Common Talks About His Slave Role On AMC's 'Hell On Wheels'

Late this summer, Deadline.com reported that rapper/ actor Common had landed a lead role in the AMC period drama pilot 'Hell on Wheels.'

Not only is it his first regular TV assignment, but the Chicago native is the first actor cast in the Western, which centers on the building of the Transcontinental Railroad. He will play Elam, a freed slave who comes west seeking work on the railroad and his place in the world. As a half black, half white man he does not completely belong to either world.

While promoting the DVD release of his last film, 'Just Wright,' Common spoke about doing the TV series, which just wrapped shooting the pilot in Alberta, Canada.

What can say about 'Hell on Wheels?'

Common: It's an AMC pilot that will be going to series at some point. It's based on the building of the Transcontinental Railroad. It takes place in 1865 and it's basically dealing with these different characters that come into the job of building the Transcontinental Railroad and the excursions of what that is. That means you're trying to do something that has never been done. You're having battles with nature, with Native Americans, with yourself and with other nationalities. It's a period piece that really deals with issues of today. A lot of the human issues that we deal with today are being addressed in this project.

How you became involved with this production?

Common: It was so well written. The character that was available for me to play was this freed slave of mixed race. He's like a rebel you know. He's a leader by nature and he's similar to the way Denzel (Washington) was in 'Glory' but still different. And it's not stereotypical. When you think of images you may have seen of slaves at that time, it's not that. It shows a human side that I never thought about. When I got to experience the audition and talk to the directors, I was like, I never even thought about the fact that as much as white people were definitely treating black people bad, there were still some Black and White people that had relationships. It's interesting that that existed because all we know overall is that the majority of them were treating us like animals. I think it breaks some stereotypes and you see some characters that you've never ever seen before on TV. It's well written. That's what made me want to do it.-- with Rob Smith