Posted Wednesday, December 20, 2017 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
Atlanta native Scott Wilson has been acting in show business for a half century, going back to "In the Heat of the Night" in 1967. Over the years, he's been in films ranging from "The Great Gatsby" to "Dead Man Walking." His avuncular but tough-minded Hershel on "The Walking Dead" remains one of the show's most popular characters years after Hershel was decapitated by the Governor.
This Friday, 75-year-old Wilson is back on the big screen in a modest but pivotal role in the film "Hostiles," a Western starring Christian Bale and Rosamund Pike. It opens in limited release and will be out in Atlanta January 5, 2018.
Set in 1892, Bale's character Capt. Blocker has been fighting Native Americans all his life and hates them. But as his final act of duty, he is assigned to escort an important Cheyenne family back home through treacherous lands. At one point, Wilson's character shows up and he's not terribly sympathetic toward either Blocker or the Cheyenne's. To not give anything obvious away, Wilson's character helps inform how Blocker's viewpoints have shifted.
"I like the movie myself," said Wilson. "It's well written and well acted and shot beautifully. That's why I got involved. It's a conflicted period of history. It was pretty clear Native Americans were not treated well. But it's clear they had issues among themselves, too."
Read more from Wilson on myajc.com where he talks about Hershel and "The Walking Dead"
About the Author
