Ayla Ruby
Silo, the Apple TV+ series borne out of the novella series from Hugh Howey, features Rebecca Ferguson as Juliette Nichols, an engineer who unearths a conspiracy that threatens the truth of everything she knows in her underground silo-bound existence. In a society where people must adhere to a pact that bans technology and knowledge from the past, after an unexplained death, Nichols finds herself at odds with the powers that be in her fragile world, including an organization known as Judicial, led by Robert Sims, and played by Common. The show is from Justified creator Graham Yost and is, at its heart, a mystery told within a dystopian world. The writing and acting are stellar, so we were excited to sit down with Common about his role in the show.
Common has won awards for both his acting and his musical career. His filmography is extensive, but he’s probably best known for his work as the assassin Cassian in John Wick: Chapter 2. In Silo, Common has a very different role. As Robert Sims, he’s an agent of the Silo and carries on his shoulders the responsibility for keeping the community of 10,000 safe and everything that entails. It’s an interesting role, and the character is more than just a stoic leather-clad upholder of the pact. As Season 1 progresses, his secrets and that of the Silo are unraveled. Over Zoom, Common shared all that goes into crafting his portrayal of the character for the screen.
In our interview, he talked about why the show drew him in and what made him want to be a part of the project. He shared his thoughts on the complexity of Sims and the character’s morality and brought it back to real-world examples. Common talked in depth about that memorable fifth episode speech (yes, on the staircase!) about sacrifice and how it took so long to perfect and get into the layers of meaning within the words. The actor even teased a look at season two. Read on for the full interview and to see why there’s more than meets the eye to Sims.
Ayla Ruby: So I totally adore this show. I’m really excited to talk. I think Sims is such an interesting villain, the agent of the Silo, however you want to call him. So congratulations to you.
Common: Thank you. Thank you so much. And I’m so glad you dig the show and that means a lot to me and to us.
Ayla Ruby: What kind of drew you to the character and to the show? Because it’s super, super science fiction-y.
Common: Yeah. It was the writing. The writing. And when I was reading the scripts, when I first was introduced to it, my agent just said, “Hey, we have a project that we think you would really like.” And as I was reading it, I was like, “No, I really, really love this and I want to be a part of this.”
Common: And for me, I love to read, I love writing, I love stories. And the more I read Silo, the more I was like, “I want to keep reading. I want to keep reading. I want to know what is happening. Who is this person? How could this happen in the first episode?” It was just like I was reading for the joy of it as much as I wanted to be a part of it.
Common: And when I finally came across Sims in the story, I just felt he was very intriguing and very kind of mysterious in his own way, but also about the Silo and about… It’s almost like being pro-government in many ways, but I felt that there was more to him than just that. And as I read, I was like, “Oh, this is great.” Because as you said, it’s like yeah, some people can say he’s a villain, but I don’t look at him as a villain. I look at him as this person that really believes in what he’s doing and really believes that he’s doing it for the higher cause. It’s like those individuals who may work for the CIA or do that work. Some work is dirty, but it’s necessary because they believe that they’re protecting the greater whole. And that’s where Sims falls in line. But he has much more to him than that.
Ayla Ruby: I think that’s such a great comparison too, because I keep thinking of the moment where you’re going into this closet and all the video screens and stuff. He does stuff so everyone else in the Silo can survive and exist, so it’s such an interesting comparison.
Common: Yeah. And I always, I’ve been intrigued by human beings that have to take on those jobs and the struggles they may have to do some of the things, because sometimes I wonder, do they believe… When you are in that high government position, do you always believe in everything that the government is saying? And when you don’t, you still fall in line, but it’s going against what your truth is. And that’s a hard position to be in.
Common: To speak candidly, my daughter who’s a lawyer talks to me about, at times where she is defending or cooking up a case for something that she may not believe in. And that’s a hard place to be and especially when… Sims is not a bad dude. That’s one of the things that I enjoyed about when I read him and when I started working on the character was like, “This is not a bad dude.” He is just not going out, just terrorizing people and trying to take people out of their lives, take people’s lives and take their happiness. He’s just really doing what he believes is the best for the whole and is committed to that, and in many ways won’t sometimes look the other way because then he’ll get thrown off track and can become too emotional or connected and can be distracted and lose sight of what the total vision is. And that’s the type of mentality you got to have and practice. And I think about individuals that live that life in real life. It’s like, man, that’s a tough position to be in sometimes.
Ayla Ruby: Yeah, and it’s interesting to see on screen. So I think there’s this scene with Trumbull and I think maybe the fifth episode. And you have this amazing monologue for your character kind of going into why he does what he does before he becomes Sims’s shadow. And then eventually, he pushes him off the staircase. Can you talk about… And I think it kind of goes thematically into what you were just saying. Can you talk a little bit about filming that? What was that like, what that monologue was like? Just all of it. Anything.
Common: Listen, when I see a monologue, I get so happy because it’s something for me as an actor that I can really dive into and dig into. And I always believe it’s so much being said in the monologue. It’s a lot of words in the monologue, but it’s so much under there. And the more and more I kept… Because I started working on that monologue basically by the time… That was the fifth episode. By the second episode, I knew that monologue. I was like-
Ayla Ruby: Oh, wow.
Common: Yeah. I don’t want to be thinking about the words. I want to just be as present as possible in it. And I remember going through it and working also just on this whole show with my acting coach and just thinking about the layers and levels of what I was saying and why would I say these things. And why would I, even as Sims, why would I take time to talk to this guy and give him what all this is about before I have to remove him from life?
