#thank you con o'neill for this meal

[devotioncrater]

[fuckyeahizzyhands]

Con O'Neill interview with Awards Radar's Steven Prusakowski 😭😭😭❤❤❤

SP: Busy time of year, but, you know, starting to slow down in just enough to hang out with the family and do all the cooking for, like 48 hours and then.

Con: Are you the main cook in the house?

SP: I am the main cook.

Con: Yeah. So am I. I love it.

SP: I love it, too.

Con: It's my go to place.

SP: Yeah.

Con: Because when I left school, I trained to be a chef.

SP: Oh, wow.

Con: Briefly. Another story.Okay, let's rock and roll.

SP: Well, that passion never leaves you, I think. I think once you start, especially when someone enjoys and says, hey, I really liked your food.I hear from my daughter's friends or their parents, she loved your pasta or whatever it was, I'm like, okay, now I'm...

Con: It's the best feeling, isn't it?

SP: It is. It's wonderful.

Con: And just that kind of inherent, nurturing thing of just going into the kitchen empty handed and coming out with a meal for people is really rewarding. And I love it. It's intoxicating. I absolutely love it.

SP: Same here.

Con: Because I travel so much, I don't always get a place with a kitchen. And that's why I always try and get an apartment when I'm filming because it just gives me a place to be in my head that isn't about work.

SP: Yeah. Yeah. Well, I can talk cooking forever, but-

Con: But we should.

SP: I know we're short on time and I have a ton of questions and I won't get to all of them. So let's just jump into the series and maybe we could pick it back up. Sorry to interrupt, but I love the series. I love your character and your performance.

Con: Thank you.

SP: It's a stellar, and there's so much to Izzy that we see on the surface, but there's so much more to him beneath. How was this character originally pitched you and what did you initially want to bring to him?

Con: The thing about this character was he wasn't in the pilot. So when I spoke to David about it, there was nothing written. So he explained it in very broad terms. But then I quite like specifics when I'm choosing projects. And kind of... he brought up Salieri from Amadeus, and I really hooked into that. Now, I don't know whether we went that way with it in the end, but it was a really good hook for me because Salieri is that guy with a mission who is on the surface wanting, but is underneath something else. And I think initially, Izzy was that, but then we exploded him in several other ways and Salieri diminished to something else. But it was a good hook for me

initially to get in by thinking about Salieri.

SP: Yeah, I like it. I could see that for sure. And to start the season two. So going into that, he's a shadow of himself from this feared, intense, strong man to a broken man. And what was it like taking this character and exposing that humanity and starting to peel away some of that shield.

Con: I mean... David had spoken to me before we started shooting and explained most of the hulk to me, and I'd always played Izzy as a man who was in love but didn't know he was in love. And for me, the key into this season was a. the design, but more importantly, was the Taika's performance. To see a man that I love to be that broken and to be that vicious because of the heartbreak, it was profound for me to see what he did with Blackbeard, and it did break my heart a little bit. So the emotional journey was quite clear that at the end of the day, all hatred of Stede had left him, and all he wanted to do is fix Blackbeard, and he risks his life to do that. He literally puts himself on the line for that because, like always. And what I loved about what David and the writers did was they didn't remove Izzy from season one in season two, he's still there. And what Izzy does is about the crew. He puts his life on the line because Blackbeard is killing his crew, and he risks it all for that. But it breaks him seeing the the man he loves so fragile and broken and angry, it breaks him. So, It wasn't an easy job. It was quite a lonely job. It was quite a difficult job because it was going down that path that I knew inevitably we were going to go down. But I thought it was beautifully written. So most of what I needed to do was on the page, to be honest-

SP: -I'm sorry-

Con: I just had to throw myself into it.

SP: Excellent. And then with Izzy being broken and literally broken, he loses his leg, which is symbolic of much more. It leads to one of the most touching moments of the series, a note with four words: For The New Unicorn. What did that mean to you, and what does that mean to the character?

