Only ET has Evan Rachel Wood, Tessa Thompson, Tommy Flanagan and Hiroyuki Sanada's reactions to Dolores' shocking twist in episode 304!
"If you want something done right, do it yourself."
We always knew Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) was a self-starter, but Sunday's episode of Westworld truly took it to the next level. The mystery of who Dolores brought with her to the real world in the season two finale was finally solved in episode 304, titled "The Mother of Exiles," with the host revealing she copied herself not one, not two, but three times.
Fans keeping track this season know that Dolores escaped Westworld with five pearls. One was used for Bernard (Jeffrey Wright). One was used in Dolores herself, and one was used in Hale's (Tessa Thompson) host body. Earlier this season, Dolores also turned Martin Connells (Tommy Flanagan) into a host, so that's another pearl there, and 304 finally revealed the last mystery pearl was in Musashi's (Hiroyuki Sanada) body.
That final reveal, which was made to Maeve (Thandie Newton) as she tried to track down Dolores, was a loaded one, and we've taken the liberty of calling it the Four-lores Twist. Can't believe the nature of this new reality? Find out the cast's reaction to the bombshell -- including how Thompson prepared for it -- below.
Evan Rachel Wood (Dolores)
Forget Mother of Dragons -- meet the Mother of Pearls! ET spoke with Dolores herself at HBO's Westworld junket in March to find out Wood's reaction to this duplication revelation.
"I think when we realized it was all Dolores, it was kind of an, 'Of course!' moment," Wood shared with a laugh during a joint interview with Thompson. "You know, it's the classic Westworld move of they want you to think it's all these other things and they want to take you down a rabbit hole that is just going to lead nowhere."
"And, of course, she's the most advanced one of them," the 32-year-old actress added. "So why wouldn't she just duplicate herself multiple times?"
Tessa Thompson (Charlotte Hale / Dolores)
During our joint interview with Thompson and Wood, the stars were excited to dish about how long they've kept this secret under wraps.
"They didn't tell me until right before. I didn't know until, like, maybe the day before that I was you -- that you were inside my body," Thompson said while looking at her Westworld co-star. "And then I remember I probably panicked and texted you and was like, 'Can you tell me things?!'"
After episode 303, many fans (ourselves included!) guessed that it could be Teddy's (James Marsden) pearl hiding inside of Hale's host body, but Thompson never believed that theory.
"No. No, no, no. I never thought I was Teddy. I never felt Teddy inside of my bones," the Thor: Love and Thunder star said. "But it was fun for everyone else to speculate. Like, everybody -- the crew, cast, everybody. Nobody knew and that was fun."
"Yeah, the crew didn't know!" Wood recalled with a grin. "They thought you were Angela. They thought you were Teddy. They thought you were a samurai. No one knew, but we did."
During these times of secrecy, Wood offered her co-star some tips as to how she could infuse Dolores' mannerisms into her performance.
"[There were] a few little Easter eggs that I had developed in the first couple seasons, like hand placements and things with the voice, but for the most part, every now and then I would record dialogue," Wood said.
"She was really generous," Thompson dished. "She would send me voice memos. The night before I'd be like, 'Can you send me this speech?!' I could Ebay them. You know what I mean? I have like hot, never-before-heard Westworld Dolores spoken word voice memos, which I could auction for charity."
"This is true," Wood laughed. "But then she did such an amazing job at marrying the two characters together and really giving this version of her a life of their own. Because there may be a different version of her, but this is still a separate being and with its own thoughts and its own wants and desires. And so it was interesting to see how they evolve in different ways."
Tommy Flanagan (Martin Connells / Dolores)
When ET caught up with Flanagan at Westworld's red carpet premiere last month, we asked the 54-year-old Scotsman exactly when he discovered that the pearl inside of his character's bodyguard body was actually Dolores.
"The day that it happened!" Flanagan exclaimed. "I was on set and they said, 'Oh, by the way -- guess who you are?' And then I thought, 'Oh, great.' So then I thought I should do Dolores' mannerisms and stuff like that."
Flanagan admitted that it was a "challenge" to incorporate Dolores' personality into Martin's body after revealing the big twist to Bernard, but that Wood offered a lot of on-set support.
"She was so cool! Evan is so cool," he gushed. "We kind of tried to do something, but it was all so last minute. I just found myself a bit confused, but hopefully we pulled it off."
Looking ahead, Flanagan offered one tease for what's to come in the second half of season three: "Well, it's kind of hard to kill the robots, isn't it?" he said with a smirk. "That's all I'm saying."
Hiroyuki Sanada (Musashi / Dolores)
"When I read the script, it was a great idea," Sanada revealed to ET's cameras at the Westworld premiere in Hollywood. "You know, no more samurai. Same body, but female inside and then fight against somebody. I was so excited and it was so interesting, so I really enjoyed shooting and rehearsal, everything."
Sanada's Shogun World character, Musashi, became a fan favorite in season two, and the 59-year-old star admitted it was a "unique balance" to blend his host's past with Dolores' future.
"You know, I have memory as Musashi, as a samurai -- the last life for my body -- but also I have a different personality inside," Sanada explained. "But it's mixing -- not one side. So, that kind of balance was so difficult and also so interesting for me."
Thandie Newton (Maeve)
Once again, it was Maeve's brilliant mind that put together the pieces.
"I mean, when I discovered that Musashi wasn't Musashi?" Newton recalled of the mind-swapping twist during a sit-down interview. "I love Hiro, he's a good friend and I admire him so, so much."
"Those episodes in Shogun World, they were really profound and meaningful -- both on and off-screen. I mean, they were amazing! Imagine learning to use a katana, learning to speak Japanese," she continued, "so to suddenly discover that he has been used to destroy me, it was -- Oh god, it was a betrayal! It was tragic."
"I really felt it was a brilliant idea. It's such a great idea," Newton added. "That Dolores, man. Wow. She's a piece of work."
Westworld airs Sudays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO.
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