Justin Theroux in 'Fallout' season two. Lorenzo Sisti / Prime (C) Amazon Content Services LLC Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment Logo text [This story contains spoilers from Fallout season two, episode five, "The Wrangler."]After several quiet episodes in the Justin Theroux department, Fallout fans finally heard the words they were waiting for: "Mister House would like to see you." The Leftovers star is the man of the hour this week on Fallout, appearing in Amazon Studios' video game adaptation as one of the franchise's most notable players, Robert House. In a setting where so much is unknown (How did the apocalypse come about? Who ended the world? And, why are they called Deathclaws?), House has all the answers. A mathematician and roboticist who claims "knowing everything" as his primary talent, Theroux's character is the most enigmatic figure in the show up until now, all the more intriguing after his long-awaited face-to-face with Walton Goggins' Cooper Howard. Related Stories TV 'Fallout' Season 2 Trailer Gets Ready for War Movies Walton Goggins Joins Amber Midthunder in Action Movie 'Painter,' James Cameron Executive Producing (Exclusive) Following a clandestine conversation in the bathroom at a veteran event some episodes earlier, Howard and House finally see each other for who they are in episode five, which was largely set in Las Vegas and future counterpart, New Vegas. Flashbacks bring Cooper to the City of Sin on a mission to assassinate Howard on behalf of the resistance, with an eye toward stopping armageddon before it ever gets off the ground. Howard doesn't want to go through with it, but he finds himself called upon by House all the same. Not only that, House knows all about the assassination plot, thanks to his propensity for running probability odds. While he wants to know everything, there are things House doesn't know, including Howard's wife's role in things, or even Howard himself, beyond the fact that he's supposed to kill House. House says he's not going to bring about the apocalypse, but that doesn't mean someone else won't spin the end of the world online - perhaps even Howard himself. The scene is the culmination of so much of Howard's pre-apocalypse journey, not to mention the crowning moment between Goggins and Theroux in the series thus far. In fact, Theroux's very involvement in the series owes thanks to a phone call from his old pal Goggins, making the dramatic scene between them all the richer. Below, Theroux speaks with The Hollywood Reporter about all that's involved in bringing one of the most iconic Fallout characters from the video games to TV life. *** With Robert House, you're stepping into the shoes of one of the major characters from the Fallout games. Does that assignment come with extra pressure? Of course! But at the same time, I've had a couple opportunities, whether it's Iron Man or Beetlejuice or whatever, to step into things that are sort of preexisting and that are huge. I've learned early on that you can't really take it on. The only thing you can do is show up and be the most believable version of that character you can possibly be. Then hopefully the fans enjoy it. So I can say I did have the opportunity to really, I think, ring this character out in a good way, and I put my back into it to try and please them. Did you hone in on a central tenet of the character to bring him to life? You never see him in the game in flesh and blood. He's always sort of on a monitor, and so I decided to try and pick up a big bat and not do any impersonations of what was already in the game. That's what the guy did in the first episode, picking up the bat! Right, he does. (Laughs.) I wanted to swing for the fences a bit, at least with the voice and the way he carries himself, without being too ridiculous. But I did know that I wanted a voice that immediately placed people beneath him, some of that old Connecticut, articulate, really biting off the ends of consonants way of speaking that is a lost art. Those people who can speak in paragraphs, and beautiful paragraphs. So I wanted to do that, and it was already baked into the writing, too, but I wanted a voice that immediately put people beneath him. Walton Goggins as The Ghoul in Fallout season two. Courtesy of Prime (C) Amazon Content Services LLC You have previously said it was Walton Goggins who connected you to the higher-ups at Fallout for the role. Once you connected, what were your biggest questions about the character? Obviously when you're presented with this character and material, there are a trillion questions. Even having watched the first season, there were a trillion questions. How does this work? What does this look like? And it was just like a warm bath. It wasn't cold water. They were really helpful in answering any qu