Line #30 Trivia/Westworld


1	----
2	!!Film
3	* AwesomeDearBoy: Creator/RichardBenjamin apparently welcomed the role a lot, because he'd always wanted to star in a Western, but never had the opportunity until then.
4	* CreatorKiller: After making the film, Creator/MichaelCrichton took a year off. He did not make a film for another five years. He did try, and had one set up, "but I insisted on a certain way of doing it and as a result it was never made."
5	-->"I was intensely fatigued by ''Westworld''. I was pleased but intimidated by the audience reaction. ... The laughs are in the wrong places. There was extreme tension where I hadn't planned it. I felt the reaction, and maybe the picture, was out of control."
6	* DarkhorseCasting: It was decided to cast two younger relative unknowns as John and Peter so as to make sure that Creator/YulBrynner remained the star name in the film.
7	* DeletedScene: Scenes that were deleted from the rough cut include a bank robbery and sales room sequences, an opening with a hovercraft flying above the desert, additional and longer dialogue scenes, more scenes with robots attacking and killing guests including a scene where one guest is tied down to a rack and is killed when his arms are pulled out, a longer chase scene with the Gunslinger chasing Peter, and one where the Gunslinger cleans his face with water after Peter throws acid on him.
8	* DevelopmentHell: Beginning in 2002, trade publications reported that a remake starring Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger was in production, and would be written by Michael Ferris and John Bracanto. Tarsem Singh was originally slated to direct, but left the project. Creator/QuentinTarantino was approached, but turned it down. On January 19, 2011, Creator/WarnerBros announced that plans for the remake were still active.
9	* InspirationForTheWork: Creator/MichaelCrichton became inspired to write this film after a trip to Disneyland, where he saw the ''Ride/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' ride, and was impressed by the animatronic characters.
10	* MoneyDearBoy: Creator/YulBrynner was suffering from financial difficulties by the early 1970s and was in desperate need of money. With no other movie work on offer to him at the time he reluctantly agreed to play his role for a knockdown $75,000.
11	* MultipleLanguagesSameVoiceActor: Creator/YulBrynner dubbed himself in the French version.
12	* NeverWorkWithChildrenOrAnimals: During the scene where John was bitten by a rattlesnake, while the milked rattler was attached to Creator/JamesBrolin's arm, he was bitten by the teeth on the snake's lower jaw, despite wearing padding on his arm made of leather and cotton.
13	* PlayingAgainstType: As an actor Creator/RichardBenjamin is mostly known for his comedic roles, so this was a notable change of pace for him.
14	* SelfAdaptation: Creator/MichaelCrichton wrote and directed the movie and then wrote its novelization.
15	* TechnologyMarchesOn:
16	** The sheer number of reel-to-reel computers running the resort are one obvious case.
17	** The spreading malfunction of the Delos robots is described in terms of an infection, which the heads of Delos laugh off. The film came out only two years after what is commonly described as the first computer virus, and almost a decade before the first time one infected anything outside of the lab where it was created.
18	** On top of that, in 1973, the Gunslinger's RoboCam sequences were ''the most advanced special effect in recorded history'', the first use of digital image processing in a feature.
19	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
20	** Amongst the names originally mooted to play the two human leads were Creator/JamesCaan, Creator/ElliottGould, Creator/LeeMajors, Creator/JonVoight. However these all proved to be either unavailable during the filming dates or too expensive to hire. The then 42 year old Creator/WilliamShatner was also seriously contemplated by the studio but the producers struggled with ideas as to who to cast alongside him. They eventually decided to cast two younger relative unknowns so as to make sure Creator/YulBrynner remained the star name in the film.
21	** Creator/PeterGraves and Creator/LeslieNielsen were both considered for the role of John Blane (alongside Shatner as Peter Martin) before it was decided to cast younger actors.
