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Evan Rachel Wood on Training Herself to Think Like a Robot for Westworld

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Warning: This post contains spoilers for the fifth episode of Westworld.

Westworld actor Evan Rachel Wood stopped by The Tonight Show on Monday to talk to Jimmy Fallon about portraying a robot on the HBO series.

During her appearance, Wood started by explaining Westworld’s premise. It’s an Old West theme park populated with artificially intelligent androids who have no idea they exist just to play a part in the often exploitative fantasies of the wealthy guests who come for a thrill. Wood has the tough task of playing one of these androids, Dolores, so she explained what it’s like to portray a machine that’s pretending to be a real human.

“There’s tons of things that make it trickier,” Wood said. “I mean you have to ask different questions as an actor. And we ended up nicknaming them ‘bot thoughts.’ Because we would have moments where I’m like, ‘Do I squint in the sun? Am I affected by this? Is this part of my programming?’ So we would always have to stop and go ‘Ah, I got a bot thought. Is this analysis mode? Or character? Where am I right now?”

Wood also teased a clip from next week’s episode, when things will really get kicking. (It reveals that Wood’s character, who is venturing beyond what she’s scripted to do, is ditching the programming that tells her she’s not allowed to question her reality.)

Watch the full clip above.

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