Jimmi Simpson on Unanswered Ending

[This story contains spoilers from the Black Mirror season seven sequel “USS Callister: Into Infinity.”]

Making Black Mirror‘s first-ever sequel was a wild ride. Jimmi Simpson, one of almost all of the returning actors who came back for the season seven episode, likens it to “an artistic battalion.”

“It was chaotic, but everybody was up for it,” he says of returning to play his character, Walton, who is now running tech company Infinity in “USS Callister: Into Infinity” after the death of former CEO Robert Daly (Jesse Plemons) in the first film. The 90-minute sequel — which was at first set to be a series — reunited Simpson with co-star Cristin Milioti and gave him the chance to act opposite her not only in the real world but also as their in-game characters (who Simpson describes as his Caveman Walton and Spaceman Walton) as they voyage on another adventure to save themselves inside the immersive game.

Though the real version of his character gets his comeuppance in the end (he’s arrested by the FBI for his role in making nonconsensual copies of humans for the game), in-game Walton is handed a more open-ended fate. In the end, all of the copies defeat Daly (played by returning star Plemons) once again and save themselves, only to be trapped again; this time inside the head of Milioti’s character, Nanette.

“‘Callister’ is like this perfect crossing of the stream between very predictive sci-fi and human loneliness,” says Simpson of the unanswered questions raised by the sequel. “The ending is saying: Okay, so you were unhappy with that? How about this? Now, what do you think? Figure it out!”

Below, Simpson talks to THR about the wild ride of making the “Callister” sequel (“It was manic. I don’t think we could have done it if we weren’t already family,” he says), the joys of returning to Black Mirror for the follow-up to the Emmy-winning saga and what he wants to see in the threequel.

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This “USS Callister” sequel was in the works for a very long time. When did it become a reality for you?

Charlie [Brooker, creator-writer] had let us know he was really fond of this episode, which was just lovely because I kind of idolized him before I even met him. Then he reached out in the space between “Callister” [season 4] and “Infinity” [season 7] with a couple of ideas. They weren’t going full steam ahead, but it was clear he was really interested in finding out more about these characters.

When the last script came through, it couldn’t have been more than a year and change ago, it all made sense. On the page, it was realized — not just as an extension of what we’d already seen, but the reason why we needed to go deeper [with the sequel]. I was like, “He figured it out. It’s gorgeous!” Then he brought on some other writers [Bisha K. Ali, William Bridges, Bekka Bowling] and they just knocked it out of the park. It’s such a pleasure to be invited back to Black Mirror. It’s like being surrounded by a bunch of Nobel Prize Laureates, and I’m wearing a vest and nothing else.

Your returning director Toby Haynes told me that at one point this sequel was seriously going to be a series. Why do you think it worked best as a film instead?

The episode outlines that I saw prior to “Infinity” were more about, “Let’s explore these folks that we really took a shine to.” And I think what Charlie and the team realized is that it’s less about more time, and it’s more about figuring out the deeper purpose and how all of this started, which doesn’t need to be meandered around and extending the episode to get to the next. I think they came up with the most brilliant and clever way of doing an extension of “Callister.”

We do get a good amount of Walton backstory in “Infinity,” but was there anything in those series outlines that you were able to bring to your own personal bible of playing him?

Not especially. It hadn’t gone that deep. But it was clear that there was just so much love [for the characters]. It was like you could see Charlie shining the flashlight around the cave and saying, “I know there’s another avenue of gold here.” That’s what it felt like to me.

They recreated these sets and we get to see you in all of them: In the real-world Infinity office and then in the game, both on the Callister ship and also on a planet for your Tom Hanks-Cast Away moment. Did you block film the different versions of your characters, or did you go back and forth between real Walton and game Walton?

It was a wild ride, I got to tell you. It was a huge undertaking, as you can see. But it’s still a TV show; it’s not like it’s an endless budget. It’s a job where we all are going to get together and make this piece of art in this amount of time. Luckily, everybody was so on the same page of loving the story, loving Charlie, loving Black Mirror. It was chaotic, but everybody was up for it.

The crew was fantastic. We had digital techno cranes moving everywhere. The cast was really prepared. Cristin [Milioti] is bouncing around in every frame. I jumped from Caveman Walton to Spaceman Walton and back to Caveman Walton for a couple of days — and that’s a full [makeup] situation, like two hours. But it was like an artistic battalion. Also led by Toby [Haynes], who is like a really gifted child who is like, “I can create now!” He follows his wonderful impulses and we all get behind him. It was manic. I don’t think we could have done it if we weren’t already family.

