How Anthony Hopkins Skillfully Conveys a Full Range of Emotions in a Short Scene From Westworld

Video blogger and web producer Evan Puschak aka The Nerdwriter examined the short but powerful scene from the HBO series Westworld. The scene features the incredible Sir Anthony Hopkins as Dr. Robert Ford in conversation with Theresa Cullen (Sidse Babett Knudsen). Throughout the scene, Hopkins flawlessly conveys an entire range of emotions with just short pauses, slight body movements and the brilliantly controlled cadence of his speech.

What’s impressive here is how Hopkins breaks down the dialogue as written. In interviews Hopkins has described how he reads scripts 200 times or so to the point where the dialogue is lodged in his brain. When he steps away, he lets it gestate in his mind and when he arrives on set he relaxes himself “and “let the part play through you.” By having such a command over the words Hopkins is able to modulate the tempo of their delivery to get the most out of it.