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Spoilers for season two, episode four ofWestworldbelow.
You got to be a killer robot and destroy a room!Oh, yeah!
Was smashing the room up cathartic?
And smashing up motor cars, smashing motor cars is always good fun.
Originally, way back in the day I was supposed to do the pilot for it.
Oh!Yeah, the original pilot.
And so I couldnt do it and I was devastated.
I was really, really upset because I really wanted to do theWestworldpilot but I couldnt do it.
So then, finally Jonah remembered me and then yeah, years later they offered me the other part.
Oh, so when you were reading for the pilot, it wasnt for this part?No.
No, the pilot originally what was talked about was the Man in Black.
That was on offer, that was discussed.
And then they offered to have me play the farmer.
Is it Peter Abernathy, I think it is?
I was asked to play him.
So when I saw the pilot, and I saw … Oh, God, who plays him again?
[The actor is Louis Herthum.]
Oh, I love it, its a beautiful performance.
So that was fine, when you cant do something and you see a really good performance.
You never mind that kind of thing.
What was it about the show that reached out to you?
What made you wanna be a part of this?I love the ambition of it.
I love the fact that Lisa and Jonah are unashamedly intelligent, really.
Like, it doesnt worry too much if you cant …
It doesnt feel it has to keep explaining the plot all the time.
That was the big thing for me.
Personally, I would say hes a narcissistic maniac.
And they were right, because I had an absolute ball.
The doors closed too early and he walked straight into these doors, which just cracked me up.
I mean, for me, that was priceless.
The Man in Black never puts a foot wrong and he bloody walks into these two doors.
And him and I just cracked up on that one.
And how about working with Jimmi Simpson?
So Jimmi would study Eds stuff quite forensically so that he could feed that into his own performance.
Oh, so you saw him doing that?
Observing Ed Harris and then mimicking him?Oh yeah, yeah.
Jimmi was quite open about it.
He would be watching as Ed and I were doing it.
Jimmi would watch the monitor.
So you shot it out of order.
Its a good piece of writing, so you know youre always playing the subtext and thats always fun.
If youre just saying dialogue thats really difficult, then theres nothing.
Theres no emotional kind of recall, you cant bring anything to it.
When they were very young they wouldve been street fighters.
Theyre not necessarily the brightest people in the world, but they have a cunning and a ruthlessness.
Theyre no different from Carnegie or Murdoch or any of those other gazillionaires.
Theyre obsessed with power and their own legacies as they see it.
And I dont think any of those guys would hesitate to do what Delos does.
A lot of them are dyslexic.
A lot of self-made millionaires have dyslexia, which is strange.
A lot of them have that in common because they struggle at school, but theyre not stupid.
That also feeds into a sense of grievance, that a lot of these guys feel aggrieved.
Or they werent appreciated when they were young.
And I didnt know that.
I didnt know that Lisa hadnt directed before.
I cant speak highly enough; she was absolutely wonderful.
So then the actors ultimately are encouraged just to relax and have a good time.
Have we seen the last of Delos?
Or can you not tell me?I dont think I can tell you, no.
I dont think I can.
Youre being a responsible actor.No, Im just worried in case they sue me.
Im worried about a lawyer telling me theyre gonna take my house away from me and the kids.
The idea of me looking at Ed Harris and saying Who the fuck are you?
just makes me laugh.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
