Tron: Ares star says he "watched a lot of DEF CON conferences and lock picking" videos to channel the new sci-fi sequel's "manic" villain: "I think a big part of it, too, is his relationship with his mother"

Evan Peters as Julian Dillinger in Tron: Ares — (Image credit: 20th Century Studios)

Evan Peters is no stranger to playing dark characters, from fictional cult leader Kai Anderson and vampire Austin Sommers to real-life serial killers James Patrick March and Jeffrey Dahmer. Tron: Ares sees the American Horror Story star take on a new type of villain: larger-than-life tech whizz Julian Dillinger – and with no history to help steer his performance, he looked to all sorts for inspiration on how to play him.

"Well, I looked back at David Warner's performance, and Clu's, I think; just watching the previous two was really important to sort of see what the tone was of those characters," Peters tells GamesRadar+, referencing Julian's fictional grandfather Ed Dillinger, Sr from the 1982 flick and Jeff Bridges' hacker Program, who featured in the original and 2010's Tron: Legacy. "You know, Julian's a brilliant coder, so I was watching a lot of DEF CON conferences and lock picking videos and all sorts of fun stuff. But, also, I think a big part of it is his relationship with his mother and the dynamic of that, the stress of that and trying to get her approval, and so a lot of the character work stemmed from that."

In Tron: Ares, Julian is hellbent on becoming the first industry titan to print digital objects and beings in the real world. But where ENCOM CEO Eve Kim (Greta Lee) wants to use such advancements to create unending supplies of food and medicines, Julian wants to make expendable super soldiers. Part of his insecurities come from the fact that he was chosen by the board to take over from his more altruistic mother Elisabeth (Gillian Anderson), and his desperate need to get her on board with his reckless vision.

"It was a struggle for her to let go of it," says Anderson. "I mean, it was a decision above her head, apparently – and at a time when I think she probably felt like she, you know, had brought it up to its most successful period. The rug was pulled out from under her but at the same time, she wants to support her son. So it's quite loaded, it's quite complex."