Acting in ‘Mr. Robot’ has made Carly Chaikin as paranoid as a hacker

By Keith Nelson Jr. July 20, 2016

USA Networks’ hit drama centered on the hacking group Fsociety, Mr. Robot, is so real, it has even inspired its actors to change their lives. In an interview with Digital Trends, Mr. Robot star Carly Chaikin explains how the show made her more paranoid about computers, what it is like to represent a woman in technology, and why Pokémon Go is stupid.

On Mr. Robot, Chaikin plays Darlene, the heart sunglass-wearing embodiment of the angst necessary for hackers like the members of Fsociety to want to save the world with hacking. Yesterday, Chaikin joined Reshma Saujani, CEO and founder of Girls Who Code, and Christina Mercando, founder of Ringly, at concept shop Story in New York City to discuss women in the tech field.

“Playing a woman in the tech world never crossed my mind as a thing until people started bringing it up all time,” Chaiking told Digital Trends. “People act like it’s unicorns speaking English all of a sudden.”

In the first episode of Mr. Robot’s second season, Charlene and Fsociety hacks into a woman’s smart home, causing her lights to flicker, heat to shut off, and TV to play uncontrollably until she leaves to escape the madness. After recently wrapping up filming the second season, Chaikin admits the show’s real life hacks have given her a new paranoia to obsess over. “I never leave my computer open. That becomes a big OCD thing. If I see people leaving their laptops open I always close them.”

Check out Digital Trends’ video interview with Chaikin above as she explains what the Mr. Robot set is like and which episode in the second season of Mr. Robot has her favorite scene.

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Keith Nelson Jr.

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Keith Nelson Jr is a music/tech journalist making big pictures by connecting dots. Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY he…

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