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A&E: What sort of man is Styles?
Sean Gilder: A big one. (Laughs) It's always
hard to answer that, because I think if you really start to overanalyze what
your character's like, then you lose the spontaneity of what the character is. I
think he's somebody who's honest and has integrity. I think he has tremendous
integrity. Or I hope he has. And he respects people that are hard working and
honest.
A&E: What about his relationship with
Hornblower?
SG: Oh, he loves him. It started from way
back, the first episode. Young Hornblower was put in charge of his prize crew,
which were a bit of a rabble. An ill-disciplined lot, as the phrase went. I was
the one that was supposedly the trouble-maker-to-be. When he first found me, I
was gambling and giving him grief. And slowly, Styles began to admire Horatio,
because he's rather like an officer who wants to be part of the team. Which is
very much what Ioan's like. And so, if you see your leader take the same risk
that you would, then you cannot do anything but admire him.
A&E: What's it like being back with the original
cast?
SG: That's great fun. It is a bit like a
team. We go out together, so it's not like somebody I haven't seen since the
last time we filmed. It's just continuous, really.
A&E: Do you think that helps in building your
characters, that you see each other off set a lot?
SG: I hope so. Particularly in that our
characters are quite close to the sort of principles that we hold as people. You
know, I think we're all quite decent people. I hope we are anyway. And I think
that is reflected in the way that we play the parts.
A&E: What is happening to the characters this
time around. What's the atmosphere aboard ship? How are the men getting along?
SG: Among the characters, there's lots of
tension. There's lots of interesting sub plots. Suffice it to say there's
somebody that I don't get on with very well, because basically he's a bad egg.
Styles sees that, and this guy tries to cause trouble with Styles, and Styles
stands up to him. So I get beaten up, two or three times. A bit like a weevil—I
don't know if they have them in the States—but one of those creatures that kids
knock down, and they go bing, boing, and they bounce back up. I think I'm a bit
like a weevil. I get knocked down, but I get back up. We're on Hornblower's
side. I think we basically try and support him as much as possible. And in turn
he supports us. I mean, he tries to defend me, in this fight situation. That
exacerbates the situation.
A&E: Tell me about Captain Sawyer. What sort of
state is he in?
SG: I think he needs to see the doctor. The
captain is a consequence of a mental instability. As a consequence of that, he
is tremendously cruel. He has a big psychological problem going on.
A&E: What kind of relationship
does Styles have with the captain?
SG: Well, I have very little. I mean, the
captain of the boat is really a god. Even though I'm his closest mate, as it
were, he still wouldn't have very much to do with me, and whatever he requested,
I would do.
A&E: But the crew does register some indignation
in one way or another.
SG: Very much so. Matthews, because he's
slightly more senior than me, can verbally register his feelings to Hornblower.
I don't think Styles would do that. He's so firmly lodged in his principles that
I think Hornblower can know what he'd think, but he doesn't say anything,
because he would know it's just not right. You don't go beating up people for no
reason. Matthews is slightly more diplomatic.
A&E: Let's talk about Styles' relationship with
Matthews. Are you two, you and Paul Copley, like that in real life? Do you have
a similar relationship?
SG: If I overanalyze anything, it's that I
tend to overanalyze the script, rather than the character. Particularly in
television. This is gung ho boys, and great fun and advantage. It's not a
psychological drama. Certainly my character anyway. And neither is Paul's. I
think what Paul and I have done, as a consequence of being from where we are, is
elaborate the characters, from the similarities that we have as people. Paul and
I are quite similar, I think, in character. I'm, probably louder, and more
opinionated than Paul, verbally. I think he still has the same sort of opinions
as I do. But he may keep them to himself. The characters of Matthews and Styles
like each other a great deal. They get on with each other very well. They're
there for each other. They constantly look after one another, secretly, without
ever, ever showing any affection. And I think that's what Paul and I probably
do. I adore his wife.
A&E: What was it like to shoot in Menorca,
Spain?
SG: The best part was getting back to the
hotel and snorkeling, if we wrapped in time, because we worked very, very
hard—12- to 14-hour days. The worst part was doing 12- to 14-hour days.
A&E: What was it like to work on the fight
scenes? Did you have to do a lot of rehearsing?
SG: The golden rule of fighting is safety,
and you can only gain greater safety by practicing and practicing and
practicing. As a stage fighter, you're taught how not to hit. If I'm going to
hit you, or if I'm going to hit that hand, you don't think of hitting the hand.
You think of hitting the point past the hand—which makes it safer. So safety and
practice is very important. And I wouldn't consider doing something unless I
felt one hundred percent safe.
A&E: But the weapons are real, aren't they?
SG: The swords are real. They're blunt, but
they are real. They sometimes give people plastic ones, which look metal. And
then they put in "ching, ching" sounds. The muskets are real. You've got to be
very careful, because somebody's letting off a musket in the middle of a
sequence. The flash can be quite near you. There was one moment, when I almost
sensed the gun was going to go off. I turned, so it didn't get in my eye.
A&E: Have you gotten to know a lot about life at
sea?
SG: We have. Andrew Grieve, the director,
was in the Merchant Navy, and has sailed all his life. We did a lot of
background when we did the first series. In the first series, we'd spend every
day at sea, so we learned how to hold ropes, and tie knots, and do everything
else. It's not to say that one gets glib, but there's nothing that we're going
to have to do that we haven't really done before. In fact, one of the things
I've missed most of all is doing all the rowing. Because we did a lot of rowing
in the first season.
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