{"id":91566,"date":"2016-10-04T09:09:23","date_gmt":"2016-10-04T08:09:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/?p=91566"},"modified":"2016-10-04T09:09:23","modified_gmt":"2016-10-04T08:09:23","slug":"westworld-anthony-hopkins-on-playing-control-freaks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/news\/westworld-anthony-hopkins-on-playing-control-freaks\/","title":{"rendered":"Westworld: Anthony Hopkins on playing control freaks"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the most prominent themes in Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy’s upcoming update of Westworld<\/strong><\/em> is mankind’s tendency to play God, and the consequences of their actions. In this case, ‘God’ is Dr Robert Ford, played by none other than Sir Anthony Hopkins, who gives a fittingly understated yet chilling performance as the park’s mysterious creator.<\/p>\n

We spoke to him at the TCAs about his experiences working on Westworld and why he comes back to similar roles time and again…<\/p>\n

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You play Dr Robert Ford, the creator of Westworld<\/em> and another mysterious character. What is it that draws you to these roles?<\/strong>
\nI knew what scares people when I was a kid – that\u2019s the art of the control freak. I\u2019m not a control freak in my life, I\u2019m the opposite. But they keep casting me as control freak nuts. I always make an attempt to go the opposite of what an audience would expect.<\/p>\n

Elia Kazan once had to play a gangster, and met one of Al Capone\u2019s buddies. This guy said \u2013 \u201cyou don\u2019t have to holler. They know who you are. If you\u2019re playing a killer be very quiet.\u201d<\/p>\n

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What was it about Westworld<\/em> that intrigued you?<\/strong>
\nArtificial intelligence is very interesting. I was on holiday recently up in Ohio and I was having lunch, this young guy sitting at the table opposite me. He worked at MIT in artificial intelligence. I told him about Westworld<\/strong><\/em>. He said it\u2019s very unlikely we\u2019ll ever be able to create a living cell. He didn\u2019t think we\u2019d ever create Westworld robots.<\/p>\n

I saw the original years ago, and then my agent said that Jonah wanted to cast me and would I read the script. We met, and I was intrigued by it, and so I said yes.
\nWhat was your experience like filming Westworld<\/em>?<\/strong>
\nI enjoyed the whole process – I didn\u2019t know from one day to the next what I was going to be doing next. So I\u2019d email Jonathan [Nolan] – \u201cWhat\u2019s coming up?\u201d He said, \u201cWe\u2019ll have it by Friday. It\u2019s okay.\u201d They were reluctant to send it by email because it\u2019s all very secretive so the script would come under armed guard, or something. and there were always surprises when I\u2019d find out about other characters and what they really were.<\/p>\n