Herthum OK with baring it all for Westworld
In working on the HBO hit series Westworld, it was a matter of saving the worst for first with Louis Herthum. The veteran actor’s first day portraying Peter Abernathy — one of the first androids (known as hosts) in the adult entertainment world to experience glitches — had him filming a very revealing scene.
“They kept apologizing profusely, saying: ‘We’re so sorry Louis, but it’s just the way the schedule happened to fall.’ I told them I would just as soon get it out of the way,” Herthum says of having to shoot a major scene where he was in the nude. “Those scenes aren’t easy, but within five minutes, it’s like ‘big deal.’
“I was more concerned with making sure I provided them with what they needed dramatically from that scene.”
In the series, which returned for a second season Sunday, park visitors face a western world where they can do anything they want. Generally, the day of debauchery goes without a hitch, but when the robots need to be repaired or scrapped, they end up in the repair shop wearing no clothes. Those kinds of scenes were sprinkled throughout the season because the ideal place for adults to live out their fantasies in the wild, wild west faced major disruptions as the robots started to become more self-aware.
Herthum plays the rancher who is the father to Dolores, played by Evan Rachel Wood. She’s the oldest host still working in the park and one of the first hosts to begin to realize the life she is living is a technologically manufactured lie. The cable series was inspired by the 1973 Michael Crichton feature film of the same name (a movie that happens to be one of Herthum’s favourites).
When he was cast as Peter Abernathy, Herthum didn’t know if he would be playing the role for more than just the initial episode. The way the damaged hosts can be discarded doesn’t guarantee a long life for anyone in Westworld. But Herthum has survived and he couldn’t be happier. Despite being a professional actor for more than 35 years, the Baton Rouge, Louisiana, native is getting more attention now than at any time in his career.
“It’s OK that people are really recognizing me now for the first time. The closest I came to this kind of attention was when I was working on Murder, She Wrote,” Herthum says.
The success Herthum is experiencing comes after amassing a long list of TV and film roles. After working on Murder, She Wrote (and finding a mentor in series star Angela Lansbury), Herthum’s credits include Jag, K-Ville, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Last Exorcism, NCIS, True Blood and Longmire.
Being on Westworld is one of the best acting experiences Herthum has had because of the strong writing. Herthum explains Westworld is like no other television drama because it creates a maze of complicated storylines and actions. He has also been excited to be part of the first-rate cast, particularly getting the opportunity to work with Anthony Hopkins, who plays the co-founder of the park.
There was a short period starting in the mid-’90s when Herthum stepped behind the camera to produce several feature films, including Favourite Son and Red Ridge through his Louisiana-based production company Ransack Films. Herthum also restored a 1968 Ford Mustang to honour the film and star that made him want to be an actor: Bullitt starring Steve McQueen. The film actually made him want to be a stuntman, but he quickly realized acting was a better fit for him.
“I guess I now need to take it to San Francisco and drive it up and down the hills,” Herthum says with a laugh.