When season one of HBO's Westworld closed in late 2016, we were left with the chaotic scenes of an army of "hosts" – the artificial human beings who populate the fictional theme park for the entertainment of its human guests – running amok after the slaughter of the park's creator, Anthony Hopkins' Ford, at the hands of Evan Rachel Wood's character Dolores. Dolores, meanwhile, appeared to be gaining consciousness as a result of tampering with her circuitry and the implantation of several personalities by her creators, Ford and his former partner, the also-deceased Arnold Weber.
When season two kicked off on OSN First HBO this month, Dolores was still on the war path, and revealed that her programming has enabled her to merge her personalities, thus developing her own identity.
The character detail no one seems to have picked up on
Wood reveals that we can expect to see this explored in more detail as the series progresses: “What we see is that Dolores is finally making decisions for herself. I think when she killed Ford that was the first real choice that she’s made, and now, we’ve also learnt that she’s been harbouring this other character, Wyatt,” she says.
Wood admits that with season one ending on such a cliffhanger, she could barely wait to get her teeth into the second series: “I just couldn’t wait to get back to season two to find out who that was, who was Wyatt. Now, we’re seeing all the different layers of her – she’s not just one thing anymore, she’s got access to every side of herself, all the different personalities,” she says.
“She has Dolores in her, that sees only the beauty, and then there’s Wyatt, that sees only the ugliness. They’re constantly at war, and she’s very selective about when she brings each character out, for different situations. But then there’s also another side of her, that she’s creating, which is just herself. Which is what she’s never been able to do – to really define herself.”
Wood says she’s utilised one very simple method of differentiating between which character she’s playing this season, although she seems a little disappointed that so far nobody seems to have noticed: “It’s funny, but no one has actually picked up on the fact that I don’t have an accent this season – not even in the Super Bowl trailer. She has no Southern accent any more. And no one has noticed. When she’s Dolores she has it, but when she is Wyatt, or this new thing, she doesn’t. I think you’ll learn; you’ll be able to pick up on the cues of when she is each thing.”
Being invested in her character
Wood’s character is clearly facing quite the crisis of conscience in season two, and the star admits that the storyline has taken its toll on her as an actress too: “I literally had an existential crisis after season two. I was driving my car, looking around, like ... what are, what is this? Like, none of this is real? What are we doing? You just realise, everything is programming,” she says.
“It’s all learnt! And we call this the real world, but it’s just the world that we’ve all agreed upon to live in together, but it’s not necessarily what’s true for anyone or what’s natural. So it’s weird. We’re not free. You know? We’re in a controlled environment that’s very curated and we’re fed what we’re supposed to be fed, and you really have to search for truth. I think that the show is more open than ever.”
Click below to watch a trailer for season 2:
The actress says that she’s not the only member of the cast who feels the emotional drain of being in a show that deals with such complex existential questions, and indeed one where the characters so often find themselves in deeply unpleasant situations: “The hardest part about this show is that we’re all always so excited to jump back in, but then we remember, ‘oh, right, this never ends well for anybody on this show’,” she says. “We’re so invested in the characters now that when bad things happen to them or when something goes wrong, it really is gut wrenching for us to have to do. Loyalties shift on this show so much and we’re not even aware, that one day you’re like, oh right, you guys are against each other, and you’re like, what? What happened, I don’t like that. It feels like a violation because you’re so invested in everyone.”
'We could accept a lot of our pain as just growth'
It’s been an emotionally trying year for Wood off screen as well as on. In February, she gave evidence to the United States House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigations in her capacity as the survivor of two rapes “many years ago”. The actress admits that she found the experience daunting, but that it was also something she felt she had to do: “I’ve really only told my story to about five people, I can count on one hand, so to go from that to everyone, to the world knowing, it was overwhelming,” she says.
“I don’t know a world in which everyone knows this about me, and it was terrifying to think about what that would mean, and what people would think. But, the fact that I was so afraid to tell my story, and ashamed, just made me want to do it more, because I felt like that it was wrong, and I shouldn’t feel like that, so I said yes.”
