SXSW is split into Music, Interactive, and Film. Arguably, however, the best of what’s out there is what nestles in between: it’s in the the crossover conversations and the connections. At 3:30pm in the Austin Convention Center, thousands gathered to hear the cast of HBO’s Westworld discuss control, reality, and AI.
Thandie Newton recognized the parallels between the life of her character Maeve Millay and her very own reality. “Just when you think you’re comfortable and you know you you are, you’ve got to be destroyed again. You have to die over and over again. It was such a painful thing to experience via Maeve, to truly come alive over and over.”
Evan Rachel Wood agreed, “Westworld is an onion, and the layers just keep on coming. Season 2 will continue to unfold more layers.” Wood also expressed how she as an actor and a character aligned. “We don’t know what’s happening, ever,” Wood stated. “I have never wanted that little control in my life,” Newton agreed. Wood and Newton play the show’s lead roles of two powerful and dangerous women: Dolores Aberna and Maeve Millay, respectively. When asked what it felt like to play a woman of power, Newton replied, “it felt fucking normal.”
When asked about the crossover between the advancement of technology around us, and the presence of AI in the show, Jeffrey Wright answered, “we’ve spent so much time wondering if we could, but now we’re all wondering if we should.”
There we all were, eyes glued on the cast and creators of Westworld at the mercy of their words, when a surprise was unveiled. Life-partners and writers of the show, Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy announced that a friend of theirs was here to further express their enthusiasm for the themes behind Westworld’s creation—Elon Musk.
“There’s a lot of negative shit in the world,” Musk said to the screaming crowd, “but life cannot just be about solving one miserable problem after another. We need things that inspire us to be a part of humanity.” The crowd roared. “Earth is the cradle of humanity, but we cannot stay in our cradle forever. We are here to expand the scope and scale of human consciousness. This is what makes me happy to be alive.”
We sat down with Sizmek’s Nikos Acuña to discuss what had just happened. Westworld’s Season 2 Premiers on HBO on April 22nd at 9:00pm, and we will still be questioning the nature of our reality.