For all the violence and killing in the first half of Westworld, the show's first two actual major deaths didn't happen until the seventh episode. One was the death of a human; the other was the death of a machine.

In an effort to show their corporate overlords the danger of Westworld's hosts, Tessa Thompson and Theresa Cullen put a plan into motion that reprograms Clementine Pennyfeather to attack a man (who is actually just a host). One of the few completely innocent characters in the show, Clementine is working in Sweetwater's busy brothel, and as her programmed backstory is written, wants to make enough money to move her and her family somewhere else. Sadly, she's used in a corporate espionage plot to steal Westworld's intellectual property and decommissioned with some sort of drill up her nose.

The other death is of Theresa, who is killed by Bernard after it's revealed that he's just a machine henchman of Dr. Robert Ford. Both deaths are tragic in their own right, and also, sadly, depict more violence against women in this HBO show.

So it's some small bit of justice that Clementine, before her robot lobotomy, gets a bit of revenge by beating the absolute hell out of the guy that attacks her. In a stunning scene, actress Angela Sarafyan elegantly dodges an attack and beats the man's brains against the glass.

These hosts are dangerous, they're deadly. They may have been created by humans, but humans, in their recklessness, made these machines smarter and stronger than humans. It's probably not going to turn out well. To get a sense of what's going on, I spoke with Sarafyan about what happens when a host goes to the trash, Clementine's fate, and how Westworld depicts violence toward women on television.

ESQ: So, to start out, tell me what your reaction to that episode was and what you though while you were filming it.

Angela Sarafyan: With the way that we've shot all of the episodes, we don't know what's to come. So when I read it, I was completely shocked. I was not expecting what happened to happen. But it's very intentional because Clementine is basically programmed to represent love. She's someone that isn't threatening in any way. We learn that her background is that she's this generous person that's there to support her family. And so she, as a character, is not at all a threat. And I think that's a part of why they chose to use her—because it's the idea that even the most loving creature can be dangerous. They try to make it appear as if she's malfunctioning, but she never was. So everything was kind of deliberately put on her, and that's kind of so sad.

How do you explain when you beat the shit of that guy, how do you explain exactly what was going on and kind of how that happened?

Well, in an earlier scene with Theresa Cullen, the characters have a conversation about a blood sacrifice. So they program her to first recognize that he's a human and then make it appear as if she will still harm him. Even though the guy that comes in is actually a host appearing to be a human, they're trying to make it look like she recognizes that he's a human and then she beats the shit out of him and kills him.

So Clementine was kind of just collateral damage, in a sense, not an enlightened robot that kind of got roped into this.

Exactly, yeah. She hasn't yet had that kind of enlightenment the way that Maeve and Dolores have. But she's having the nightmares. So she hasn't yet come to that point. She's like an innocent victim, like people being accused of murder. I mean, it's a very extreme thing, but she's completely innocent of everything that they're accusing her of. They're basically using her as a tool.

Tell me about filming that scene. It's got to be tough to initially get beaten up and, a second later, you kind of shut that off and beat somebody else up.

Well, yeah, you're definitely right. They wanted it to be like he was beating her up, like domestic abuse. It wasn't like a superhero fight that seems completely unreal. They wanted it to be kind of awful to look at. So when I read the script, I got very emotional just looking at all of what's happening to my character and how that could happen to anyone anyway. It's an awful thing. But regardless of why it's there, I love the fact that she's so strong and that she beats the shit out of him. It was epic. I went in and we choreographed the whole thing. I'm a ballet dancer so everything that you see, all of the fights are all kind of choreographed. There are steps and things that you do, and you start doing them faster and start making them more real. And so I really related to being able to actually do the whole thing by myself. I love the idea of her being this truly delicate, feminine woman. You would never think that that kind of frail frame can actually do what she does to him. I think, from the scene, you get to recognize how strong these hosts are. Like, they can kill anybody. They have the ability to destroy people.

Your acting is really impressive in that scene. You have to change your motives and what you're doing and everything about your character, like a machine. How do you act that, and is it tough to make that convincing?

I love that element of it. I think the kind of show Westworld is is like an actor's dream. You get to have access to a lot of different emotions and different experiences, and you can go pretty far. For example, the element of being a host, I was actually looking at videos, just in general. You know when your map quest talks to you, how monotone and inhuman it is? How even though it sounds human but it's not human? I would look at all of those things that are so foreign but are still technology, like videos of androids.

There are so many times in this season where you're moving and you have to stop, like they turn you off. I'm always wondering if there's a lot of scenes where it's a prop, where they just have a recreation of you, or if you're just sitting there as still as you can.

