Westworld: New details emerge on HBO drama

EW has four new looks at HBO’s buzzy new fall drama Westworld. Below are are quartet of exclusive images and comments from the cast about the sci-fi Western, which chronicles a futuristic theme park where robotic “hosts” entertain human guests.

Let’s start first with this shot of star Anthony Hopkins. Turns out Game of Thrones isn’t the only HBO drama with a wall of faces – Hopkins’ Dr. Robert Ford, who runs the park, also has a creepy face-wall behind his desk. Hopkins says producers initially described his role as cross between Walt Disney and Dr. Frankenstein. “He wants to create a pure dystopia or utopia, but he begins to realize that he’s lost track of it,” Hopkins says.

Here’s Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood), a naive prairie girl “host” who gradually begins to realize her reality might not be what it seems. For the actors, playing androids is particularly challenging because everything a host does must have some logical purpose. “Every little beat, every moment and every flicker of your eye means something,” Wood says.

Another shot of Dolores, this time meeting the Man in Black (Ed Harris) on a bustling street. The Gunslinger is a twist on the 1973 Westworld film’s murderous terminator gunslinger (Yul Brynner). In the series, the character is human, not an android, and a frequent visitor to the park. He comes across as a sadist who’s on a mysterious quest. “He’s got a much more specific intention than just having a good time,” Harris says.

This is Teddy Flood (James Marsden). The producers don’t want us to say much about him, but Marsden is pretty evangelical about the show’s twists and turns. “You’ll constantly be off balance,” the actor promises. “You’ll think you’ll know what’s happening, and where [the story is] going, but you’ll be wrong.”

For more on Westworld, pick up EW’s Fall TV Preview issue this week featuring stories on more than 40 fall shows. Westworld premieres Oct. 2.

Source: EW