That Human Touch

The cocreators of WESTWORLD on being PARTNERS on and off the set, and why real ANDROIDS might be a bad idea

- Adam Grant

Westworld has seized our minds by capturing our anxieties in this cultural moment, when we’re not sure who is who or where reality ends and tech begins. Plus: Robots are awesome. And the co-creators of one of television’s most entertaining and philosophical shows are a seemingly mild-mannered married couple with kids, Jonathan Nolan (who co-wrote The Dark Knight and Interstellar) and Lisa Joy (previously a writer and producer on Burn Notice). We talked to them about success, staying sane at home, and, of course, robots.

Adam Grant: What’s it like to work together as a married couple and as parents? 

Jonathan Nolan: We’ve turned it into a family affair. With separate careers, you’ve had a bad day, you go home, and your partner’s had a great day: They kind of cancel each other out. When we’ve had a bad day, we’ve both had a bad day. The highs are that much higher and the lows are that much lower, but it’s an incredible journey to be on together. 

Lisa Joy: It’s not great for having laid-back beers where you talk about the weather, because it’s this all-consuming thing. We’re chatting about either our family and our home or the world of the show. I love the idea of the literary salons in France where artists and writers would all come and talk and drink absinthe. This is a reproduction of that, without the absinthe and with the addition of screaming toddlers. Getting to that place where you’re just two very exhausted parents at the end of the day, but in the meantime you’ve been in a saloon heist—it’s like you get the chance to live a couple lifetimes simultaneously with the person whose company you enjoy the most. 

AG: It almost sounds like you like each other.