said, ‘Hey, could you stick around just one more day? Because there’s an audition, they’d like you to come in. Well, it’s for Resident Alien.' And I’m standing in Sara’s living room when I got that call.”

She auditioned and got the gig. "And then you called me and we just squealed for days," Tomko says. “It’s something we used to say in undergrad: 'You go to New York. I’ll go to L.A. We shall conquer, and one day we’ll be in a show together.' ... I’m so honored that Meredith is with me on set on the daily. Just in general, it’s like pinching ourselves, a dream come true."

If you need to catch up on the first two seasons of Resident Alien before the 8-episode third season premieres later this year, you can stream them on Peacock now.