Elyes Gabel, who plays the character of cyber security hacker Walter O’Brien in AXN’s Scorpion, talks about embracing his real life personality on screen and developing the plot and role
Why were you drawn to the role of Walter O’Brien on ScorpionIJ
What I find really interesting is getting into the nature of the human and whether it’s possible to do that within the framework of a new storyline each week.
Has the real Walter O’Brien helped you in the development of your characterIJ
He’s been very analytical about his personality and very honest, truthful and almost unashamed about it. And when you do that you have a real transparent window into a character. One of the things that Walter said was he doesn’t know whether he’s acting or not and he’s become so good at conveying these emotional signposts that you don’t know if he’s in it or not. And one of the most interesting conversations that I had with him was when we came to the end, his answer is that he doesn’t know whether he’s faking or not because he’s so good at it.
Why is it important to create a character that’s relatable to the audienceIJ
Without somebody that you can really attach emotions or a string of thought to and without somebody you can really care for, you can’t really have a show. You can hate them but you have to empathise with them in certain respects otherwise you’ve lost that string right at the start.
How will you make your portrayal of Walter believableIJ
When we are talking about filling out the life of the character as a pivotal character you have to understand what they’re trying to accomplish first, what their problems are, what their obstacles are to kind of make sense and to make the drama more interesting.
How are we introduced to Walter on ScorpionIJ
We join Walter’s life when he’s trying to assimilate himself but ultimately his people into some kind of a public domain. And the inception, the reason for that was kind of catalysed by what happened with him and Cabe.
Why is it important for Walter to use his intellect for the greater good of humanityIJ
Over 2,000 people died as a consequence of me being fooled and I have to wear that on my head and that’s why I’ve developed this greater good algorithm. So, it’s basically if I can save 2,000 lives — and now it’s flourished and it’s proliferated into a lot more. So, now I’m talking about having a greater sense of purpose.
Does Walter trust CabeIJ
He wants to be better and he’s constantly fighting against something else that he feels culpable for and Cabe has given him that. But also he doesn’t trust him because of what’s happened.
What does Robert Patrick bring to his role as CabeIJ
I’m a fan of Robert’s work as it is. I think the qualities that he brings with him inherently as a person as well as being a very likeable human being. He also has this strength and this weight.
What is it like working with director Justin linIJ
Working with Justin lin has been a very interesting process based on my knowledge of his previous films but also the conversations that we had before getting involved.