That, I would have liked to have asked.
Its stylish, clever, packed with nerd detail, and well worth your time.
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Superman III.That was a good movie… about hacking!
[Laughs] The Richard Pryor character!
I totally forgot about that.
Youre the first one thats made that connection.
I was keeping that a secret and now youve totally…
…blown season two wide open?
I have no idea.
Honestly, its one of those things where I thought it was so obvious growing up.
But you know what, it afforded me the opportunity to like, make my own show.
To fill that gap.
What would you say has been the most egregious representation of hacking on screen?
[Exhales loudly] Theres so many.
You rippedHackersto shreds in episode five ofMr Robot…
Yeah I did.
Did you ever seeThe Netwith…
Sandra Bullock.
That was a pretty bad one.
Swordfish, thats pretty bad.
God, even some contemporary films right now…
I mean, even up until last year.
I havent seenBlackhatbut I hear thats pretty up there.
I dont understand it.
[Laughs] I guarantee you.
With all the mad scrutiny that this show was put under on the net, was anything missed?
Did anyone not get something you inserted?
You know I dont think a lot of people… From what I read at least.
Did you get it?
In the Ferris Wheel.
You know, theres that huge scene.
Its a great movie and theres a great scene on a Ferris Wheel.
No, I did not!
So how does knowing that affect how you approach season two?
I think the only thing it affects is that maybe Ill be more scared [laughs].
But its not going to change anything, because I love adding details.
We take every opportunity.
Is this the right frame?
Is this the right composition?
Are we adding the right details?
And then Id bring the production designer over.
Because they werent secrets.
And then they readmorethings into it than I intended.
And then they caught a few of our mistakes!
So they were actually kind of like script supervisors.
Are we just going to work from nine to five and are we just zombies?
I could have called it Mr Zombie I guess.
Thats a whole different genre, right.
But alsoMr Robotwas like a combination of technology and humanity and thats another big theme of the show.
I remember there was one store called Motherboard Mayhem or something like that!
Its like hairdressers, theyve all got to have a pun in the name.
Curl Up and Dye…
Yeah exactly!
I enjoyed that and I wanted the spirit of the title to be along those lines.
It is, yeah.
And its too much of a spoiler to give any hints as to why?
It would be, yes.
Should we be thinking Spielberg?
No, you should not [laughs]
Right.
But the name Tyrell is definitely a nod toBlade Runner?
And isBack To The Future Part IIyour favourite film as well as Elliots?
I did love that out of the three.
I loved one, and obviously one is the more popular one, but there was something about two.
Two is the connoisseurs choice.
Another reference is the retro Sega-style logo, which instantly takes people our age back to a certain time.
Lets talk about the nineties vibe in the show.
What was it in nineties culture you wanted to pay homage to in the series?
Watching the first episode I was reminded of so much I watched as a teenager back then.
It may have been the last great era of paranoid thrillers.
So maybe thats part of the nineties thing?
I mean, thats when I watched most of my movies growing up.
It all seeps into you?
The Sega font was also a part of that too.
Talking of retro then, we have to talk about Christian Slater.
He was a big part of certain early nineties movies.
However, maybe subconsciously I did, because I remember watchingPump Up The Volumea million times andHeathersandTrue Romance.
Maybe subconsciously I was kind of drawing from that.
He must love you, for having finally written something that he can be brilliant in in 2015.
I think hes awesome and I love him.
You shouldnt be thanking me, I should be thanking you, youre awesome!
Has he ever thought about directing an episode ofMr Robot?
Because he did one of his old series,Breaking In, I saw.
I know, he did.
Yeah, weve definitely talked about it.
Its a hard thing to negotiate.
You think maybe the friendship wouldnt necessarily survive that working relationship then?
[Laughs] I dont know.
I wouldnt threaten it with it, lets just put it that way.
A little bit of the uniqueness I think people responded to on the show was my ignorance.
Arent you being a bit overly humble there, talking about ignorance?
Thats generous of you, isnt it, to say that itallrests on his performance?
I sat through maybe a hundred guys doing that audition for Elliot.
The characters incredibly narcissistic and didactic and it really took someone special to put some humanity into that.
Is that what you think his performance brings then, humanity?
It has been elsewhere.
You mention the precise visual style of the show.
Is that something youve seen yet, or is it too early to say?
I think thats way too early, right?
Lets talk about voiceovers then.
I really hate that.
I was told that in my screenwriting classes back in college and I think thats so terrible.
I just borrowed it from other movies and films.
I hope that future writers and filmmakers will keep using it.
You have those cycles.
Maybe every networks going to want their ownMr Robot.
So you think well see more hacker shows?
Maybe the long-awaitedHackersTV series…
Ha!
Mad Menis such a great show…
So tell us what it feels like to hear someone like [Mad Menshowrunner]Matthew Weiner praiseMr Robot.
Which I still dont believe, by the way!
Everyone keeps telling me that they heard him say that at the TCAs.
I guess now, Idobelieve it because I did read theVanity Fair article.
Its just so weird to me, because to me, hes a giant in television.
The Sopranos, too.
Thats such a huge compliment.
I dont know if I can take it in just yet.
What does it mean when people like him tell you theyre fans?
Theres also been Damon Lindelof, Steven Soderbergh…
I kind of have to ignore it.
Then the plan is that if you get to seasons three, four, and five, theyre… Have you had any commitment from the USA data pipe on that front?
Of all five seasons?
[Laughs] I wish!
No, we have not had any…
I mean, they know the plan.
In fact, I get the opposite sometimes.
I mean, not doing it withme.I keep reminding them that I only want to go four or five.
Again, weve seen it happen elsewhere on other shows we love.
You were a bigLostfan, I understand?
HugeLostfan [makes the connection, laughs]!
Yes, yes I was a bigLostfan [laughs]
Moving on swiftly.
I love the website, by the way.
You guys reviewed our show?
Yes, we did.
I read a lot of yourreviews.
You guys are awesome.
Specifically I remember the one article about… didnt you guys write something about…
Fight Club?
And it actually said everything… every time I got asked a question Are you a rip-off ofFight Club?
Thats really gratifying, thanks.
Like, blah, its justFight Club…
Yeah, I do.
I did write it.
Oh my God, that was an awesome article!
That, to me, is exactly on point to how I feel about it.
[End of etiquette breach.
So that seems to be the deal with all ofMr Robots references and nods.
That there are derivations, because the things you love are right there.
I dont know how many… Jason Statham?
I sawSpyon the plane here, he was really funny in that.
I didnt seeBank Job…
Crank?
I didnt seeCrank,although I keep hearingCrank 2is like, amazing.
Sam Esmail, thank you very much!
Robot, all episodes coming exclusively to Amazon Prime, Oct 16th
