James Marsden on his return to ‘Westworld’, those ‘Matrix vibes’ and playing opposite dynamics with Evan Rachel Wood

The more things change, the more they stay the same western world Star James Marsden.

your feedback western world It was confirmed to viewers in the fourth episode, “The Loss of a Generation”, for those who didn’t realize he was the hero of the fourth season premiere who flew from the shadows and rescued Christina from panic, instability and the now-dead stalker Peter Myers. (Aaron Stanford).

Sneaking into “Exalted” at the end of season two, it felt like Ted’s time in the world of the HBO series was up. But with his return, it looks like the fan-favorite Marsden character has had some sort of sentimental makeover while he was away for season three.

Teddy also retains the same personality that presenter Dolores and the audience fell in love with, even at first glance, with flashbacks to the duo’s possible previous lives.

After Marsden’s return, the hollywood reporter speak western world stars when (and how) she found out about her planned return, her and Evan Rachel Wood’s character reversal (and the “vibrations” of The Matrix) and working with the actor again.

When did you know you were going to be Christina’s Neo Morpheus?

I have heard some people draw this parallel, this comparison. (Laughter.) I don’t think I was ever told exactly that I was going to be a model, but it’s really hard not to see it. I will say this: Jonas [Nolan] and smooth [Joy] I made an appointment at the beginning of the second season. They put me in the office and said, “Well, we have good news and bad news.” It wasn’t like that, they didn’t say good news, bad news. They said, “Okay, this is what we’re going to do. We want to introduce you to our big idea, and part of that big idea is for Ted to step away for a while. I think if we do well when we get back…” I sighed and said, “Okay, okay” (laughs) — “It’s going to be a really deep and cool opportunity to play something different and hopefully get the audience out of their seats and say, ‘Yeah, he’s back.'” So we split the entire arc of the season. 2. Dolores’ new motive, and finally midway through the second season, changes. She reschedules him, and then the season two finale, ‘The Passenger,’ where he comes to life and we say goodbye to Teddy as I get to know him. So they said, ‘But in season three, you make movies, you do whatever you want, but then we need you back. And that’s all they told me. So the dynamic between Cristina and Teddy this season, I didn’t know it was going to have those Matrix vibes, but it’s fun to play.

This dynamic between them is different from what we saw in Westworld park at the beginning of the series.

So yeah, in season one, Ted was dark and basic and stuck in his loop, and he was the one who peeled back some layers and had his existential awakening. Now we realize that Cristina is a bit in the dark, and Teddy is; you just feel like she understands, or we feel like she remembers that other world and that other Teddy and that other person, Cristina, Dolores, whatever. You want to call him. There’s a familiarity there, and he’s someone who understands. He is the one with the intellectual clarity that slowly and smoothly begins to unravel the world for him. It’s great to play because it’s the opposite of what we did in season one. At the beginning of the second season, he was trying his best to win Teddy over. Now the roles are reversed and Ted tries to help her discover who she really is, what she really does and what world she lives in.

Seeing Teddy have so much control after being him was really powerful, but then we see Cristina technically control her reality. We also see Ted say and do things (think lipstick paper) that reflect his history with Dolores or acknowledge that they have had past lives with different people. Is this the new Ted cycle? Or is he who he really is – Like a human or some sentient code?

I learned not to talk about this show at all. Not to spoil anything, but because I myself have been wrong before. (laughs.) I mean, yes, there’s a human feel to their exchanges this season, and part of that comes from that opening scene where we’re on a date. Lisa Joy put it this way: “I want it to look modern. I want it to be like modern dating and you can get rid of the Teddy thing.” With exceptions, of course, there are certain moments, like when he says, “I feel like I’ve known you all my life.” It’s like seeing it from memory, don’t you? The audience expects you to remember, well, well. It seems Ted is the one who remembers your whole story, if he’s talking to Dolores. Even Christina, when she looks at it, there’s something fixed on a very, very deep level that she may not be able to understand yet. I can’t tell if they are human or hosts. At this point, I think part of the fun of watching this show is not having everything ready and answered right away. Try to find out what happens next. And that’s really the conundrum of the show. Christina might be more of a puzzle this season than ever before. I think it’s going to be very satisfying when season four ends, when we have a lot of answers and that “Aha!” moments

Do you feel like you’re playing a little more tangible this time around? Do you like to play alone?

That’s the focus and, see, I do my best to let the script be my guide. If the scenes are of Ted explaining to him that he is God in this world and that he can change the narratives of these characters around him, what I play is the feeling that someone from his past stirs deep inside him to bring something out and realize . something. This is the sentiment behind my approach as an actor. Almost as if you were trying to make someone who is lost, who has suffered amnesia, just desperately wake up and remember. I think when he starts to trust Ted, you’ll see that they’re comfortable with each other again, and still keep enough mystery and ambiguity behind Ted’s words and actions that he doesn’t answer every question. It’s like you’re asking, “Christina, who did this to me?” And I’ll say, “You did,” but I won’t go into the details.

How is it working with Evan again? And get that romance back?

I love working with Evan and we had fun. Great chemistry together. It’s so good, and it makes my job so much easier to see him having his existential crisis again, and even his subtler perceptions are like… he’s a living, breathing work of art. He just deftly said it all without speaking. Our goal was for the audience to see and capture their familiarity and that connection, but this time I like to play something different. That’s one of the best things about it. western world We all understand. You’ve seen what Aaron has been up to this season. There are so many jumps and that’s part of the fun. Hopefully, the audience will enjoy seeing them together, and slowly gain her trust in her and gently, as I said, allow her to realize her and her power, the power she has over people in this world. I can’t do more macro than the big picture shows, but I like the audience to see them together, paired up again, with a slightly different dynamic, and obviously in a different time period.

The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

western world HBO airs new episodes every Sunday.