Westworld cast releases season 2 trailer, talks existentialism at Comic-Con

The star cast of Westworld, including Evan Rachel Wood and Ed Harris, revealed the trailer to the second season of the show at San Diego Comic-Con.

Evan Rachel Wood says working on Westworld changed her life.

Evan Rachel Wood stars as sentient humanoid, Dolores.

She says the series, about a futuristic park manned by robot hosts where humans can live out their ugly fantasies, has inspired existential questions about her own life. She also says the powerful character she plays has empowered her off-screen as well.

“It’s so fulfilling,” she said Saturday at a Comic-Con panel for the HBO show. “Because especially as women, and I don’t know if this is true for men too, but a lot of times you feel as if your wings have been clipped and you’re not being represented the way that you want to. And this was like just like somebody had given me (expletive) condor wings and I got to take off and fly.”

Jeffrey Wright, from left, Evan Rachel Wood, and Jonathan Nolan attend the Westworld panel.

Newton said she’s been inspired and empowered by her role on the show, which recently received 22 Emmy nominations.

“I’m so into the existential stuff on the show,” she said. “In moment of chaos, when you think you know nothing, that’s when gifts come. I just think that’s incredibly profound.”

Jeffrey Wright, from left, Evan Rachel Wood, Jonathan Nolan, Lisa Joy, Ed Harris, and James Marsden attend the Westworld panel on day three of Comic-Con International.

Though her character is an android prostitute, she gradually becomes more self-aware.

Nolan and Joy said they parsed out their scripts incrementally during the first season so the actors wouldn’t know too much about the story line or their characters’ trajectories.

James Marsden, left, and Thandie Newton attend the Westworld panel.

Joy said her work on the show’s second season has been inspired by the poetry of William Blake. Nolan added that he’s been inspired by video games, including Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption.

The second season of Westworld is set to debut next year.

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