Technology will destroy us, but what can be done

The eagerly awaited new season of one of the most popular and intriguing TV series "Westworld" started airing on the HBO channel in mid-March and has already brought a lot of excitement.

The Emmy-award-winning title subsequently introduced some new actors into the story, such as Aaron Paul and Vincent Cassel, and the story of the development of artificial consciousness is still carried by Evan Rachel Wood, Jeffrey Wright, Ed Harris, Tessa Thompson, Thandie Newton, Luke Hemsworth, Simon Quarterman and Rodrigo Santoro. It was Luke Hemsworth who talked about his character, security worker Ashley Stubbs, the ups and downs he experienced and what the process of working on the third season was like.

Ashley Stubbs has had quite a dramatic start to the season, can you remind us where he was at the end of last year?

The end of last season was ambiguous. He alluded to Ashley Stubbs being one of the "hosts" (robots in Westworld) as he talked about how "the old man" (Westworld creator Robert Ford, played by Anthony Hopkins) hired him for himself, but that never crystallized. Until we saw him this season trying to stop himself. He's not a very good shooter, I don't know what's wrong with Stubbs, but he can't hit anything.

You could say he's doing the wrong job, right?

He is the worst security guard you will ever meet. What was your job? Oh yeah, to make sure everyone is safe. You'll be good at it, won't you? No? He looks like he's going to turn out great, but there's not much underneath, that guy doesn't have much in him.

In this season we also saw a different side of Stubbs, the more humorous one, was that fun to play?

Yes, there is some great humor in there. He's very caustic and his humor has a touch of cynicism and resignation, so we played with that a bit, especially with Bernard (Jeffrey Wright), which is fantastic. I've never used the words, "F*ck Bernard" in so many ways before, you know? At one point, I think it even becomes "I love you", it's "Fuck you".

There's also a genuinely funny and very important scene where Bernard reprograms Stubbs to look after him?

Just when you thought it was over, right? Stubbs did the main thing and let it all go, and then Bernard fucked him.

At what point did you find out that Stubbs was the "host"?

I was in Kentucky. I had a small part on one shoot and then I got on a plane to go back to the Westworld production. I got to the Atlanta airport which was closed, I missed my flight, which was quite stressful. An hour after midnight I got an email from Jonathan Nolan (creator of the series) with some new dialogue he had written. I thought it's lucky I'm awake so I can start learning it and I went to read it and only at one point I was like - wait a minute. He just slipped it in quietly.

It must have felt like being an actor in Westworld regaining consciousness that way?

Right. I showed up on the set five hours late and there were 500 people, ships, planes, and I went to ask Jonathan what was going on, if I was the "host", and he answered - maybe. Then me and Tessa Thompson had to find peace in all that chaos so that I could make sense of that scene. I actually don't even know what I'm doing right now. It remained unclear until I received a Christmas card from Lisa Joy (co-writer of the series) that said: "Congratulations, we're going to make you a robot, because robots are forever." That's where I said okay, great, now I know. So my first scene disappeared from my head.

Do you think that robot "hosts" are more human than humans?

Yes. My theory from the beginning has been that robots are the molds for a new human race, that we will end up becoming a society born of artificial intelligence. I do not know. That was my original theory during the first season. Whether it will actually happen or not is another question, because no one is telling Stubbs anything! But I think something like that is happening, I guess, with Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) saying that the "hosts" are gods and that they are creating the ultimate race, cleaning the wheat from the chaff.

Has playing in this series changed your attitude towards upcoming technology?

It is. Even from 2014 to today, the difference is huge. Knowing Lisa Joy and Jonathan, I don't think they have too much hope for her either. I think a lot of that was reflected in this season. But I also think that part of that lack of hope comes from a sense of resignation because we are on a path from which we cannot turn. It's coming, it's going to happen, it's already happening, that artificial revolution. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that. What is the answer then? Because we certainly won't stop using technology. You can't put the genie back in the lamp now. So I think there's a feeling that says, yes, we're ruined, but hey, see you in the pub.

What do you think about the fact that women seem to have taken the lead in Westworld?

I think that without that this series would be different and part of another time, some dead era. I also think it shows how amazing people these women are. Evan and Thandie Newton are forces of nature, I really adore them. One of the first days on set I spent with Evan sitting in a chair and I remember carefully observing that subtlety of hers. There was no wasted sigh or movement, her hands, her everything. It was like teaching you how to play. She is magnificent now. All of them. Tandy spent half the season without a goal, which is incredibly empowering.

Is it true that Evan Rachel Wood was injured during the filming of a fight scene?

I actually hurt myself before that. She did a great job and didn't hurt me. I carried the TV up the ladder. It was a huge TV. I got up pretty high, I was alone and I was trying to mount the TV on the wall and my bicep just snapped. I thought it was okay, but it cracked. That's why my first fight scene, in the second episode of this season, was filmed with my other hand, I did most of that scene with one hand. Then I had surgery and fixed it, so I had a fight scene with Evan literally as soon as I recovered from this.

What happened in that scene?

She kicked and kicked me, threw me against the wall and from the balcony. But she was great. It required a lot of physical work, scenes like that are not fun for me. They are always choreographed, but they always hurt. At first you think you don't need knee pads, but after you fall on your knees 90 times... Everything repeats itself endlessly. There's a reason you have stuntmen, and they're awesome. They know how to fall and they know how to make everything look good.

How much did they do, and how much did you?

That fight with Evan was completely done by us except for the last part where Stubbs falls over the edge. This is Simon, my stuntman. We rehearsed it and rehearsed it and rehearsed it probably a little more than normal scenes, but it's a precaution because you can't have actors do stunt scenes. This is not done.

Is Los Angeles still your home?

I just moved to Australia. I lived in Los Angeles for seven years and then in December 2019 I decided to come back home. My family was able to go back there, and my children had grown so much that it was time to put them in the schools we wanted, and we enrolled them in a great school that borrowed many of its principles from Finland and Sweden, all those places that are leading academically. The kids love that school.

Is it easy for you to leave everything behind at the end of the working day, because in "Westworld" you are faced with quite complex concepts, how easily do you get rid of that burden?

That's interesting, because when I'm in Australia it's easy for me. Los Angeles was both a blessing and a curse - it was great to drive to work and drive home and sleep in my own bed, but it was so weird to drive the kids to school and then go be Stubbs. This is where a serious mental shift takes place. And it knows that it stays in your head, it's hard to get rid of it, and if my role were any bigger, I think it would be even more difficult. For now, it's the right measure. It wasn't so intense that I shot. But it happened to me that I deliberately did not call the children because I needed to be separated from them, to have this feeling of lack. That's how you learn to use it and everything is good.