Black Sails star Toby Stephens talks clichéd pirates, fighting for independence and becoming a rum connoisseur

 
Sailing the seven seas: Toby Stephens as Captain Flint in Black Sails
Toby Earle23 January 2015
The Weekender

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Toby Stephens returns as Captain Flint in the second series of Black Sails (available on Amazon Prime) and he spoke about why Flint’s a gunslinger, the show’s contemporary parallels, and his knowledge of rum.

Captain Flint wasn't in the best of places at the end of the first series...

No, he is in a bit of a corner. What's cool is that the audience are also perplexed by him - hopefully - as they might like him but are challenged by his actions and don't understand what his motivations are. Is he a psychopath or is there something else there?

The second series takes us back 15 years to London and to a younger Flint, so we find out what is driving him and how he ended up being a pirate. It's a desperate trade, not some romanticized version of it where they're all having great fun, swinging on ropes.

In action: Toby as Catain Flint

What was your initial interest in the show other than seven months in South Africa?

The character, Flint, and the style of it seemed much more like a gritty Western. These characters are gunslingers, more than clichéd pirates. I like the idea of Flint being very charismatic but dark and someone we don't quite understand. These are desperados rather than comic or camp characters.

Your co-star Hannah New said she thinks this was a nascent time of capitalism. Do you see parallels between the characters' actions and those which take place in boardrooms now?

There are all kinds of parallels - capitalism and how these people are also fighting for their independence. What's revealing in the second series is how it shows you the pragmatic side of how they did what they did. I love the idea of them being their own PR, and they had to scare the s**t out of people. They didn't want to battle, so when you're taking a ship you don't want to lose life because you want to take that crew on and augment your own.

On set: the cast of Black Sails at sea

You said before we don't know what Flint's motivation is, but in your eyes is he someone who wants to gather up a whole load of cash and then vanish?

He's not just someone who wants to make money - he's very pragmatic and thinks ten moves ahead of everyone else, but it's not necessarily that he wants an easy life. Is it revenge? Is it to create his own destiny? These are questions I don't want to, or can't answer now.

Are you hoping the show runs so that it converges on Treasure Island's timeline so you end up playing a big, gouty, corpulent lunatic?

What we're doing is a very different takes on the format and period, but I'd be really interested to know where he ends up and how it will subvert the Flint we see in Treasure Island. I don't think the writers are perversely undercutting Treasure Island - they respect it – but what they're doing is giving a different point of view.

And what’s your rum intake like now?

I don’t drink but I don’t think Flint is a huge drinker anyway as he’s much too in control. I know there are other guys on the crew who are now rum connoisseurs. I only thought there were about two makes of rum.

More celebrity interviews

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Black Sails returns with Series 2, available on Amazon Prime Instant Video from today.

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