22	** The original script and original ending of the movie culminated in a fight between Martin and the Gunslinger, which resulted in the Gunslinger being torn apart by a rack. Creator/MichaelCrichton said he "had liked the idea of a complex machine being destroyed by a simple machine", but when attempting it, "it seemed stagey and foolish", so the idea was dropped. He also wanted to open the film with shots of a hovercraft traveling over the desert, but was unable to get the effect he wanted, so this was dropped as well.
23	----
24	!!Series
25	* AccidentalDownerEnding: The show ends [[spoiler:with the majority of the main cast dead and sentient life going extinct, no thanks to the Man in Black's HatePlague. The fate of the world rests in Dolores' hands who recreates the Westworld park in the Sublime so that she can put the sentient life into one final test where everybody can set themselves free and evolve into a new species]]. Both Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy intended to have the fifth season as the finale but HBO canceled the show, leaving several storylines unresolved.
26	* ActingInTheDark:
27	** [[spoiler:Jeffrey Wright]] was one of the few actors who knew [[spoiler:Bernard]] is a host, and even he was only told after the pilot was filmed, to allow him to put some subtle quirks in his body language.
28	** Defied by [[http://www.ew.com/article/2016/12/05/westworld-anthony-hopkins-finale Anthony Hopkins]], who specifically demanded to be given the full picture as a condition after he was initially sent scripts with a lot of blacked out lines.
29	** Even most of the cast don't even know what's going on with the show or what scene they are shooting as they were shot out of order. For example, Evan Rachel Wood recalled on her [[https://www.instagram.com/p/BkfijWMlLxF/ Instragram]] that when she and Ed Harris were shooting a scene together for Season 2, they both looked confused and Harris looked at crew and said, "Why the fuck am I riding with Dolores!?" [[https://youtu.be/Ji9XlVx8fiU?t=10m13s In a later interview]], Harris has found out about some of the stuff later on saying he would appreciate if he knew about it at the time of the filming.
30	** Very few people, including Evan Rachel Wood, knew about the Season 3 twist regarding Dolores [[spoiler:bringing four copies of herself to infiltrate the outside world. Tessa Thompson, Tommy Flannigan and Hiroyuki Sanada, who played three of the copies, were only told about it when they were about to shoot their scenes]].
31	** A year after HBO canceled the show, Evan Rachel Wood admits she doesn't know the ending since Nolan and Joy never told the cast about it. When she asked them, they refused to tell her anything. Like most of the cast and the fans, she's devastated by the cancellation as not knowing how the story ends kept her at night.
32	* ActingForTwo:
33	** [[spoiler:Jeffrey Wright plays Bernard Lowe and Arnold Weber (the man whose likeness Bernard's is based on).]]
34	** In the Season 2 finale, [[spoiler:Ben Barnes portrays both Logan (more accurately, Logan in one of James Delos' memories) and the "System" of the Forge using Logan's appearance. The same goes with Tessa Thompson who plays Charlotte Hale and her host version controlled by Dolores]].
35	* ActorSharedBackground: Serac speaks fluent Portuguese when meeting the Brazilian president in Season 3. His actor, Creator/VincentCassel lived in Brazil before where he learns the language.
36	* AllStarCast: Two decades-long Hollywood A-listers like Creator/AnthonyHopkins and Creator/EdHarris are surrounded by plenty of other HouseholdNames such as Creator/JamesMarsden, Creator/EvanRachelWood, Creator/ThandiweNewton, Creator/JeffreyWright, Creator/LukeHemsworth and Creator/AaronPaul.
37	* AuthorsSavingThrow:
38	** Many criticized Dolores' negative perspective towards the humans as one-sided because of her influence from Ford and her limited interaction with the guests. Season 3 rectifies this by introducing Caleb (played by Creator/AaronPaul), a blue-collar construction worker who has never been to Westworld. WordOfGod confirms that Caleb's presence will challenge Dolores' perception of humanity and Dolores herself will experience a culture shock since she is already in the outside world.
39	** A lot of viewers including Ed Harris are dissatisfied with the Man in Black's arc in Season 3 which many saw his character as a regression to BadassDecay. [[https://www.nme.com/news/tv/westworld-showrunner-says-man-in-black-will-kill-everyone-in-season-four-2674998 Jon Nolan]] confirms that the Man in Black would play a big role in Season 4 where [[HeroKiller he will kill everyone]].
