Black Flag's Star Thought He Was Auditioning for a TV Show

"It was pitched to me via my agent as a pirate TV show." That's how Matt Ryan, the actor behind Edward Kenway, describes his first encounter with what would become one of the most iconic roles in the Assassin's Creed franchise. Not a game pitch. Not a mocap session. A TV show about pirates.

In an interview with PC Gamer, Ryan explained that the deception was deliberate. Ubisoft used casting director Amy Hubbard to get him into the room under the pretense of a television project, keeping the Assassin's Creed sequel under wraps. It wasn't until the callback that the team leveled with him. "They were like, listen: this is a videogame," Ryan recalled. "They said it was an Assassin's Creed, and I'd played the first one, so I was like 'great, that's a cool game.' But I didn't think it was mocap, so when it was mocap, I was over the moon. I get to be the character, in the body, you know?"

I love this story because it says so much about how games were perceived in 2011 or 2012, when that audition would have taken place. Studios were still disguising game roles as film or TV work to attract traditional actors. The fact that Ryan was thrilled when he found out it was performance capture, not disappointed, makes it even better. He wanted more involvement, not less.

15 Years Later, Back in the Hood

Ryan is returning to the role for Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, Ubisoft's full remake launching July 9 on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. The game includes newly written and motion-captured scenes, all featuring a fresh performance from Ryan. He told interviewers that slipping back into Edward felt natural, comparing it to riding a bike, though he acknowledged his voice has dropped slightly over the past 15 years.

The original recording process gave him plenty of time to internalize the character. Ryan would fly into Montreal, shoot for a week, leave while the technical work was completed, then return for the next batch. "That was over a long period of time, so you get to know Edward quite well," he said. To prepare for Resynced, his method was simple: he loaded up the original game and played it.

What's particularly interesting is how Ryan talks about the new narrative content. He referenced lead writer Darby McDevitt's claim that one of the new scenes is now a "top five favorite," and agreed without hesitation. "Those scenes that he wrote are in my top scenes that I've played as Kenway," Ryan said. He was especially impressed by a mysterious new character and the actor portraying them, though he wouldn't reveal specifics. "I was like, this character is awesome. And the actor who played it, it was like, I don't have to do anything. I've just been listening to this guy and reacting. He was so good."

Ryan also pushed back against the idea that the new content is padding. "They're not just there for the sake of filling it out," he said. "They really add to the character. They add depth to the character and the story." Given how protective Ryan has been of Edward Kenway over the years, and how candidly he speaks about the role, I'm inclined to take him at his word here. This isn't a press tour soundbite from someone collecting a paycheck; the man accidentally leaked the remake's existence at a convention because he couldn't contain his excitement.

That convention moment is part of a broader pattern. Ryan discovered how deeply fans loved Edward Kenway at his first Comic-Con, where he was promoting his role as John Constantine for the NBC series. Alongside the Constantine cosplayers, the line was filled with Edward Kenways. "Some would take a year to build the costume," he said. "They'd be coming to me and quoting their favorite lines." He drew a distinction between games and other media that I think actors are only now starting to fully appreciate: "With TV and movies, people watch it once, maybe twice if you're lucky, so they spend a bit of time with you. But with a videogame, they spend a lot of time with you."

Ubisoft itself has called the Black Flag remake its "worst-kept secret," and Ryan's own loose lips at that convention didn't help matters. But the fact that the announcement still landed with excitement from fans says something about how much goodwill this particular game has banked over 13 years. Edward Kenway wasn't a typical Assassin's Creed protagonist. He wasn't driven by duty or revenge; he was a selfish, reckless pirate who stumbled into the Creed and only found his moral compass two-thirds of the way through the story. Ryan clearly understands why that resonated, describing Edward as someone "from a small province who's wanting a better life, who's willing to do anything to get that," and whose arc is defined by realizing "the person he was seeking to be doesn't lie in the place he was seeking it."

Black Flag Resynced features a completely reworked combat system, upgraded parkour, and new characters alongside the expanded story. Hands-on previews are expected later this week, on May 21. The game's future leadership at Ubisoft's newly launched Vantage Studios includes Jean Guesdon, who served as creative director on the original Black Flag, along with producers Martin Schelling and François de Billy.