Westworld's top "player" Jimmy Simpson shares his favorite interpretation of William's identity, telling the story of working with Evan Rachel Wood in this HBO sci-fi drama.
Remade from The film of the same name directed by Michael Clayton (Westworld, 1973), Westworld (2016) is a new show because its creative team has largely pre-sold to fans. Not only because the creative team includes Joanthan Nolan, Lisa Joy and executive producer J.J. Abrams. Abrams), also because the show has a luxurious all-star cast that can only be formed in HBO productions. Yet somehow, Jimmy Simpson became one of the show's most watched new stars. He plays William in the play, a "guest" who comes to the park for the first time. If the theories of some fans hold true, Simpson's character should be the key to revealing the biggest secret of the plot.
Perhaps no one was more surprised by such a situation than Simpson himself. In this interview with him, Simpson revealed that he did not expect the role of William to be so important at first, until his keyness was revealed in the promotion of the plot episode by episode. While Simpson can't reveal any plot direction, he tells us about working with Evan Rachel Wood, his favorite moments in the first season, and the best fan theory he's heard so far.
Crave: During the filming of the show, do you see every episode that has been produced in advance, or do you have to wait until every Sunday night to see it?
Jimmy Simpson: I'll see them a week or two in advance.
Crave: I know you can't spoil, but I'm curious, do you know what the storyline about William ended up in the big structure of the story?
Simpson: I know how his story unfolds. I knew it near the end of filming, but every previous episode revealed the ending a little bit. Once I finished filming a section, I had a complete understanding of what was going on in the story. But throughout the shoot, we had to make sure we knew a little bit more about who our character really was, and Jonathan (Nolan) and Lisa (Joey) would tell us (laughs). I also read the whole script, so I know all the stories of the first season.
Crave: Hope to see you in season two.
Simpson: Absolutely. It's going to be a great job to be in the second season, and I really want to keep acting.
Crave: How many months did you shoot the first season?
Simpson: I remember we shot for about nine or ten months. Nearly two-thirds of the time the shoot was complete, we stopped shooting for about three months. They used this time to readjust the script, trying to make the script of episodes seven through ten more compact. The whole shooting process was about nine to ten months.
Crave: Did you have a favorite episode of the first season?
Simpson: I would say episode seven is pretty good. I love that it puts the whole plot on the final track. All the information is integrated in this episode, as if the previous plot was loaded into a cannon and fired directly. I haven't seen episodes eight, nine, and ten yet. These episodes are very difficult to shoot because the script is very tight, thought-provoking, and very well written. So I think the eighth, ninth, and tenth episodes and the seventh episode are at a high level, but I haven't seen it yet.
Crave: So far you've done most of your opponent scenes with Ben Barnes and Evan Rachel Wood. Without spoilers, are there any other rival actors you can talk to us about?
Simpson: Basically not. I spent most of my time shooting with these two guys, and I know them best.
Crave: We're all looking forward to what will happen when William and Logan meet again.
Simpson: I can't spoil anything, but I can say: if you want to see more conflict between William and Logan, you'll see it.
Crave: Since your character and Dolores are a pair, William is thrust into the center of the plot.
Simpson: Right.
Crave: When you signed up for the series, did you know that William was such a key character?
Simpson: No, I don't know. Completely unaware. I thought I was just showing up in the play to bring a little uncertainty to the story and also to make a tone for the audience when the plot was heavy. My career has been mostly in this role until now. I was really expecting that. In the scene where the can fell, I couldn't have imagined what would happen next, and I didn't realize that my character would fall in love with the heroine. But that's how the story happened, and I noticed it too. I began to wonder ,"Why did you let my character pick up the can that the heroine dropped on the ground?" "In the next episode she fell into my arms and we started thinking about where the plot was going.
Crave: Talk to us about working with Evan Rachel Wood.
Simpson: Evan and I got along well from the start. Our personalities have many similar traits, and we both are passionate about the job and like to work overtime. So we'll study each scene in advance and discuss how the plot got here. She helped me a lot... You know, I think I'm playing one of the best roles of my career, thanks in large part to Evan Rachel Wood. She is a very talented artist who will always help me with my questions. For example, "You've been filming for so long, can we rehearse this segment?" Can you help me act a little more naturally? She would say, "All I want to do is work, practice, and rehearsals." ”
I was really lucky to not only get such a good role, but also to be able to play with a good friend and mentor. I'm very lucky, I think.
Crave: I'm not sure if you've followed the fan discussions, your character is important in several different story prediction theories. If you know more about this, which theories are your favorite?
Simpson: I like there's an explanation that William is a robot. I think it's a clever interpretation, and the arguments they find are compelling. I've also heard a version that says everyone is a robot. Every character, even Dr. Ford is a robot... He killed the only human who created the paradise, and now it's a world of robots. These two theories are my favorites.
Crave: Both theories are wonderful, but I prefer to say that William is a version of the Men in Black when he was younger.
Simpson: This theory is absurd. I'm kidding, I know it's a more mainstream theory. I think it's funny and proud that people compare me to Ed Harris. Yes, that's one of my favorite theories.
Crave: Having said that, you're working on an extraordinarily gorgeous cast in your show, including Ed Harris, Wood, Anthony Hopkins, Jeffrey Wright, and many others. Witnessing them get together and work must be a surreal experience.
Simpson: I know! I couldn't believe walking into the set and seeing Sir Anthony Hopkins on your set... It felt strange. And he was as excited as everyone else on set, without any barriers at all. We're like a happy family of artists, creating a cool piece together.
Crave: Before filming the series, did you know anything about the 70s film version of Westworld?
Simpson: I know a little bit. About halfway through the shoot, I watched the movie again. But I saw it more than a decade ago, because I was a big fan of Yul Brynner, an actor who played Gunslinger in the movie Westworld (1973), and I also loved Richard Benjamin.
Crave: In fact, a few years after the film's release, there was also a "Westworld" TV series called Beyond Westworld (1980).
Simpson: I've heard about the show and I've heard it's not very successful.
Crave: Yeah, but it doesn't have the advantages of this new show. You know, HBO is such a network, the cast, and the creative team.
Simpson: (laughs) I want to say, yes. The three creators of this drama are all geniuses. I feel very happy that they decided to put in the effort to create this work.
Crave: Just from the perspective of an audience, what's the best scene you've seen on the show so far?
Simpson: The two parts that I think are the most exciting are the first episode, which I think is a beautiful and gorgeous work directed by Jonathan and created by Lisa. There is also the second place at the end of the seventh episode, where the revelation of the key plot is simply amazing.
Crave: It's a bit of a difficult question to answer, but in the coming seasons of the series, are there any specific plots about the character of William that you would like to have been able to happen?
Simpson: It's a tough question. All I can say is, to be honest, that I hope to work with the crew, the actors and the creators again, and that's a dream come true for me. But there is also a point that if the future development of my character, or the degree of popularity of the audience to determine whether he continues to appear in the story, I only hope to continue to participate in the filming under the premise that the plot is logically advanced and in line with the creator's overall planning of the plot.
Crave: For the remaining episodes of the season, do you have anything to briefly preview?
Simpson: Be sure to grab hold of your hats, black or white, because sooner or later they're going to fall off.
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