Westworld: Jimmi Simpson on becoming the Man in Black and personal loss

One of the biggest shockers from season one of Westworld was finding out that sweet, innocent William was, in fact, the story’s main villain, the Man in Black. Season two provided us with many scenes from the past, including showcasing the heartbreaking demise of Logan’s psyche after the events of season one.

Every Westworld scene between Jimmi Simpson’s William and Ben Barnes’ Logan was set in the past, showing us Ed Harris’s character’s backstory and how he became what he was in the present time. The problem for many was that they still had a hard time seeing the connection. Sure, William went a little nuts towards the end of the first season, but how could he really be the MIB?

On top of that, we were also able to see the transition William was making into the Man in Black. While many started the series off shipping William and Dolores, that got increasingly difficult to do while seeing how manipulative and cold William was becoming.

From the demeaning way he spoke to Dolores after holding a party at his house, to his hardened interaction with father-in-law James Delos, we could now see how it was possible for him to become the main antagonist.

In an interview with Vanity Fair, Simpson explained that in order to prepare for his performance as the younger Man in Black, the actor was given Ed Harris’s audio of their shared scene in “Riddle of the Sphinx”.

In that episode, there are three versions of William’s interview with host James Delos and two of the variations being played by Simpson. Co-producer Lisa Joy also revealed that some of Harris’s audio was spliced into Simpson’s performance post-production to really help with the transition.

There was one thing that assisted Jimmi Simpson in his performance, which was both tragic and unexpected. After an hour in the makeup chair for his second scene in “Riddle of the Sphinx”, where prosthetics were applied to make him appear older, Simpson had gotten the called that his dog of 16 years was going to have to be put down. Lisa Joy assured Simpson that everything would get done so he could get home in time to be with his dog.

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Channeling his own grief, Simpson spoke of that heartbreaking scene with coworker Peter Mullan, as James Delos, “I took the weight of my own loss that day, and I put it into the machine, and it was there. . . . William’s fucking exhausted,” Simpson said. “Delos has become this albatross.”

Thanks to Simpson’s haunting and memorable acting during the few scenes he had in season two, he has garnered an Emmy nomination this year. Just one of the twenty-one nominations Westworld earned for their fantastic sophomore season, I do wonder if we will see any of younger William in season three.

What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments!

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Westworld will be back on HBO in 2020 (we hope)!