We already know that the stars of Westworld are the robots. They are, in some cases, more human than the humans. Certainly, the humans subject them to just about the worst treatment possible. So how does lead actor Evan Rachel Wood prepare for playing a robot that's repeatedly raped and wakes up in the morning as though nothing at all had happened?
Well, she told Vulture, by reading about the singularity. The singularity is a concept popularized by futurist Ray Kurzweil that theorizes that one day soon human and machine consciousnesses will become indistinguishable.
Wood says that her choices were more subtle than you might think.
"Rather than us being kind of pop-and-lock-y and over the top and cartoony about it," she tells Vulture. "It's the things that make them human which make it the most scary. Filming those scenes — we call it 'analysis mode' — when they're in this sort of examination, it's like they're dreaming. We just go into this meditative state. I actually fell asleep during one of those scenes once because I had to be so still and zoned out."
She also says that she thinks their show offers a window into human behavior and violence.
"We don't see the [attack on her character, Dolores] and I think that's actually really important, so that we don't forget how brutal it is," Wood tells Vulture. "We're going about it in tasteful way and in a way that is more cautionary, to show that side of our humanity. Because it does exist. The thing is, we are not making this stuff up. This is the dark side of human beings."
Reading about the singularity may not be a first for an actor, but it's a window into just how strange this show is going to get.
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