India Brown talks growing up onscreen in ‘Invasion’: “It’s been wonderful to be with a character for so long”

Posted On September 22, 2025September 22, 2025

India Brown was just 14 when she first auditioned to play Jamila Huston in Simon Kinberg and David Weil’s epic sci-fi TV series, Invasion.

Now, with the third season of the uniquely character-based Apple TV+ alien occupation tale underway, Brown is 20 and has grown up with her role in front of the world’s eyes. It’s been a crazy journey for the young star, but one that she has relished from the beginning. Playing the same character for so many years at such an important stage in her development as an actor and a person has been pretty darn special.

“I feel really close to Jamila,” Brown told Far Out when she sat down to discuss season three, which showcases Huston truly coming into her own as a freedom fighter for humanity. “It’s like putting on your favourite pair of old boots, you know? It feels familiar and comfortable, but there are still challenges adapting to the different storylines that she goes on every season. So, that’s exciting for me.”

Throughout Invasion‘s first two seasons, Huston spent much of her screentime with Billy Barratt’s Caspar Morrow, and they formed the crux of the younger side of the show’s cast. The two teens were thrust into a wildly dangerous situation when aliens invaded Earth, made all the more unsettling by the reveal that Morrow was somehow connected to the extraterrestrials.

The mystery of why he was drawing sketches of the invading force days before it arrived provided a narrative thread for season one, and throughout season two, the youngsters continued to develop a ‘will they, won’t they’ romance. However, it all ended tragically when Morrow sacrificed himself in the season finale, setting up a fascinating third instalment for a grieving Huston.

At the beginning of season three, the story jumps forward two years, and Huston is very much not a young girl anymore. She is living a new life in London with a new boyfriend, but when a mysterious return throws everyone for a loop, she sets out on a new journey to discover the truth of what really happened to Morrow.

This sizeable shift in the story, both in timeframe and emotional scope, gave Brown an entirely new arena to play in, and she loved getting the chance to show how much her character has grown and evolved over the years. “I think the main difference in Jamila from season one to season three is she is now an emotional, mature woman, in the face of such a catastrophic event like an alien invasion,” Brown mused with a slight frown.

She acknowledged that getting three seasons to fully inhabit a character is far from the norm these days, so in that regard, she’s been lucky to get the opportunity to grow with Huston. “It’s been wonderful as an actor to be with a character for so long and fully immerse yourself in her world,” she smiled, “The kind of avenues that she takes have been a real pleasure.”

Her character has been shaped by her harrowing experiences and the people around her, becoming a “strong-willed” young woman who “stands up for what’s right” in the process. Therefore, she isn’t afraid to traverse the globe and put herself in danger if it’s to accomplish something she believes in. Interestingly, though, much of this journey ends up being taken alone, which Brown admitted took a little bit of getting used to.

“This season, I’m very much by myself,” she nodded, “There are no other younger actors around me as much”. That was a unique challenge as someone so accustomed to being part of an ensemble of teen stars, but she looked at it as a “positive challenge”.

In an ideal world, Brown would love to keep following Huston’s journey across more seasons of Invasion, as she “loves this character so much”. If it’s not to be, and three seasons is all she gets, she’s “very proud” of how far she’s been able to push the character and herself as a performer. It’s all part of a learning process for the fresh-faced star, who has been acting on television since she was nine, and on stage even earlier than that.

“I’m just grateful to still be doing it, yeah?” she confessed, “because some child actors get to a certain point, and then it’s game over”.

Brown’s humility surrounding her career is admirable, but considering the prodigious success she has already had and the experience she’s stacked up over the years, it’s hard to imagine the bottom dropping out anytime soon. After all, she went from singing, dancing, and acting at home to attending Stagecoach Performing Arts classes at only four years old. Then, a few years later, she found herself auditioning for younger Nala, Simba’s best pal, in the beloved West End production of The Lion King. She’d never even watched a theatrical show at that point, yet she snagged the part.

“I was really fortunate,” Brown noted, “I got to play young Nala for a year in The Lion King“.

Following this, Brown landed the very first thing she tested for in television (an episode of Birds of a Feather), and she was off to the races. “It was one line,” she laughed, “I was so nervous. I went in there, said the line, ‘That lady’s scribbling in the books’, and I got the part. I’ve been in the TV and film space ever since.” In fact, she’s been so busy in front of cameras that she’s not yet had the chance to return to the stage, which she’d love to do as an adult actor instead of a wide-eyed child. “I still want to do a play or a musical of some sort,” she said, before adding, “but at the moment, I’m loving TV and film!”

As for the future, working on Invasion has turned Brown into a dedicated science-fiction fan, and she’d love to explore more projects in that genre, but she’s equally intrigued by the idea of making a pulse-pounding thriller, a gnarly horror movie, or a heartfelt romantic comedy. “I don’t want to put myself in a box,” she said, showing that a keen eye for diversifying her portfolio is already developing. “I want to try it all. And you know, if it doesn’t go well, that’s okay, but at least I tried”.

In addition to a curiosity for genre-hopping, Brown also has a dream role in her mind’s eye, and it’s about as far removed from anything she’s done so far as can be. “I would love to do a project with martial arts in it, whether that be I’m a superhero or, like, a Lara Croft type of character,” she grinned, her eyes lighting up at the prospect of kicking ass onscreen. “I would love to do something like that, because martial arts is a big thing in my life. At the moment, I’m trying to find a role where I can play a strong character like that!”

New episodes of Invasion season three drop weekly, every Friday, through October 24th, 2025.

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