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Read more:
Thinking inside the box: how film reboots work as TV series
Anthony Hopkins on his role in Westworld: ‘I find any idea of a utopia or dystopia pretty alarming’
What to expect from the much-anticipated TV adaptation of classic sci-fi movie Westworld
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Now, the actress hopes that the show can mirror her own personal catharsis: “People are not going quietly into the night. And that’s another theme on the show, that sometimes our greatest epiphanies or stages of enlightenment come from suffering,” she says. “I think pain and suffering have been given all these negative connotations, when really, a lot of times, just like the death tarot card, it doesn’t necessarily mean death – it means change, it means letting go, it means walking away from something.
“And it’s painful, and there’s grief involved, but it’s necessary, and I think if we could accept a lot of our pain as just growth, and something that’s necessary to metamorphosis rather than something to compulsively avoid, than we might be in a better shape.
“Then maybe we wouldn’t have to be completely annihilated before something good could happen.”
RESULT
Arsenal 1 Chelsea 2
Arsenal: Aubameyang (13')
Chelsea: Jorginho (83'), Abraham (87')
Rock in a Hard Place: Music and Mayhem in the Middle East
Orlando Crowcroft
Zed Books
Gender equality in the workplace still 200 years away
It will take centuries to achieve gender parity in workplaces around the globe, according to a December report from the World Economic Forum.
The WEF study said there had been some improvements in wage equality in 2018 compared to 2017, when the global gender gap widened for the first time in a decade.
But it warned that these were offset by declining representation of women in politics, coupled with greater inequality in their access to health and education.
At current rates, the global gender gap across a range of areas will not close for another 108 years, while it is expected to take 202 years to close the workplace gap, WEF found.
The Geneva-based organisation's annual report tracked disparities between the sexes in 149 countries across four areas: education, health, economic opportunity and political empowerment.
After years of advances in education, health and political representation, women registered setbacks in all three areas this year, WEF said.
Only in the area of economic opportunity did the gender gap narrow somewhat, although there is not much to celebrate, with the global wage gap narrowing to nearly 51 per cent.
And the number of women in leadership roles has risen to 34 per cent globally, WEF said.
At the same time, the report showed there are now proportionately fewer women than men participating in the workforce, suggesting that automation is having a disproportionate impact on jobs traditionally performed by women.
And women are significantly under-represented in growing areas of employment that require science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills, WEF said.
* Agence France Presse
Gulf Under 19s final
Dubai College A 50-12 Dubai College B
MATCH INFO
Asian Champions League, last 16, first leg:
Al Jazira 3 Persepolis 2
Second leg:
Monday, Azizi Stadium, Tehran. Kick off 7pm
ABU DHABI CARD
5pm: UAE Martyrs Cup (TB) Conditions; Dh90,000; 2,200m
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup (PA) Handicap; Dh70,000; 1,400m
6pm: UAE Matyrs Trophy (PA) Maiden; Dh80,000; 1,600m
6.30pm: Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak (IFAHR) Apprentice Championship (PA) Prestige; Dh100,000; 1,600m
7pm: Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak (IFAHR) Ladies World Championship (PA) Prestige; Dh125,000; 1,600m
8pm: Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Jewel Crown (PA) Group 1; Dh5,000,000; 1,600m
Visa changes give families fresh hope
Foreign workers can sponsor family members based solely on their income
Male residents employed in the UAE can sponsor immediate family members, such as wife and children, subject to conditions that include a minimum salary of Dh 4,000 or Dh 3,000 plus accommodation.
Attested original marriage certificate, birth certificate of the child, ejari or rental contract, labour contract, salary certificate must be submitted to the government authorised typing centre to complete the sponsorship process
In Abu Dhabi, a woman can sponsor her husband and children if she holds a residence permit stating she is an engineer, teacher, doctor, nurse or any profession related to the medical sector and her monthly salary is at least Dh 10,000 or Dh 8,000 plus accommodation.
