Sir Anthony Hopkins to make TV debut in HBO sci-fi thriller Westworld

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Sir Anthony Hopkins and Evan Rachel Wood are set for lead roles in new US drama Westworld.

The HBO project will be British Oscar-winner Sir Anthony's first TV series role, Deadline reported.

The series is inspired by the 1973 sci-fi movie of the same name, which was set at an amusement park and starred Yul Brynner, Richard Benjamin and James Brolin.

Sir Anthony will play Dr Robert Ford, the brilliant but complicated chairman of the board of Westworld, who has unorthodox methods of achieving his vision.

True Blood actress Evan plays the provincial Dolores Abernathy, who is about to discover that her idyllic existence is a lie, Deadline reported.

James Marsden is also in talks for a lead role in the pilot.

Husband-and-wife duo Jonah and Lisa Joy Nolan wrote the script and are executive producing Westworld with JJ Abrams, Jerry Weintraub and Bryan Burk. Jonah will also direct.

 

Patrick McLennan
Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.