Anthony Hopkins talks about his new TV show

Sir Anthony Hopkins, one of the greatest actors to walk this earth, is back in the spotlight with a brand new dystopian sci-fi TV show called Westworld. Produced by Jonathan Nolan and J.J.Abrams, the show explores themes like artificial intelligence, the evolution of sin and what it means to be human.

In the show, Hopkins essays the pioneering Dr. Robert Ford and steals every frame that features him. In a recent interview with The National, Hopkins explained why he ends up playing “controlled characters”.

“I get to play these very strange characters who are always in control which is completely against my nature,” he noted. “I just go with the flow of it all now. With Dr Ford it is on a massive scale – he controls everything and he wants to perfect everything. Which means he’s mad.”

When asked why he is cast so often in “controlled” roles, Hopkins admitted that he doesn’t really know why. “I have no idea. Maybe it’s coldness. I think maybe it’s the blank stare. But I don’t relish that – I’ve never been interested in control. I think most of our pain comes from trying to control everything, or dominate – dominate other people and dominate ourselves, terrorising ourselves. I started giving that up some time ago. The best piece of wisdom I can come up with is: I know nothing. I can have opinions, but I really don’t know.”

Speaking about the advancement of technology, seen in Westworld, Hopkins noted, “This is Jonathan Nolan’s baby – he’s fascinated by the advent and development of human intelligence and artificial intelligence. I was talking to a guy the other day from Boston ... and he’s from MIT. He was saying, there’s no such thing – you can never really create artificial intelligence. You cannot create life, you cannot create a thinking being – but then he said: ‘But I could be wrong.’”