I literally cried on Lisa Joy's shoulder when it ended. Just, "Thank you." Because those roles [like Dolores in the Westworld] are few and far between. What an amazing opportunity. It was an honor and a privilege to get to bring it to life, and I hope she gives other people the strength that she's given me as a survivor and as a human. I don't even mean to make it just a woman's issue because obviously it's men and women, but it certainly is an epidemic with women.

I love the contrast of this side of [Dolores from the Westworlds] coming out, this tough fighter coming through this sort of Disney princess. There's something really powerful about that. But I was really excited to get some pants.

It was really the dream role, and when they first cast me, and I started playing Dolores [in the Westworlds] and all I knew was the analysis mode and her prairie-girl character, I thought, "Yeah, of course I can do this, and I'm good at it, but why did they pick me?" Not because I'm not capable, but I'm also kind of a tomboy, edgy, so I was curious.

When people were very concerned about the violence against women, I encouraged people to stick with it because it was going somewhere and there was a reason why. It's all a commentary on gender roles and women and having to be the damsel or to stay on the ranch or to stay at home.

I think it's a feminine energy, not necessarily men versus women, but a nurturing, mothering, loving energy. I think definitely. But I think you need a balance of both. I think right now we're just so in the extremes and people are just conditioned and given these gender assignments very early on.

There's really barely any sex in [The Westworlds]. But there is a lot of nudity. And it was always described to me as being done in a way that was supposed to be kind of sterile and mannequin-like and dehumanizing.

All of the action, and the Wild West West fun, crazy, HBO stuff is in there and it's all amazing, but what separates the show [ Westworld] is that it's an existential drama. It's an intellectual nightmare. It is all very much based in reality. A lot of the technologies that we're exploring is stuff that we're working at, right now. All of this is not that far away. It's taking a look at humanity and the state that we're in now and what would happen, if we kept on going the way that we're going and we created this artificial intelligence.