Meaney On Playing Historical Figure Durant
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Colm Meaney‘s AMC series Hell on Wheels is in its fourth season, and Meaney explains what it’s like to play Financier and Railroad Promoter Thomas Durant (1820-1885).
Hell on Wheels is “centered on the lawless town known as ‘Hell on Wheels,’ which travels with the western end of the Union Pacific Railroad. The series explores the railroad’s greed and corruption, the immigrant experience and the plight of the newly emancipated African-Americans.”
Playing Durant is “great,” said Meaney. “Being the only guy in town who is clean and dresses well is wonderful; it’s a great sense of superiority.”
According to Meaney, Durant would be akin to today’s Richard Branson. “[Branson] made all of the money in records and then decided he wants an airline and then decided he wanted to build a ‘bridge to the moon’ or something.
Meaney is nothing like Durant himself. “I’ve never made as much money as him,” he said. “I’ve never had the ambition that this man had. I’ve never had the ego that this man had. He was driven, you know?”
Hell on Wheels will air next on November 8 at 9 PM on AMC.
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