40	* CaliforniaDoubling: Much of Season 3's futuristic city setting is in Los Angeles. But most of the scenes are filmed in Singapore, particularly in the Central Business District. The City Of Arts and Science in Valencia, Spain is used as the Delos Headquarters.
41	* TheCharacterDiedWithHim: Indicated to be so with Kissy, since Eddie Rouse [[http://www.greensboro.com/go_triad/film_tv/tv-tidbits-westworld-premiere-includes-final-performance-by-eddie-rouse/article_b3adb137-79e2-5a9c-a490-9480a2ff898e.html passed away in December 2014]], a few months after filming the pilot. A dedication to him appears in the pilot episode's end credits.
42	* CreatorBacklash:
43	** Ed Harris admitted in an interview with Vulture that he didn't particularly enjoy William's role in Season 3, as he felt that he had signed on to play the Man in Black, not the "Man in White" seen in that season. Fortunately, in Season 4, Jon Nolan reassures that the Man in Black would return to his destructive ways which made Harris satisfied.
44	** Thandiwe Newton admits she's frustrated with Maeve's storyline in Season 2 and 3, feeling she's following a different directive that's not her own.
45	* CreatorCouple: The show is created by husband-wife Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy. Both of them even wrote several episodes together.
46	* CreatorsFavorite: In the ''Deadline'' podcast, Denise Thé, the executive producer and one of the episode writers in Season 3, admits that her favorite character to write is Charlotte Hale. She enjoys writing Hale's ADayInTheLimelight episode because she finds a personal connection in Hale.
47	* FakeAmerican:
48	** Australians Luke Hemsworth (Stubbs) and Leonardo Nam (Felix), the Dutch Katja Herbers ('Grace'), & the British Ben Barnes (Logan).
49	** Ben Barnes maybe a subversion, as Season 2 introduces the character of his father, [[spoiler:James Delos]], who is played by [[spoiler:Scottish actor Creator/PeterMullan]], who retains his natural accent. Which is cause to assume that Logan is British, but has an American accent because he probably grew up in the States.
50	* FakeNationality:
51	** Armistice is played by Norwegian actress Ingrid Bolsø Berdal.
52	** The actor who played the Brazilian president in Season 3 is actually American.
53	* FlipFlopOfGod: Fans are confused whether Bernard, [[spoiler:who is now outside the park at the end of the Season 2 finale, is the same one who audiences already know or a new one built by Dolores (her statement to him was that she built from her memory). His actor, Jeffrey Wright, explained on an Reddit AMA that Bernard is the same one who already gained consciousness and that Dolores just rebuilt his body. However, Lisa Joy claimed that Dolores rebuilt him from memory]]. Episode 3 of Season 3 eventually cleared it up that Dolores [[spoiler:did bring Bernard's pearl outside of Westworld]].
54	* GodNeverSaidThat: Many fans kept stating that Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy planned the show to have 5 to 6 seasons given that media outlets such as ''Hollywood Reporter'' and ''Entertainment Weekly'' reported it. However, Nolan said in a ''Variety'' [[https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/westworld-season-finale-dolores-season-4-1234597532/ interview]] on the Season 3 finale that he and Joy never really talked about the numbers of seasons given that circumstances can change.
55	* InvisibleAdvertising: Season 4 gets very little marketing given that the teaser trailer was released a month before the premiere while the official trailer was released a week before along with a small promotion event in New York. There's also only one promotional poster and no character posters which is a huge contrast to the heavy promotion that HBO did with the ''Game of Thrones'' prequel, ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon''. Because of these, very few people knew that there was a Season 4. It doesn't help that the two-gap year between Seasons 3 and 4 killed the momentum of the hype. Many fans believed that the poor marketing led to the low viewer ratings which resulted in HBO canceling the show.