Oh, that's so funny! I love that you thought of that! It's definitely not a prop—it's just us. Thandie [Newton] I love that! That's great. We had an amazing makeup artist and he made a lot of actual bodies. You know how, in the laboratory, there are lots of dead bodies—well not dead, but there were bodies laying around? He actually made those bodies. And when you touch them, they feel like human putty that's really creepy.

HBO

Woah. Yeah, that's unnerving for sure. So what is the key to making that convincing? Those moments where you're kind of switching between a robot-looking human and then also a human playing a robot looking human, if that makes any sense.

It's a strange thing. It all started when I was looking at androids and I was looking at how they move their head and how they move their eyelids and try to appear and function as a human, but they're not. And you're always like, "Whoa, oh shit, this isn't real. Is it real? It's not real." And so I was thinking those very deliberate movements that try to be natural but aren't natural are kind of where those little things can maybe exist in moments when I'm doing the scenes in Sweetwater that she full-heartedly believes and lives in—where she's a prostitute not as a host. I would incorporate little things like that, like very subtle things in those scenes. Because the whole point is that they really believe everything that's happening. They genuinely don't think that there's anything outside of this world. There are no cellphones and there is no technology. They believe in the most basic, simple life.

Wait so did they actually have something stuck up your nose in that final scene in Episode Seven?

Yeah. So they stuck that thing inside my nose and it goes in. I don't know how high it actually went in the final product, it didn't actually go that high, but he definitely put that inside of my nose. And then they probably CGI-ed that some more. And then the thing coming out of my nose... I don't remember that being there. I think they added that later.

So in that scene, is your character getting decommissioned or lobotomized? What's going on there?

Yeah, she's getting lobotomized.

So what does that mean in terms of the show and of your character? Does that mean Clementine's gone?

Yeah, I mean, I think that's the end for Clementine. She's basically gone. That is pretty sad that this is the end for her. But I love that it ends on a strong way, and I hope I play strong roles like that in the future.

HBO

Yeah, definitely. So I guess, in terms of the show, that's the first time that we see a host get completely thrown in the garbage, I guess.

Basically, yeah. And it's the first time you really get to see the host do something like she does. I think it's the first time you see how dangerous they are to humans. I know that there are other hosts in the park that are programmed to be bad guys and kill and shoot and stuff. But for once to do it to a human, that's the first time I think you see that.

So what's next for you? I mean, obviously as we've seen in this show, nobody can be completely gone. And since Clementine is a machine in the show, she could potentially be back.

There's a film I did called The Promise that's coming out next year. It's about the Armenian genocide. It's directed by Terry George and stars Christian Bale. So that's coming out next year in April. I'm hoping I get to play crazy roles, like Clementine in how she transitions at the end. I like stuff like that. So I'm kind of in that place right now.

And in terms of Westworld, nothing's off the table, right? Would you, if for some reason Clementine was rebuilt, would you be interested in playing her again?

Oh my god, of course! Yeah, definitely. I love Clementine. I've lived with her for two years. She's amazing. You should definitely tune in and see what happens, though.

Yeah, definitely. I mean, I guess we still haven't seen...

You haven't seen the last three, right?

No, I haven't seen the last three. So as far as I know, she's done. But I don't fully believe it yet.

[Laughs] Yeah, I guess you'll watch and see. What I love about playing Clementine is the fact that she celebrates being a woman. In my whole life, I've always been kind of like, "Yes, I'm a woman! But what I do, what I think, what I create, that's what you should be attracted to, not so much my aesthetic." What she taught me is that beauty is a very important and great thing to celebrate, not to kind of throw away. It doesn't have to be such a bad thing. And so I loved her sensuality and sexuality and I loved that I got to play this really feminine creature. I guess that's what I wanted to add. It's good to be a woman!

And obviously in Westworld particularly, there's a lot of scenes of violence towards women. But does what Clementine does, does that kind of make up for it? I mean, how do you view some of that, and what do you think the show kind of says?

Well, I mean, it's interesting because I think that there is violence towards the hosts in general. I think that there is a lot of mistreatment of these kind of innocent creatures. They are innocent because they're blind to what's happening to them. So I think that it's incredible to have protagonists like Dolores and Maeve that are waking up and finding their place as women and as these beings and finding power in that.

Matt Miller Culture Editor Matt is the Culture Editor at Esquire where he covers music, movies, books, and TV—with an emphasis on all things Star Wars, Marvel, and Game of Thrones.

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