‘Hell on Wheels’ season 4, episode 1 preview: Anson Mount on Cullen’s arc

Tonight, “Hell on Wheels” finally premieres on AMC with the start of its super-anticipated fourth season. But before we come to that, though, why not have a few more quotes from the man who has made Cullen Bohannon the awesome character that he is in Anson Mount?

Mount’s done a semi-publicity tour this week while also working to wrap up the season, and speaking to the Tennessean (remember that he originally hails from the state), he explained how he appreciates the balance and the layers to the story this time:

“In terms of Cullen, I think they’ve drawn a really interesting arc this year. This season it becomes much less about himself and much more that it (the railroad) is a lot of things to a lot of people … He’s starting to mature in that way, but at the same time, he’s making classic immature mistakes. It’s great because [Cullen] is trying to do right by this young lady [Naomi]. But at the same time, it’s kind of like saying, ‘I’m a heroin addict and I’m going to have a family.’ It’s like, ‘Whoa.’ “

We do expect to see a more “evolved” version of Cullen, at least in the way that he is going to try harder to be a good person … but there will always be that little devil dangling on him to embrace an outlaw lifestyle and be more of a man who goes where the road takes him. There’s also a rather large devil that he has to deal with, and he goes by the name of The Swede.

This is by far the most complicated season yet in terms of layers, and you can read more about that (and also preview some of the new characters) over at the link here now. Also, sign up now to get some further TV updates on everything we cover via our newsletter today.

Photo: AMC