Summary
Black Mirrorseason 7 has finally arrived, and with it comes a series first: a sequel episode. “USS Callister: Into Infinity” revisits the crew of the titular ship as their journey through a digital universe continues. The episode sees almost all of the original cast returning, including Jimmi Simpson, who steps back into the role of thoughtless tech CEO James Walton, as well as the role of trapped digital clone James Walton.
Game Rant had the opportunity to chat with Jimmi Simpson. During the discussion, Simpson dove into his approach to playing Walton’s dual role, and how a previous part in an epic sci-fi series informed his approach to hisBlack Mirrorcharacter. He also revealed how a 1985 sci-fi movie informed one of his best scenes in “USS Callister: Into Infinity.”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity
Game Rant:You’re stepping back intoBlack Mirror. USS Callister was a fantastic episode in season 4. Now you’re walking back into this dual role, even more than you were the last time you played the character. What were some of the challenges of essentially playing the same character but approaching him in different ways?
Jimmi Simpson: It’s really fun, honestly, as an actor, because you get to have a shared DNA that they are this way, but given these avenues, this is what will come out. The unimpeded Walton has all of the human flaws of greed and selfishness, unchecked. The real-world Walton has never been questioned, and all of those methods of getting what he wants, being an absolute a**hole, have never blown up in his face. It’s just another trained human doing what works and never stopping to think about it.
Gamer Walton has been forced into a consciousness where he’s now aware, “oh, everyone feels. I think I just thought everyone was doing their own thing.” He’s had this huge understanding of “oh my God, I was flawed.” Then, his discussion with the rest of his team has allowed him to turn a new leaf and understand what’s important.
I think every human’s impulse is often to consume, and it takes training, it takes good parents, it takes a real life, it takes having to work hard for things to understand how to do it, so it’s that difference. Real Walton is almost a trope of such a popular figure in our world right now:this thoughtless tech billionairethat’s just causing trouble by satisfying his own ego.
GR: He’s a really great character. I love the duality in him.He’s actually similar to William fromWestworld, another one of your roles. Externally, both of these guys are rich men with questionable morals, but have these ties to these uber-realistic, immersive experiences. Did any of the similarities between these characters ever cross your mind, and did playing William and getting into that headspace inform anything about Walton?
JS: It’s all connected. Like any kind of profession you’re in, as you start accruing knowledge, it adds up. I was in a reading with Martin Landau once, and every word he spoke, I felt 60 years of interpreting human behavior.
With William and Walton, they’re both very lonely. One of them deals with that by shooting robots that remind him of the reason why he’s lonely. The other one grabs a multimillion-dollar tech industry and starts strangling people for their money. That loneliness is often a motivator for the villains that people write. Even if they don’t intend it, it is often a source for that behavior.
GR: These are two big sci-fi stories,WestworldandBlack Mirror. Do you consider yourself a big sci-fi fan, and are there anyother sci-fi worlds, franchises, or projects that you’d ever want to be part of?
JS: It was late in my career, Westworld was probably the first time, but I’ve always really been drawn toward predictive sci-fi. I was a voracious reader.I loved Ray Bradbury, I loved Isaac Asimov. I thinkRobots of Dawnkind of changed how I saw humans, and it’s a book about robots. Also,Dark Matteris a show I’m in Chicago filming right now, which is right there with the predictive sci-fi, everything either potential or already happening.
I’m so happy in this space. I wanted to be an English teacher, I took a theatre course, I love storytelling. I think it’s medicine, I think it’s information, I think it’s community. Right now, I feel like I’m telling stories I really care about.
GR: There’s a scene in the show where you have to really enthusiastically and voraciously chow down on a wriggling, alien creature. You have to drink its blood and really get in there. What was it like shooting that scene? What’s the experience having to deal with that kind of prop and perform in that way?
JS: I tell you, man, it’s fun. The storytelling is so weird, all of our jobs, the way everything adds up. I never met an artist growing up, I didn’t know what an actor was. I didn’t meet an actor until I went to the Williamstown Theater Festival when I was 22 to start my apprenticeship. So when I was 12, a movie starring Louis Gossett Jr. and Dennis Quaid came out calledEnemy Mine. HBO had a free weekend so I recorded it on tape and watched it. Dennis Quaid has this quality that’s so what they were talking about. He has this hunger for food that is always stuck in my craw.
It’s one of those things inspired by another actor’s commitment to eat this s*** that is insane! You just drop into the hunger. Of course, you know you gotta drop into the hunger, you’re playing it real, it’s gotta be honest, but sometimes it’s just the idea that another artist gives you that’s like “right, there’s this other avenue you can go.”
So to me, shooting that scene was like a dream come true, truly. It was like “Oh my God, I had no idea this is what I was building toward in this career.” I’m so glad you asked me that question, no one has. I loved shooting that scene and it was everything I’ve ever wanted to do.
