--- title: Ed Harris Joins HBO's Westworld Cast description: He will play "the distillation of pure villainy into one man" canonical: https://time.com/3101438/ed-harris-westworld/ author: Nolan Feeney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-08-11T20:58:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T09:36:25.295Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Ed Harris Joins 'Westworld' Cast og:description: He'll play "the distillation of pure villainy" og:url: https://time.com/3101438/ed-harris-westworld/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbe2759da8de53a67/69869f1436176001d990d67f/453058352.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Ed Harris og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ed Harris Joins 'Westworld' Cast twitter:description: He'll play "the distillation of pure villainy" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbe2759da8de53a67/69869f1436176001d990d67f/453058352.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ed Harris Joins Cast of HBO's _Westworld_  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Aug 11, 2014 8:58 PM UTC  Ed Harris Ed HarrisJason LaVeris—FilmMagic/Getty Images  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Aug 11, 2014 8:58 PM UTC Ed Harris is headed to _Westworld_, [the sci-fi-western thriller](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/ed-harris-set-as-key-724626?utm%5Fsource=Sailthru&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fterm=hollywoodreporter%5Fbreakingnews&utm%5Fcampaign=THR%20Breaking%20News%5F2014-08-11%2012%3A15%3A00%20America%2FLos%5FAngeles%5Flgoldberg) based on the 1973 film by Michael Crichton. The Oscar-nominated actor joins an all-star cast including Anthony Hopkins, Jeffrey Wright, Evan Rachel Wood, James Marsden, Shannon Woodward and others, according to _The Hollywood Reporter_. The hour-long drama takes place in a theme park full of androids designed to satisfy human desires. Harris will play The Man in Black, a major antagonist described as “the distillation of pure villainy into one man” in this J.J. Abrams-executive-produced HBO adaptation. Jonathan Nolan (_Person of Interest_) co-wrote the pilot and will direct and executive produce as well. \[[_THR_](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/ed-harris-set-as-key-724626?utm%5Fsource=Sailthru&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fterm=hollywoodreporter%5Fbreakingnews&utm%5Fcampaign=THR%20Breaking%20News%5F2014-08-11%2012%3A15%3A00%20America%2FLos%5FAngeles%5Flgoldberg)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3101438/ed-harris-westworld/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3101438/ed-harris-westworld/"},"headline":"Ed Harris Joins Cast of HBO's Westworld","datePublished":"2014-08-11T20:58:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:36:25.295Z","description":"Oscar-nominated actor will play \"the distillation of pure villainy into one man\"","url":"https://time.com/3101438/ed-harris-westworld/","keywords":["Television","HBO","westworld"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbe2759da8de53a67/69869f1436176001d990d67f/453058352.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbe2759da8de53a67/69869f1436176001d990d67f/453058352.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Ed Harris","caption":"Ed Harris","creditText":"Jason LaVeris—FilmMagic/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3101438/ed-harris-westworld/","name":"Ed Harris Joins Cast of HBO's Westworld"}}]}] ```