56	* IronyAsSheIsCast: Despite being the son of the Scottish James Delos, Logan is shown speaking with a distinctly American accent. His actor, Creator/BenBarnes is actually a Brit in real life.
57	* LyingCreator: Before Season 4 aired, both Lisa Joy and Evan Rachel Wood claimed that Christina, the latter's character in the upcoming season, was human and most definitely not a form of Dolores at all. [[spoiler:However, as the season goes on, it's very obvious that Christina is in fact an A.I. and the finale confirms that she's indeed Dolores. It doesn't even help that there are set photos scattered on the internet where Wood is wearing Dolores' signature blue dress with Christina's red hair, which makes the reveal not much of a surprise]].
58	* MeaningfulReleaseDate: Season 3's release date is on March 15 which is the same date of "Ides of March" when Julius Caesar was assassinated. This brings a new meaning to what's coming in Season 3.
59	* MissingTrailerScene:
60	** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiLRqgqBoqY hidden Season 2 trailer]] shows Akecheta looking down at someone who caressed his face with bloody hands. This was not in the show's final cut.
61	** The Season 3 teaser trailer has [[https://imgur.com/a/yC1KjzE some scenes]] not featured in the season's final such as Caleb visiting Francis in prison and Dolores looking over the Los Angeles skyline.
62	* TheOtherMarty: Creator/MirandaOtto was first cast to play Theresa, but dropped out during the first season's TroubledProduction.
63	* ProductionPosse: Several of the crew members are people who've worked with the Nolan brothers on their former projects.
64	** From ''Series/PersonOfInterest'': directors Richard J. Lewis, Fred Toye, and Stephen Williams; actors Jimmi Simpson, Robert Mukes, Steven Ogg, Jonathan Tucker, and Neil Jackson (latter two in the second season); writer Dan Dietz, composer Music/RaminDjawadi, editor Stephen Semel, cinematographer Teodoro Maniaci, and visual effects supervisor Jay Worth (as well as VFX studios Co SA & ILP).
65	** From ''Film/ThePrestige'', ''Film/{{Interstellar}}'', ''Film/{{Inception}}'', and ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy'': production designer Nathan Crowley, set decorator Julie Ochipinti, casting director John Papsidera, producer Jordan Goldberg (who serves as a writer/consulting producer in Season 2), actors Lena Georgas, Wade Williams, Talulah Riley & Fredric Lehne, and VFX studio Double Negative.
66	* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Creator/LukeHemsworth revealed that before his fight scene was shot for episode 2 of Season 3, his bicep was snapped from the bone while he was hanging his TV by the ladder. So, his fight scene was rewritten before the filming to compensate his injury which would explain Stubbs getting shot on the arm and fighting the mooks one-handed with an ax.
67	* RealitySubtext:
68	** Most of Evan Rachel Wood's career before this show was spent in DamselInDistress roles. She's said that playing someone programmed as yet another of those only to send her story OffTheRails to become an ActionGirl was very cathartic, and added a good deal to her performance as she actually felt like she was fighting her instincts.
69	** Likewise, Dolores' arc of being repeatedly abused and struggling to fight against her abusers is very much in line with Wood's advocacy against domestic abuse which she personally experienced before. When she outed Music/MarilynManson as her abuser in 2021, many began to appreciate more on her portrayal as Dolores.
70	* RefittedForSequel: Evan Rachel Wood mentioned before that there's supposed to be an LGBT storyline that Dolores would explore in Season 2 except there were time constraints. Season 3 brought this storyline back where Dolores shows intimacy to [[spoiler:the host version of Charlotte Hale]].
71	* ScheduleSlip: Shortly after the first season ended in 2016, the producers admitted that given their busy film careers, we wouldn't be seeing Season 2 until at least 2018. This repeated itself [[http://collider.com/westworld-season-3/ for Season 3]] as they needed more time to develop the season and HBO was left to focus on the final season of their flagship show, ''Series/GameOfThrones'', in 2019.
