Hell on Wheels - Anson Mount Interview

Your character is guy with a lot on his mind, to say the least. When you got the script, what struck you first about it?
As a Southern man, I’m always struck by a Southern role that’s not stereotyped or villainized or aggrandized. Not just that, but a period Southern character tends to be more stereotyped in Hollywood. It obviously dodged all those bullets.

Was there anything about the time period that made you take notice?
First of all, about three years ago I started praying to the universe or whatever that I wanted to do Westerns. I feel like God has paid me back in spades and is even at times laughing at me. Definitely, the time period [was interesting]. I was raised in the South here, and the interest in that [era] borders on religious. So I was raised in a thorough education in the Civil War. But what I was not educated in that well was Reconstruction. Your history class tends to focus on the Civil War, and then it was really unpleasant for a while and then we had World War I. It’s a very masculine way of looking at history. So I needed to do some brushing up when it came to Reconstruction, and I’m glad that I did. It was fascinating.

Source: Full interview @ Vulture