The Cast of HBO’s WESTWORLD Unpack New Character Dynamics, Freedom, and “The System” in Season 3

As HBO’s hit series WESTWORLD approaches the second half of its explosive third season, Evan Rachel Wood (Dolores), Vincent Cassel (Serac), and Tessa Thompson (Charlotte) offered some insight into the current season, new relationships between characters, and the new villain. After last week’s episode unveiled more details of Dolores’ plans, including using Charlotte’s body to get more information on a new villain, Serac, series star Evan Rachel Wood spoke about the surprising partnership between the two characters: Evan Rachel Wood: “(it’s) so weird and unsettling and cool. But presumably they’re the only ones that each other has. Dolores is still in hiding in the real world, so she has this version of Hale and I think that’s what really connects them in a weird way. They share this intimacy that they can’t share with anybody else. She’s [Dolores] about freedom, but she still always has somebody doing her bidding, under her control. There’s a hierarchy. It’s not always clear if this is good.” On the topic of freedom, Tessa Thompson, who has a much bigger role this season, had some great insight on freedom and nature being the two major questions to answer throughout this season. Tessa Thompson: “The hosts were so determined to get out of the park. This idea that humans got to make their own choices, they go to move through the world with agency, and then the hosts get into the world and discover that humans are on a loop all of their own. Maybe free will isn’t so free after all.” “I think another question is this idea that we have our own nature, but circumstances change it, and I think there is this idea that we don’t invest in certain people, that we assume that they’re bound to fail, that their lot in life will be a certain way, because of their particulars, and so we don’t invest in policies that support and empower them, and then it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. I think that’s something that happens in this nation [US] a ton.” The theme of freedom and nature is  challenged this season, with the introduction of “the system” , a machine that keeps people in their place. Vincent Cassel, who plays the mysterious and seemingly villainous new character Engerraund Serac, shares more about “the system.” Vincent Cassel: “Well, this machine has the ability to read the future. So when you know what’s going to happen, you just have to change little things here and there and then things don’t happen. That’s the whole idea, it’s just to control any crisis, really, so it doesn’t happen. The main idea … is to get rid of suffering and poverty and inequality and all that, so when you think about it, it’s not a bad idea – it’s just that when you want to impose that on millions of people without them knowing, it’s not possible.” Although the idea of Serac using the system to get rid of suffering, poverty, and inequality doesn’t sound villainous, Cassel describes just how much he knew about his character in the new season. Vincent Cassel: “When they first called me, the thing was still evolving a lot, but they told me what it was about and what my character would do (mostly) in the storyline. And then I discovered more every time they sent me an episode. You never really know, but I knew their intentions and I knew that the character was really interesting to play.” Viewers will just have to keep watching this season to fully unpack the new characters and plotlines that this season will bring. HBO’s WESTWORLD airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET, only on Crave.