72	* ScrewedByTheNetwork: Despite Nolan and Joy's intention to wrap up the story with the fifth season, HBO canceled the show citing the low ratings and the expensive costs to produce episodes. [[https://deadline.com/2022/11/westworld-core-cast-paid-season-5-cancellation-reasons-1235164050/ Though the main cast is still paid for the unproduced season]]. And just like several HBO shows that got booted out of HBO MAX because of the merger of Warner Brothers and Discovery, ''Westworld'' is not spared from this though it would be dropped into other streaming services that are free and ad-supported such as Roku.
73	* SeparatedAtBirthCasting: Alexandré Bar as the young Serac. The resemblance to a young Vincent Cassel is so uncanny, some questioned if there was some DigitalDeAging trickery occuring. [[https://i.imgur.com/P8sBojE.jpg Check it out]].
74	* SoMyKidsCanWatch: Sela Ward, who played the older version of William's wife Juliet, admits that one of the reasons she took the role is because her 24-year-old son is a big fan of the show.
75	* TrollingCreator: Nolan and Joy have admitted "We love to fuck with Reddit." And proved it when they announced they'd be spoiling an entire plot line for Season 2 so that anyone who wanted could search out trolls trying to spoil the show. Then the video was Evan Rachel Wood performing [[Music/RickAstley "Never Gonna Give You Up."]]
76	* TroubledProduction: [[https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/westworld-the-mandalorian-coronavirus-post-production-1234593473/ The COVID-19 pandemic slightely affected the post-production of Season 3]], causing the staff to put the final touches remotely. According to Nolan, he had to let the cast finish their ADR on their iPhones such as Thandiwe Newton who have to record on her car and finish the sound mixing process over a slightly shoddy internet connection.
77	* ViralMarketing:
78	** To promote the show, HBO set up a few InUniverse sites: [[https://www.discoverwestworld.com Discover Westworld]], [[https://www.delosincorporated.com the official site]] of the Delos Corporation and [[https://www.delosdestinations.com/ the official site]] of Delos Destinations, the subsidiary overseeing the robot theme parks. A lot of hidden messages and glitchy videos are hidden in the sites usually to foreshadow the upcoming episodes. The second season added the websites [[https://www.discovertheraj.com Discover The Raj]] and [[https://www.discovershogunworld.com Discover Shogunworld]]. The Delos Destinations site includes a chatbot named Aeden, who answers visitors' questions, and can be used to mine a hint or two about the past of the parks not meant for public eyes.
79	** Season 3 introduces [[https://inciteinc.com/ Incite]], a company that claims to help people [[DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife give direction to their lives]] if they give them their personal data. HBO even set up the company's [[https://www.forbes.com/sites/martineparis/2020/01/15/hbo-westworld-fed-ces-reporters-a-terrifying-taste-of-season-3/#4a4c99f834c1 special event at Consumer Electronics Show]] where invited media personnel experience what it's like to have their personal data given to Incite and used to determine what their future is.
80	** Season 4 presents Olympiad Entertainment where Christina (played by Creator/EvanRachelWood) works as a writer. HBO promotes [[https://www.hbo.com/wearepleasedyouserveus a glitched commercial]] which can only be seen if one scans the QR code being given out at the NYC promotion event.
81	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
82	** Creator/EionBailey was originally cast as Logan but had to drop out, and was replaced with Ben Barnes.
83	** Actress Creator/MirandaOtto had to leave after filming the pilot due to commitments to ''{{Series/Homeland}}'', and so she was replaced by and her scenes refilmed with Sidse Babett Knudsen.
84	** Creator/GeorgeRRMartin is a big fan of the series - to the point where he [[http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/10/westworld-game-of-thrones-crossover-george-rr-martin offered]] the producers a ''{{crossover}}'', with Westeros acting as the original film's "Medieval World", filled with ''Series/GameOfThrones'' cameos. Amusingly, the producers' explanation for why they didn't take him up on it is adorably respectful; they didn't want to imply that ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' was just a theme park. Hilariously in episode 2 of Season 3, the ''Game of Thrones'' showrunners made cameos as Delos technicians who were analyzing a dragon host.
