Starz has just announced several new cast members for the upcoming Michael Bay-produced original series “Black Sails.” The eight episode freshman season of the drama series is set to air on Starz in 2014. The pirate adventure tells the story of Captain Flint and his men, and takes place 20 years prior to Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic “Treasure Island.”
Luke Arnold will star as the classic character, “John Silver,” in the years before his well-known feats. Arnold is a native of Australia, where he began working in television on series including “McLeod’s Daughters,” “Rush” and “Rescue: Special Ops.” He also went on to star in the feature film, Broken Hill. Zack McGowan will be featured as “Captain Charles Vane,” a rival pirate captain to the brilliant and feared “Captain Flint,” played by Toby Stephens. McGowan is most recently known for his role in the series, “Shameless.” Hannah New will be stepping into the role of “Eleanor Guthrie,” a beautiful and determined young woman who runs the smuggling operation on New Providence. She is a promising London-born actress who starred in the miniseries, “El Tiempo Entre Costuras (The Time Between Seams),” the feature Fuga De Cerebros 2 and most recently was filming Maleficent, a Sleeping Beauty tale told from the alternative perspective of the villainous sorceress, starring Angelina Jolie and Elle Fanning. Rising star Jessica Parker Kennedy has been cast in the role of “Max,” a tortured young prostitute who sees the dark side of New Providence. She is known for her work in the television series, “The Secret Circle,” and has appeared in the films 50/50 and In Time.
Additional casting includes classically trained UK actor Hakeem Kae Kazim playing “Mr. Scott.” He recently appeared in the TV series, “Strike Back,” and has had film roles in Hotel Rwanda, Black November and the upcoming, Half a Yellow Sun, to name a few. Toby Schmitz, who had appeared in the Australian series “Crownies,” and the miniseries “The Pacific,” will take on the role of “Rackham.” Clara Paget has been cast as, “Anne Bonny,” a female member of Captain Vane’s crew. Paget was in the film, One Day, and can be seen in the upcoming feature, Fast & Furious 6.
“Black Sails” will be executive produced by Michael Bay (Transformers, Armageddon, Pearl Harbor) and his Platinum Dunes partners Brad Fuller and Andrew Form (producers on The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) and Nightmare on Elm Street (2009). The series is created by showrunner and executive producer Jon Steinberg (creator “Jericho,” “Human Target”) and co-executive producer Robert Levine (“Touch”).
The production is set to shoot at Cape Town Studios in Cape Town, South Africa later this year.