Common: So I went through a lot of just dynamics of okay, did I know that Sims was, like was that always in the plan when I walked him to that space in the bridge on the stairs? Did I know already I was going to do it? Did I make a decision? When did I… So I went through a whole process of that too because as an actor you don’t want to just get the monologue and just, man, I’m doing a monologue and then not have… If I’m talking about my father, it should resonate with the viewer. If I’m talking about what my mother did to my father, that should resonate because I’m saying it because it meant something to me and I’m sharing this information with him.
Common: And I came with the overall understanding that this was, for Sims, he didn’t get to talk a lot about what his emotional journey is and what his life has been. He doesn’t get to share that with people much. And I think it was him just really letting Trumbull know this is something that you sacrifice your whole life for. You got to give it for all and you’re doing it for a greater cause for the whole, the people. There’s so many people that for me are heroes of mine, whether it’s Muhammad Ali or Michelle Obama or Malcolm X, for me that have sacrificed their lives for the greater cause.
Common: So I understood that and just felt like this is where Sims is coming from. And he made that decision, as Trumbull said, he was willing to give his life for the Silo, so he gave his life for the Silo. And people asked me about that scene like, “Man, that was tricky man, and I didn’t think you were going to throw him off.” And I still, even when I’m out of character, still understand that Sims was doing that because he felt that that was the best thing to do for all the 10,000 people living in that Silo.
Ayla Ruby: It’s such a powerful scene, so I’m sure that’s why people ask because it was so cool.
Common: Thank you. I was excited that day. I know we all had these moments, whether it’s a big day where we got a big presentation or a big performance. I took that day in, made sure I was well rested and got there. As many times as our director wanted me to do it, I wanted to do it because I love getting to do several takes because that’s when I get to explore and find out new things about the scene. So we enjoyed it. The actor, his name was Henry, he and I were like, “Man, we really had fun doing this scene.”
Ayla Ruby: You talked a little bit about acting choices and you mentioned going into that scene kind of thinking, does Sims know this or does Sims know that, a lot of different choices kind of contribute to what a cool portrayal this is. And one of them is there’s just a physicality to Sims. Can you talk about how you brought that to life, how you decide to move the way you move as Sims? What went into that decision? Because one thing that keeps sticking out for me is everyone else is running around, but he’s just cool and collected and he’s not running up and down the stairs. He is not panicking.
Common: Yeah. Well, when I read the character, I wanted to find a way to express that strength and power and it just be natural. I had to find a natural way that this human being would move. And once I found that, I started to work on him and really felt that he was alive and breathing in me. I felt like a lot of the movements was just like he’s not a person that… People that have a lot of power, they don’t have to move around a lot. They don’t even talk a lot sometimes, some of them. And to be honest, it’s not like he’s one-dimensional. With his family, he’s open and talkative, but when he’s out in the Silo doing what he does for judicial, he is about business. So when you’re about business like that, his movements denoted that.
Common: And to go even deeper into my process, I also was able to… Because we were in London, I started to work with different movement coaches. I went to theater to see some theater in London and I got introduced to different people who were part of the theater company. And I met a movement coach. And it wasn’t like we were like, okay, let’s specifically work on Sims though we did work on things with Sims. It was just me bettering myself as an actor and it helped me to get Sims more in my body and discover that movement, because to me, honestly, a lot of it is about finding who the core of that person is and then just being free within that movement. And I love the stillness of Sims and I think our team started to really enjoy. He was the one person, as you said, in the Silo that didn’t have a frenetic movement when things were going crazy. Unless he was running to save his family, of course he was going to go over speed but otherwise…
Common: One of the first things, first films I ever got to be a part of… It was the first film, not one of. The first movie I ever got to be a part of, our director had me training, doing physical training and weapons training. And I remember from that moment because this guy used to be a part of, the guy that was training us was part of Secret Service, CIA, and he always kept telling me, “Smooth is fast. Smooth is fast.” So I really understood that when things are in chaos, you don’t have to be the chaos. You got to be direct and charged with power and let it be intentional. So Sims is very intentional in all that he does. And in his mistakes, he observes them and tries to move forward. So that has to do with his movement.
Ayla Ruby: That’s awesome. And I know we’re starting to get close on time, so I want to be respectful of your time, but I have to ask about season two. You just finished I think maybe last month. And I know you can’t go into spoilers, but can you talk or tease at all about what’s in store for your character or maybe even the relationship with the mayor for your character?
Common: Well, season two, man, I got so excited when I read season two, like, “Wait, this is getting better? This is like, oh whoa.” And it’s a lot of new things happening. For Sims, I feel like you get to know him better as a person. And things are not as easy with all the powers that be with Sims. And you get to see his wife and his son and how they play a strong part in not only him, but in the Silo.
Common: And new relationships start to develop. Some new conflicts happen. And I think you get deeper into the soul of who Sims is. And I hope it will allow the audience and the viewer to be like, “I like Sims and I don’t like Sims.” I hope that it will create that type of way, because for me, some of the best characters I’ve watched in film and TV, I love them and I don’t like certain things about them or they bad guys, but I just love them. The Joker, Heath Ledger, that was one of my favorite characters I ever seen in films. And he was doing the darkest things, but I loved him for some reason. Or even I know I’m going to the heights of some of the greatest performances ever, but Javier Bardem in No Country For Old Men. Yeah, that dude, you was scared of that dude, but you wanted to see him. And I think, I hope with Sims we can create something where you’re like, “This dude has got some dark things but I love him.”
Ayla Ruby: Well, that’s a wonderful note to end on, I think. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk.
Common: Ayla, thank you so much. Have a great day. I appreciate you. Thanks for supporting Silo.
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