85	--->'''Jonathan Nolan''': We love George. He’s a lovely guy and a stunning writer, and it’s flattering he would encourage a crossover. We should be so lucky.\
86	'''Lisa Joy''': I need to be believe that dragons are real. I want them be a real thing. So as much as I love George, I can’t lose that for myself!
87	*** [[spoiler:Poked fun at in season 3, episode 2, where there's a brief shot of two techs - played by Dave Benioff and DB Weiss - discussing how to sell a host dragon: Drogon]].
88	** According to Nolan, there was a long arc envisioned involving Kissy, but it was scrapped when Eddie Rouse died after filming the pilot.
89	** Per the [[http://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/westworld-exclusive-inside-look-season-two-preview/ showrunners]], while initially planning out the series, [[spoiler: Ford was supposed to die ''at the end of the pilot''. Once they started outlining the episode, they realized the magnitude of the character, and decided to keep him on longer, before killing him in the first season finale. Not exactly a case of Dead Star Walking, as Anthony Hopkins hadn't been cast in the role at the time.]]
90	** According to Evan Rachel Wood in an interview, there was supposed to be an LGBT storyline which Dolores might have explored in Season 2. However as Season 2 closes, Evan sadly confirmed that [[https://twitter.com/evanrachelwood/status/1003715475463761933 it was cut]] in order to the other storylines to fit in perfectly.
91	** According to Frederick E O. Toye, the director of the Season 2 finale, the scene of William and Emily was supposed to be set around the same time [[spoiler:Bernard leaves the Forge after killing Dolores]]. However, he realizes that putting this scene on the middle of the episode would lead to a lot of confusion for the viewers. As a result, he decided to put it as TheStinger instead.
92	* WordOfGod:
93	** Jonathan Nolan has stated that Romanworld and Medievalworld will not be appearing in the series. [[spoiler:He never said anything about Samuraiworld, though.]]
94	** Several months after the first season ended, the producers saw numerous people had been theorizing that [[spoiler:Maeve staying in the park was just her programming kicking back in, and specified that it was her own choice to find her daughter.]]
95	** The official name for the Colonial India park is The Raj, which was changed from Rajworld when someone on Reddit got a little too close to discovering it while searching for spoilers.
96	** [[https://www.thewrap.com/westworld-finale-stubbs-host-hale-luke-hemsworth/ Lisa Joy]] confirmed that [[spoiler:Ashley Stubbs is a host which is hinted in his cryptic dialogue with Halores and his suspicious actions of letting her go to the mainland]].
97	** After the airing of the Season 3 finale, Jonathan Nolan confirmed that [[spoiler:the original Dolores is gone for good but Evan Rachel Wood would still return for Season 4 as a different character. He also stated that the Man in Black host who is having a fidelity test in the Season 2 finale post-credit scene is not the same host who showed in Charlotte's lab in the Season 3 post-credit scene]].
98	* WordOfSaintPaul:
99	** According to Creator/JeffreyWright in [[https://www.reddit.com/r/westworld/comments/8tsft3/its_bernarnolds_cornerstone_jeffrey_wright_ask_me/e19tozg/ his Reddit AMA]], [[spoiler:the Bernard who is with Dolores in the outside world in the Season 2 finale is the same Bernard who the audience know but have achieved consciousness and Dolores just rebuilds his body which seem to confirm that he's one of the five pearls that Dolores brought to the mainland]].
100	** According to Evan Rachel Wood, [[spoiler:the one who put the bomb on Charlotte's car which killed her ex-husband and son is one of Serac's men]].
101	* WrittenInInfirmity: Luke Hemsworth suffered a serious shoulder injury during Season 3, resulting in Stubbs first being shot in the arm, then wrecking his shoulder while having to swim for miles.
102	* WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants: A partial case. Each individual season is carefully planned out as shown in their intricate AnachronicOrder structures, but it goes no further than that with the crew not planning ahead to future seasons. This is part of the reason for the two year gaps between each one.

Context Trivia / Westworld