Con: You know, I've been talking a lot last couple of days - because I'm allowed to now - and, you know, this season is about Izzy coming out. In many ways, he comes out, but that moment, that rest, that beautiful piece of writing again, the writing, where the crew embrace him, and it just releases him. It releases him from his own concept of who he is. It releases him from his own concept of who he has to

be to be a first mate and a brilliant first mate. It released him of concept that he's alone. None of this would have been possible to Izzy pre season one, none of it. And in many ways, it's Stede that brings this into his life. Because before Stede, Izzy never thought of his relationship with Blackbeard as a loving relationship. He never thought of it as being in love. He only realizes he's in love with Blackbeard when he sees Blackbeard lose Stede. That's the only... The reveal is he's heartbroken because the man he loves is broken, and he doesn't know what to do with any of that. He's not emotionally capable. And the crew giving him the letter and calling him the new unicorn and releasing him from all the stuff that he'd done, all that pain that he'd suffered and anger that he'd raged upon them, it's a really accepting moment. So... yeah, I'm waffling a bit now, but it meant a lot, and it was a very beautiful moment to play. And I thought Andy, who directed it, directed it so...Andy was a real shoulder for me to lean on in those scenes, because a lot of those early scenes I'm shooting on my own. And it's quite difficult to play an emotional narrative when you're on your own, because it tends to just be one tone. And he was wonderful, and Alyssa and Alex and all. They were all wonderful in helping me gauge those moments, as were the rest of the cast. But, yeah, that moment touched me enormously.

SP: You know, you have this love triangle that is never really spoken, but it's there.

Con: Yeah

SP: Then it kind of shifts - it's almost like a love square. It's Ed, Blackbeard, Izzy and Stede. And where the love, you know, crosses, it's all... or the hatred is at sometimes, but then it evolves...

Con: Absolutely.

SP: It's so complex.

Con: I mean we all're in contemporary language. We always associate love with romance. That isn't the case here. The love that Blackbeard and Izzy have for each other is deep, man. It's deep, and it's rooted in years of working together, loving each other, saving each other's lives, being constant. This is probably the only constant they both had in their lives, is Blackbeard is Izzy, Izzy is Blackbeard, and then they have this buffoon come in and steal Blackbeard's heart. It's not that Blackbeard falls in love with someone else. Blackbeard falls in love with this guy. This Izzy just can't comprehend, and it's a constant. And then once, I think once Blackbeard hands him the gun, everything changes. And Blackbeard says, kill yourself. Everything changes. And then there's an openness to Stede and Blackbeard that brings him to that place of acceptance-

SP: -It's great to watch also. I'm sorry. Go ahead.

Con: No, that. I mean, I'll waffle again. I'll waffle a lot, because that's what I do. But the more I think about that relationship, the more I go down all these different avenues of what it could have been, and what it could never have been, and what it is and what it wasn't. And as you say, it's layered and complex, and I'm honored to have been able to get to play with those actors, and especially with Taika, who's a profoundly good actor - everyone talks about Taika's director and writer - the man's a fucking great actor to work opposite, and he's... he's exquisite. So, yeah, I could only go where I went because the writers and Taika. Really.

SP: That's great. I... of course, we have to touch upon the end of the season and the end of Izzy, unfortunately, which I'm hoping is not. I'm hoping David has something up his sleeve. But what was your reaction when you learned it and how emotional was shooting that final scene? Because that final scene says a lot between...

Con: It was a... listen, I've been around a long time. The writing was on the wall when I started to read the scripts, and David had kind of hinted at it anyway when we went out for the famous dinner where he told me what the plan was, and I was gutted because I loved playing him so much. But, yeah, narratively, yeah, it makes sense. And I have complete faith, respect, love, admiration for David Jenkins, and whatever he thinks or wants to happen in season three will be the right thing if he gets season three, which I, whether I'm involved in it or not, I really hope he gets it, because he deserves it. And the show deserves it. The show deserves its triangle. It deserves it. But, yeah, it took a few days to sink in, and then I was fine. I was incredibly tired by that time. And I was lonely, as... really lonely because I was so far away from home filming all these scenes, and I tended to isolate when I was filming because of the nature of the work. So when I wasn't filming, I was sword training, or I was working out, or I was learning to walk on that fucking leg, or I was whatever whatever whatever. So I found myself isolating a lot. And in a way, it was a relief to be released from it. The final scene David had sent to me several weeks earlier. And I prepped, as I always do, and I prepped and I prepped and we were going to shoot at the beginning of the last week, and then it got shifted to the middle of the last week, and then it got shifted to the morning of the last day, and then it was shifted to the last thing we were going to shoot in the entire season. And there's always a dark cloud around those scenes because you never quite know how it's going to play. And there's a lot of pressure. And it being the last thing we were going to shoot, put more pressure on. And we were on the ship, which is a huge set, hundreds of crew members, the cast, everyone who could possibly be there was there. And I was getting quite unsettled by the amount of cacophony of noise and people. And then we rigged it all up, and it was still just [noise]. And then suddenly it was just me and Taika and just saying goodbye to a character we both fell in love with. And it was... it was a, I'm saying 'profound' a lot, but it was a profound experience doing that scene because everything else disappeared. It was just me and him. It was just Izzy and Blackbeard. And it was a lovely lovely moment.

