Black Mirror Season 7 is here, and with it is the “USS Callister: Into Infinity,” the very first sequel episode in the show’s entire run—and the return of Jimmie Simpson’s Walton.
In the real world, Walton is the CEO of Callister Inc. and the man solely in charge of the VR video game Infinity following the death of Jesse Plemons’ Daly in the original episode. However, in the virtual world of Infinity, Walton was last seen sacrificing himself to save his crew, an action that thankfully wasn’t his end.
The Direct’s Russ Milheim spoke with star Jimmie Simpson about Walton and what it was like to dive into the darker side of his CEO persona, and fleshing out just how different his virtual counterpart is.
Black Mirror’s Jimmie Simpson on the Evolution of USS Callister’s Story
“I Thought, I Hope I Don’t Die In Three First 10 Minutes.”
Warning: The rest of this article contains spoilers for Black Mirror Season 7, Episode 6
- The Direct: “How did it feel to be a part of Black Mirror‘s very first sequel episode, and what surprised you the most with the direction that this sequel took?”
Jimmie Simpson: I thought, Oh, this is Black Mirror doing Black Mirror with a lightsaber. And then I thought, I hope I don’t die in the first 10 minutes. And then I saw that I’m not in the first 10 minutes. I was safe.
Yeah, I just, I was such a fan of their initial story. I think I was going to be as hard a critic as anyone on Reddit when they said, Okay, so this is the one we’re making.
And I thought they just rediscovered… They found that way where the sequel wasn’t just an extension of stuff we like. It was essential information to unpack the story we love a bit more and get to the heart of it, the heart of Infinity.
- The Direct: “When Walton is found in the virtual world, after being reincarnated, that costume, man, [that loin cloth], it did not look comfortable. What was it like in that costume, but also just being able to basically play a third iteration of this character as he’s off on his own, crazed and everything?”
Simpson: On one hand, it’s exposing. On the other hand, we were up in Wales, for some reason it was pleasant weather, and so it was freeing. And I don’t wear just loin cloths that much on film. So, I felt, they all made me feel real comfortable.
And it was good, and I just loved the bit for the character. So, you know, if there’s an intention behind it, any kind of, like, semi-nudity, the purpose behind it was so valid, and it made the whole visual of that storytelling element come to life even more. So I was stoked.
Exploring the Darker Side of Infinity CEO Walton
“Like Most Awful Dudes I Play, They Don’t Know That They’re Awful Dudes.”
- The Direct: “This new episode does a great job at making it clear to audiences that Walton is a terrible man in real life, which, you know, thinking back, wasn’t super clear, I don’t think, in that original episode. So can you talk about leaning more into that path for the character as this story continued?”
Jimmie Simpson: Like, most awful dudes I play, they don’t know that they’re awful dudes. They think they’re just achieving a goal. And Walton, in particular, he’s been rewarded every step of the way that he’s acted like a dick. And so again, there’s no judgment on what he’s doing.
He just happens to do it that way, but, you know, playing, I think, deeper now, dealing with, a tech billionaire, like we’re dealing now with these people who get to positions of extreme power and don’t know what they’re doing, like at all, and they’re making huge choices that’s going to affect 1000s of people based on their ego and satisfying greed, and so I think it was just a little bit more present than the awareness of the ripple effect that someone Like this is is gonna have. So it’s even more devastating.
I think they did such an excellent job of highlighting the ridiculousness of someone like this and allowing what’s happening to be somewhat enjoyable, because he’s such a hilarious idiot. But the result of what he’s doing, and it also kind of shows, you can tell he’s kind of a dick in the first one, but now it’s just like, oh, it’s gotten so deep his thoughtlessness went that far that in this moment of like, I think I want to make or break this little moment, he introduced something that was going to if he had stopped for two minutes, he would understand what he was about to do, and he didn’t.
And there’s a lot of impulsive behavior, purchases of companies, what have you. And I love that in this story, he gets stopped, honestly… It could have been a little dirtier. I wouldn’t mind his head getting knocked a couple more times in the car.
- The Direct: “On the flip side, virtual Walton is a changed man, a much better person. How did you kind of personally work out, how such an asshole, awful human being, morphed into this changed man, given his new circumstances, and then how much of that was just at the forefront of your mind as you are portraying this better virtual version? Version of this character better being morally.”
Jimmie Simpson: I’m actually in Chicago right now filming Season 2 of ‘Dark Matter,’ and that show’s main question is, at what points do you change as a human? So, I’ve spent a couple years really thinking about that.
So, the branch off here—You know, we make change, Personally, I don’t want to speak for everyone. I’ve made every major change in my life, unwittingly. Well, by force, forced to make these changes. You always are going along, well, everything’s fine, then like, oh, wow, I need to course correct. So with Walton that we’ve seen in the game, his course correction occurred when he realized, first of all, his first realization was that he’s fallible. He fucked himself.
You know, when he’s in there in Episode 1, he knows he’s there. He started this whole thing. We don’t deal with that in Episode 1, but there’s this, oh my God, I don’t know everything. And that’s the first thing a human needs to learn to not be a problem is that you don’t know everything.
So, that is his first change from the real world. And then the second one is, let’s call it therapy, time spent with other people who are going to tell you the truth. Let’s call [that] the crew now who aren’t afraid of him, because there’s a bigger villain in Episode 1. And so now he’s at therapy, so he’s been able to come to terms with some. It’s inevitable you’re going to be a better person, unless you’re a psychopath.
If you start looking at what you’re doing instead of hiding it, you’re going to change. So it’s that simple. It’s a man who’s confronted with his own fallibility, and so that’s so fun to play, especially someone who’s made so many bad decisions trying to, like, make up for it [to a] stronger degree, which is over—It’s too much. Already screwed over.
Could USS Callister Become Black Mirror’s First Trilogy?
If It Happens, Jimmie Simpson Is Confident It Would Be Great
- The Direct: “When it comes to Black Mirror, audiences tend to love things in threes. What are the odds that we get to create a third entry in this storyline and kind of create the first Black Mirror trilogy? Has that been discussed, or at least tossed around in a brainstorming kind of manner?”
Jimmie Simpson: “I think we all can’t, you know, witness the ending and go like, he touches his finger to his cheek, and so, yeah, it’s—everybody’s busy. Everybody’s whatever. I know the family is very connected. So if this were to happen, everybody’s behind it. Everybody really gets along with each other, you know, it’s a great, like I said, like a family, this cast and crew.
So, I have no doubt, and I also have no doubt that were Charlie to have that bug in his brain, that he would come up with something that’s just like, Oh, right. It is essential that we have a third one. I forgot.”
Black Mirror Season 7 is now streaming on Netflix.
