Hell on Wheels - Anson Mount Interview

When you’re creating a character with morals and values from the past, how challenging is that?
ANSON MOUNT: Well, it’s hard to imagine. Growing up in the time that we’re growing up in, in the rich country we live in, it’s hard to imagine coming from a conquered nation. That’s what I have to re-imagine. That’s what I have to create. It’s this sense of coming from a place where martial law has been instituted in your home, and feeling like you don’t have a home anymore. I think that a lot of people are in the same boat. Common’s character is in the same boat, but for totally different reasons. Then Lily’s world gets blown apart, and she feels like that. That’s what puts us on the same plate, but for entirely different reasons. I would say that it is difficult to re-imagine the situation, the morals and the aesthetics, and the political bents of people from that time, but it’s the homework.

What’s it like to play such a serious character?
MOUNT: My friends laugh at me when they see this. I’m a goofball. I have my poker game with my buddies. I like science fiction. I took all the accelerated classes in school. I’m kind of a dork. I don’t know how to put on any tough guy pretensions. I’ve gotten my ass beat down in a bar fight before. I’m not a tough guy, but I’ve studied a lot of [Clint] Eastwood for this role. That’s the joy of acting. I could never be this bad-ass, in real life. I would never want to be that bad-ass. I’d probably be dead or in jail.

Source: Full interview @ Collider