7 Reasons Westworld Is Your Next TV Addiction

They are pretty big shoes to fill when someone says that you are the next Game of Thrones, but for HBO's Westworld that is exactly what it has to do.

So, what has us quaking in our spurs and shivering in our stetsons? The general public pay a whopping $40,000 a day to visit a robotic theme park. There you can live out your wildest fantasies without fear of retribution...or so you think. It isn't long before the robotic 'hosts' run amok, proving things can get wild in the wild, wild, West.

Already called "seamless" by The Guardian, "gorgeous" by Forbes, and "amazing" by IGN, Westworld is winning over the media already. From the brilliant minds of Jonathan Nolan (The Dark Knight), his wife Lisa Joy (Burn Notice), and with J.J. Abrams serving as an Executive Producer, comes HBO's latest show. Only two episodes in and we are hooked - with eight left, we're sure of a wild ride in Westworld!

Unless you have been visiting the actual wild West yourself, you've no reason not to have watched the sci-fi epic. Even if you haven't visited Westworld yet, once you do you won't be able to stop going back.

HBO staples like Game of Thrones and The Wire are somewhat star-studded affairs. Now it looks like Westworld is refusing to miss its invite to the party too. Some serious money has been thrown at the robotic romp (more on that in a minute), and showrunners clearly haven't skimped on the cast costs either. But what does a cast of mega-stars actually bring?

Anthony Hopkins (Silence of the Lambs) plays Dr. Ford, the kindly father figure steering the park on a John Hammond-esque path to ruin. Jeffrey Wright (Casino Royale) has perfected his role as Bernard Lowe, the creator of the hosts. As a tormented do-gooder, his constantly quizzical face shows that he is possibly the most moral member of Westworld, prophesying that something bad is coming.

Just as Thrones's female characters tend to outshine the unfairer sex, Rachel Evan Wood (True Blood) plays Dolores the robot, and longest surviving feature of the park. It is a break in the stereotype from the standard damsel in distress, and as her part has framed the start and finish of the first two episodes, it looks like she could be the focal point of Westworld.

Finally, you have Ed Harris - taking over where Yul Brynner left off in the original Westworld - also breaking the "bad guy" stereotype. There is a sense that his role as the Gunslinger/Man In Black is actually a good man. Somewhere he is fighting for a purpose, and not just the mindless violence the promos set him out as. We haven't seen him raise a pistol to anyone other that the robots...but of course that could all change.

If those Hollywood actors aren't enough to leave you star struck, Westworld is also hiding the elusive third Hemsworth brother. Unlike Chris and Liam, their brother Luke keeps a lower profile. I am sure that Westworld will help him join the others as an A-lister. When (and it almost certainly will) Westworld is renewed for a second season, then becoming part of its cast is sure to be the hottest ticket in town, so look out for even bigger stars moving forward.