Anson Mount, Colm Meaney and Dominique McElligott Talk Up Hell on Wheels

CANNES: World Screen Newsflash sat down with three of the stars of AMC’s new period drama Hell on Wheels—being offered up to the international market by Endemol Worldwide Distribution and Entertainment One Television—to talk about the series’ depiction of the construction of the transcontinental railroad in post-Civil War America.

Anson Mount stars as confederate soldier Cullen Bohannan, out to avenge the murder of his wife. Bohannan sets out on the so-called "Hell on Wheels," the traveling towns moving westward for the construction of the epic transcontinental railroad.

For TV and film actor Mount, a native of Tennessee, the role was alluring for a number of reasons, notably, he says, "There are very few films or television shows in which southern characters are neither stereotyped nor glorified. [In Hell on Wheels] they’re treated as human beings and treated with a sensitivity to the differences in the culture."

In the series, Irish actor Colm Meaney—widely known for his stints on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine—portrays the real-life character Thomas Durant, the man behind the construction of the railroad. He expects international audiences will be drawn to the show, even though it is about a time in American history that may not be widely understood around the world.

"There’s an audience there for a Western, as it were, although this isn’t your typical classical Western. It’s very much of that era, and it’s also an intriguing drama. The financing of this project, building a railroad across a continent, was amazing and a lot of skullduggery and wheeler dealing went on there. That’s fascinating. It’s a very rich story on so many different levels. You don’t need to know anything about the American West or this period to relate to these people. It’s great entertainment on its own."

Dominique McElligott, who plays a recent widow whose husband was working on the railroad, also sees the series as much more than a Western. "It features a diverse range of characters. There’s a real gritty nature to the show that will resonate around the world. It’s universal."