Geekscape Interviews: Mark Ryan of Black Sails

Anticipation has been high for Starz’ new series Black Sails–the fan reaction to the trailer that premiered at the San Diego Comic Con last July was so strong that Starz renewed it for a second season essentially right then and there–and with the premiere just a week away (and for those you who just cannot wait, episode “I” is available at Machinima as of today), we were very excited to get a chance to chat with Mark Ryan, who plays Gates–Captain Flint’s Quartermaster, crew advocate and calm voice of reason amidst the violence and bloodshed, both on land and on board Flint’s ship, the Walrus.

Mark Ryan is a veteran stage and screen actor, playing an eclectic mix of roles, from Che in Evita in London’s West End, to Nasir in Robin of Sherwood, to the voice of Bumblebee in Transformers and Jetfire in Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon. 

Q: Black Sails is one of many pirate-themed shows out recently. What do you think makes it different?

A: This is a much more realistic, gritty take on pirates, and their life. It was dangerous. Really, it was a miracle anyone survived. And we’re dealing with historical characters like Captain Vane and Rackham–who were sociopaths. Successful pirates, but really not at all nice. And Zach [McGowen] really brings him alive on screen.

Also, the technology allowed us to do things that just couldn’t be done ten years ago. Filming on a real ship on an ocean is very hard to do, if you can imagine. But we had these full sized pirate ships, fully rigged, with 50 man on them, in front of a green screen, with another green screen for the ocean. It hadn’t ever been done before, not in this scope. and I think you can tell, when you watch it, just the incredible scope of the production.

Q: What drew you to the character of Gates?

Gate’s is the go-between, he’s part of the crew but he’s also Flint’s advisor…and, well, it’s a great role across the board in terms of emotion…it just runs the gamut. And he’s kind of the everyman, isn’t he? He’s the audience’s introduction to a great many of the characters, their link to this world. He interacts with everyone and sort of gives the audience the tour.

And the rest of the cast is just phenomenal. Everyone brought their best game, and it’s just been such great atmosphere on set.

Q: Machinima is working with Starz to air Black Sails a week earlier than it’s Starz Premiere. What do you think about these sort of new media/social media outlets and how they interact with traditional entertainment?

A:  (laughs) I’m so glad you asked that. I really believe this is the future of entertainment, you know, worldwide collaboration on content that is available to all. This new technology we have, the 3D cameras–which are tiny now, when I first worked on  [Transformers] Revenge of the Fallen the cameras were huge, and I remember when I got to the set on [Transformers]Dark Side of the Moon, I asked Michael [Bay], ‘where are the cameras?’ and he pointed to these tiny things…technology just whizzes along and people have to think out of the box.

I think the Black Sails production paradigm is one we’ll keep seeing, with absolutely quality production values and creative, entertaining content that will draw worldwide audiences, because you don’t have to be in one place, getting one channel, you can watch it anywhere, on your phone, at home, on a laptop. It’s the future and it’s amazing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pvxpv_fycl8

Black Sails stars Zach McGowan as the historical figure Captain Vane, Toby Schmitz as Rackham, Hannah New as Eleanor Guthrie, Jessica Parker Kennedy as Max and Mark Ryan as Gates. The series was executive produced by Michael Bay and his Platinum Dunes partners (Brad Fuller and Andrew Form) and created by Jonathan Steinberg (Jericho, Human Target) and Robert Levine (Touch).

Black Sails premieres on Starz next Saturday, January 25^th, at 9 p.m. or you can watch it right now on Machinima:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v68pX9k4PJY