The two versions of your character are the most different of all the characters. He’s a villain on the outside, but part of the crew in the game. You got the chance to act opposite yourself when you and Cristin go into the game. What was it like filming that scene?

There were a couple great guys [who were stand-ins]. We were on set the whole time, so we were able to rehearse everything and run everything together. But again, it was chaos. So everybody that came in to double was part of the fray. They were in there, ducking from bullets. They had to be prepared at a moment’s notice. Sometimes we would switch stuff around and they’re like, “I didn’t know I was going to work today. Let’s do it!” They assembled a great team.

The [planet scenes] with Cristin were a hoot. That was at the very end of the shoot. Me and Cristin went up and shot that in Wales with a crew. We went to the Canary Islands for the first season to get the other world, but this was right in Wales. We’re both theater people, so we got to prep. We got to do our lines together in this little hotel and those days were the most fun. It was Cristin and I being allowed to really get silly, but in character. They set it up so nice for us, so we got to fully drop into being ridiculous. Working with Cristin; sometimes she’s the straight man, sometimes I am. It’s always this shared mission of, “We got this.” It’s always fun and safe to explore character with her.

In that spaceship scene when your real versions meet your copies, Nanette (Milioti) is arguing that the copies are humans while you are gleefully trying to shoot and destroy them, like it’s a game. You seem drawn to stories that debate consciousness so, how do you feel about that argument?

We all talked about it. “Callister” is like this perfect crossing of the stream between very predictive sci-fi and human loneliness and need for connection. I play a lot of, you could say, villains, but they don’t really know they are. They’re watching the documentary of their life thinking they’re going to be the hero. They don’t understand why everybody’s turning on them. Most of those folks are coming from a source of pain and loss. With dark matter, I also have to explore what’s happening here: When did they split, and where do they share DNA?

With the Waltons, they had the same trauma that turned them into the same dick. But the other Walton came to terms with it, and so he understands his fallibility and also understands the joy of being on the same level as someone. To climb up there is always because you’re frightened of sharing yourself with each other. And most people who are up there are just terrified, terrified of being honest about themselves. So there’s Walton, the tech billionaire who runs a multi-billion dollar company solely so he can hide from the fact that he has no faith in himself. I don’t know of any man like that, but that’s Walton, and then you have a Walton who’s seen the light. It’s so fun to be able to play the consciousness of someone who has understood that they are a tiny piece as opposed to everything, and that’s the big difference between those two.

What do you make of the ending and all of your copies being stuck in Nanette’s head? Is this a happy ending? Is it a depressing ending? It’s certainly open-ended.

I think big change in life is never a choice. It’s forced upon you. And then you have to adapt somehow. This ending does throw into question a whole lot of shit long term for the existence of these people, but I think it also is perfect not only in Black Mirror world but also in our world. It says, “Okay, so you were unhappy with that? How about this? Now, what do you think? Figure it out!”

There are a lot of unanswered questions, and that is the next step. They stepped outside of this imminent danger and what they have now is each other, truly in a deeper way. And there’s stuff to explore there. Obviously, we know with personalities forced into this space, there’s going to be some wild shit. But I really respect this ending very much, and I enjoy it.

Charlie has said he wants to keep writing for your characters, which must be why he left so many of you still viable. What would you want to tackle if you get a third shot at playing Walton?

I would hold the boom mic for Charlie if he wanted me to. I’m in, whatever that is. But I’m most interested in Dudani! I want to know more about Dudani. Paul [G. Raymond], the actor who plays him, is really, really gifted. I can’t wait to see that character blossom. I feel like that’s the next one that will really come to life.

Jesse Plemons’ return was also kept a secret. You and Cristin each had one-on-one scenes with him. What was it like to play opposite a very different Daly for this sequel?

It was great because Jesse, even though he’s not playing that kind of [villainous] motivation he was in the first, it’s still bubbling underneath. Especially after Civil War, I’m more afraid of him when he’s calm than ever before! It was such a pleasure. Sure it’s been eight or nine years, but he’s one of my favorite actors to watch. He’s still the same guy. He’s there to be a part of the team, to tell this story in the most inventive and truthful way we can. So that was awesome.

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Black Mirror season seven is now streaming on Netflix. Read THR’s “Infinity” interviews with Charlie Brooker and Jessica Rhaodes, Toby Haynes and Cristin Milioti — and check out our series rankings.