In Dubai, if a woman is not employed in the above categories she can get approval to sponsor her family if her monthly salary is more than Dh 10,000 and with a special permission from the Department of Naturalization and Residency Dubai.
To sponsor parents, a worker should earn Dh20,000 or Dh19,000 a month, plus a two-bedroom accommodation
Starring: Jamie Foxx, Angela Bassett, Tina Fey
Directed by: Pete Doctor
Rating: 4 stars
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
England's all-time record goalscorers:
Wayne Rooney 53
Bobby Charlton 49
Gary Lineker 48
Jimmy Greaves 44
Michael Owen 40
Tom Finney 30
Nat Lofthouse 30
Alan Shearer 30
Viv Woodward 29
Frank Lampard 29
Match info
Uefa Champions League Group B
Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Eriksen 80')
Inter Milan 0
THE BIO
Age: 33
Favourite quote: “If you’re going through hell, keep going” Winston Churchill
Favourite breed of dog: All of them. I can’t possibly pick a favourite.
Favourite place in the UAE: The Stray Dogs Centre in Umm Al Quwain. It sounds predictable, but it honestly is my favourite place to spend time. Surrounded by hundreds of dogs that love you - what could possibly be better than that?
Favourite colour: All the colours that dogs come in
Bio
Born in Dubai in 1994
Her father is a retired Emirati police officer and her mother is originally from Kuwait
She Graduated from the American University of Sharjah in 2015 and is currently working on her Masters in Communication from the University of Sharjah.
Her favourite film is Pacific Rim, directed by Guillermo del Toro
Match info
Newcastle United 1
Joselu (11')
Tottenham Hotspur 2
Vertonghen (8'), Alli (18')
The Saga Continues
Wu-Tang Clan
(36 Chambers / Entertainment One)
Cricket World Cup League Two
Oman, UAE, Namibia
Al Amerat, Muscat
Results
Oman beat UAE by five wickets
UAE beat Namibia by eight runs
Fixtures
Wednesday January 8 –Oman v Namibia
Thursday January 9 – Oman v UAE
Saturday January 11 – UAE v Namibia
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
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Sly%20Cooper%20and%20the%20Thievius%20Raccoonus
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDeveloper%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Sucker%20Punch%20Productions%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPublisher%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Sony%20Computer%20Entertainment%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EConsole%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20PlayStation%202%20to%205%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%205%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE Premiership
Results
Dubai Exiles 24-28 Jebel Ali Dragons
Abu Dhabi Harlequins 43-27 Dubai Hurricanes
Final
Abu Dhabi Harlequins v Jebel Ali Dragons, Friday, March 29, 5pm at The Sevens, Dubai
The Brutalist
Director: Brady Corbet
Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn
Rating: 3.5/5
British Grand Prix free practice times in the third and final session at Silverstone on Saturday (top five):
1. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) 1:28.063 (18 laps)
2. Sebastian Vettel (GER/Ferrari) 1:28.095 (14)
3. Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Mercedes) 1:28.137 (20)
4. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Ferrari) 1:28.732 (15)
5. Nico Hulkenberg (GER/Renault) 1:29.480 (14)
Dolittle
Director: Stephen Gaghan
Stars: Robert Downey Jr, Michael Sheen
One-and-a-half out of five stars
RESULTS
2pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 (Dirt) 1,000m
Winner: AF Mozhell, Saif Al Balushi (jockey), Khalifa Al Neyadi (trainer)
2.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Majdi, Szczepan Mazur, Abdallah Al Hammadi.
3pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 (D) 1,700m
Winner: AF Athabeh, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel.
3.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 (D) 1,700m
Winner: AF Eshaar, Bernardo Pinheiro, Khalifa Al Neyadi
4pm: Gulf Cup presented by Longines Prestige (PA) Dh150,000 (D) 1,700m
Winner: Al Roba’a Al Khali, Al Moatasem Al Balushi, Younis Al Kalbani
4.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh40,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Apolo Kid, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muahiri
The%20Secret%20Kingdom%20
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Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
