Tessa Thompson teases Charlotte Hale's villainous character arc in Westworld season 4, returning to HBO later this month. Inspired by the 1973 film of the same name written and directed by Jurassic Park author Michael Crichton and, to a lesser extent, the 1976 sequel Futureworld, HBO's Westworld was created and developed for television by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy. Season 1 begins inside the titular Wild-West-themed amusement park populated by technologically advanced androids known as hosts. Season 3 expands the show's setting to a mid-21st century society dominated by an omniscient supercomputer known as Rehoboam.
Evan Rachel Wood leads Westworld's ensemble cast as host Dolores Abernathy who sacrificed herself to destroy Rehoboam at the end of season 3 and will therefore be returning in season 4 as a new character, a writer named Christina. Thandiwe Newton, Jeffrey Wright, Aaron Paul, Luke Hemsworth, Angela Sarafyan, and Ed Harris also star in leading roles with Aurora Perrineau, Daniel Wu, and West Side Story's Ariana DeBose joining the cast in recurring roles for season 4. Thompson's Charlotte Hale has evolved a lot as a character since she was first introduced, though she has always acted as an antagonist.
During a recent interview with io9, Thompson previewed Charlotte's villainous arc in the upcoming Westworld season 4. Though she was careful not to give too much, the Thor: Love and Thunder actress teased her character's plans for the future, including aspirations beyond a mere lust for power. Read what she had to say below:
I’m anxious not to give anything away, but I think, as I understood it this season, [Hale’s] plan is sort of bigger than just a desire for power. I think that’s always been her fundamental nature in a way, both as Hale when we first met her, and as a host. But I think this [season] really has to do with an idea around what should be the future of host-kind. I think there’s a sort of righteous path in her mind that she’s carving, not just for herself, but for all hosts. And, of course, I think the best leaders don’t make anybody do anything. They invite people to do things, and people typically want to because of the strength of their leadership and ideas. I don’t know that Hale entirely understands that; I think she’s trying to make people see things her way and is having various degrees of success. But I think in her mind and in her heart, she thinks she’s doing the right thing. And I’m always fascinated by people who do unsavory things for righteous reasons—I think that is really fascinating. I think humans do that a lot. So I was really interested in that in her.
First introduced as the executive director of Delos, who is sent to Westworld to quell the host uprising, Thompson played a host since the end of season 2 when Charlotte's human body was replaced by a synthetic replica and implanted with a copy of Dolores' consciousness. Halores, as fans have dubbed her, was a key player throughout season 3, which takes place outside the park in the real world, as she works toward the goal of overthrowing humanity while also dealing with the family human Charlotte left behind.
The upcoming Westworld season 4 will see fewer obstacles standing in Halores' way, as Thompson's comment indicates. The new season will also continue the relationship between her and another series antagonist, William, a.k.a the Man in Black, who was killed and replaced by a host controlled by Halores. Only time will tell what Westworld has in store for these two villains when season 4 premieres on June 26 on HBO.
Source: io9