‘SAIL’ INTO SUNSET,
Billy Bones started “Black Sails” as the purest soul. He ends the series as perhaps one of its greatest villains.
And his portrayer, Tom Hopper, has enjoyed every moment of his voyage.
“It’s surreal in a lot of ways,” the British actor told the Herald last week. “The last four years have been a whirlwind, and the show has just flown by, and now that it’s close to finishing, it’s kind of bizarre. It’s a great finale (tonight at 9 on Starz) and it finishes off the story really well.”
Before this season began, producers warned him about Billy’s dark turn.
“They wanted to give Billy a bit of a physical and mental makeover, a darker edge given what he’s been through. This is a hardened soldier who’s been in the trenches for so long and had a lot of responsibility and he’s making decisions, and I don’t think he ever really asked for that,” he said.
“It was actually a pleasure to play that arc as an actor, it’s a gift. I’m very fortunate. Billy is a great character; he has a lot of levels. He does the action stuff; he’s a physical guy, and he’s also a kind guy. He’s been in the pirate world for so long, and Flint (played by Toby Stephens) damaged him, and I feel sorry for him. He just made some bad decisions, and he didn’t really ask for this. He’s always tried to do the right thing in the pirate world.”
Billy and Flint do have a reckoning, tonight, in a brawl that will give some viewers vertigo.
The actor says both he and Stephens, whom he considers a good friend, just went for it, and the results are impressive onscreen.
“You just have to get used to being uncomfortable and just get on with it,” he said. “To end the show with a big fight was a great way to top it off.” Though “Black Sails” ends tonight, Hopper won’t be long gone from our screens — he’s joined the cast of HBO’s “Game of Thrones.” He will be playing Dickon Tarly, Samwell’s brother, but cannot say a word more about the story.
He acknowledged that with runs on three shows with cult followings — “Merlin,” “Black Sails” and “Game of Thrones” — “If nothing else, comic cons will be calling
‘They wanted to give Billy a bit of a physical and mental makeover, a darker edge.’ — tom HoPPer, on his role as Billy Bones in ‘Black Sails’
for the rest of my life.”
He’s also venturing into producing, taking on an adaptation of the war memoir “Sniper One: On Scope and Under Siege with a Sniper Team in Iraq,” from Dan Mills, based on Mills’ war experiences in Iraq.
As for “Black Sails,” he said, “We created something special, and I’m so proud of the stuff we did on it. I hope people put in the time to give it a watch.”