HBO cancelling Westworld was a hard hit to take – not only for fans, but for the cast as well. Even Evan Rachel Wood – Dolores on the show – is still not over it.
I'll admit: Westworld kind of went downhill after a few seasons, but a fitting finale in the form of the fifth season would have been the least HBO could have given the dedicated fans. They didn't, though, and as Evan Rachel Wood (Dolores on the show) recently admitted, even the cast can't wrap their mind around why they didn't get to finish the series.
"Westworld" is set in a futuristic theme park of the same name, where highly advanced android hosts are programmed to interact with human guests in a Western-themed setting. The park caters to the desires of its wealthy visitors, allowing them to indulge in any experience they wish, whether it be a hero's journey or a darker exploration of their desires.
"It Was Awful" — That It Was, Dolores.
Evan Rachel Wood recently sat down with The Hollywood Reporter and shared a few sentiments about HBO's Westworld cancellation, admitting that it's been tough for all parties when Westworld got the end we all try to forget.
We didn’t get to have that [conclusion] and so after building an arc and a character for almost 10 years and not getting the payoff at the end to see where it was all going — I think for us and the audience, it was awful in a lot of ways.
And maybe even worse: Not even the cast got to know the ending that was planned from the very beginning. According to Wood, Westworld creators Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan didn't write the story as they went along, but had the whole ending already planned out. Still, they wouldn't tell the actors while still producing the show and not even after it was done.
I asked the creators after we got canceled, ‘Can you please just tell me how you’re going to end?’ And they wouldn’t tell me. I think because, I don’t know, maybe somehow, someway, in some iteration we’ll get to finish it, but I still don’t know. It does still keep me up at night.
Westworld ever getting a satisfying conclusion might be nothing more than wishful thinking. For now, Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan are tackling a new project – Fallout on Prime Video – so maybe they'll redeem themselves with that one.