SP: It was painful, but-

Con: It was lovely to be held by-

SP: -beautiful to watch.

Con: Yeah. Thank you. I mean, it's lovely to be held by another actor just... creatively and likewise with me to him. And David had a playlist playing and it was... elegant to do. It was nice to do. It was a nice, fitting ending to that chapter of this character. And I'll always be grateful that they shot it in that way.

SP: I do have to wrap. I just want to say before we do, I really enjoyed your rendition of La Vie En Rose. fantastic.

Con: Thank you.

SP: That's beautiful. And I appreciate all the work you did in the series, and I hope we see you again. And hopefully maybe you'll have a cooking show too, along the way, because I'd love to see what you make in that kitchen.

Con: Come on and let's bake together. Oh, I can't bake. I'll cook. It's lovely l ovely talking to you, Stephen.

SP: Great talking to you as well. Have a great day.

Con: Thank you. Bye bye.

SP: Thank you.

[ofmdrecaps]

11/15-16/2024 Daily OFMD Recap

TLDR; David Jenkins; Rhys Darby; Taika Waititi; Con O'Neill; Samba Schutte; Adam Stein; Dominic Burgess; Fan Spotlight: Fluffvember Reminder; OFMD Advent Calendar; Love Notes; Daily Darby / Today's Taika;

= David Jenkins =

Chaos Dad was sharing some sweet fan videos this past weekend on twitter-- but it wont let me link the video in tumblr, so here it is on Instagram by the same person!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by magda (@astralvcid)

Source: Astralvcid's Instagram

== Rhys Darby ==

Rhys out and about in LA and running into fans!

Source: Ops35mm's Instagram

Rhys will be joining the San Francisco Comedy Festival that's going on between January 16-Feb 2, 2025! Thank you to @adoptourcrew for shouting this out!

Source: Adopt Our Crew's Tumblr

= Darby Daily Doodles! =

I'm so behind on sharing the Darby Daily Doodles! Here's a pile for you since there's image room today!

Source: Rhys Darby's Free Substack

= Darby Family Kittens =

The Darby's are still looking to adopt out these kittens! If you are in the area and looking for some adorably sweet and energetic (if not chaotic) kittens, please hit up https://www.instagram.com/kittenrescuela/ and help Rhys and Rosie reduce the cat size of their house!

Source: Rosie's Instagram

= Taika Waititi =

More of Taika out at the Interior Chinatown premiere, this time with Tzi Ma!

Source: Tzima8's Instagram

Taika and Jimmy O were on Good Morning America talking about Interior Chinatown!

Source: Youtube

And a tragedy/comedy in 5 parts.

Source: TV Insider's Instagram

An article about the Boy and the Octopus <3

Source: Belfast Telegraph UK

= Con O'Neill =

New trailer for Con's new role in SAS Rogue Heroes!

= Samba Schutte =

Samba sent out another thank you everyone who attended his Momentus event!

"Thank you again to all 250+ of you who joined my Death by Cheese baking class🙏🏾 We are able to serve over 4000 meals to hungry kids, elders and families thanks to your generosity via @lafoodbank❤️ Thank you thank you thank you, and so happy you love my mac and cheese recipe🫶🧀"

Source: Samba's Instagram

= Adam Stein =

Our fab writer/executive producer/extra Adam Stein has been active with Waiting for Godot, and also getting to meet one of his idols!

Source: Geffen Playhouse Instagram

= Dominic Burgess =

Dominic was out at the Paramount backlot!

Source: Dominic's Bsky

== Fan Spotlight ==

= Fluffvember Reminder =

Fluffvember is still going on! You can check out what's been posted or interact with them on bsky! ofmdfluffvember.bsky.social there's also some fluffvember going on over here on tumblr! Check it out!

Source: ofmdfluffvember.bsky.social

As a taste-- Our darling crewmate @blueberreads' is back with more pixel art! This time of our Boyfriends!

Source: Bluberreads Bsky

= OFMD Advent Calendar =

Sounds like things are ramping up for an OFMD Advent Calendar this year! All the collaborators have been found so if you'd like to keep an eye out for the advent calendar starting Dec 1, you can follow them on Bsky!

Source: OFMD Advent Calendar 2024 Bsky

== Love Notes ==

Hey there lovelies. I hope the weekend has been treating you well and you've gotten some good rest. We've got some holidays coming up soon-- do you get to take any time off?

I hope you know that you are loveable no matter where you are in life. I hope you know that you are worthy of that love no matter where you are, no matter what you've done, and now matter how little or how much you've accomplished. A lot of people in this world want you to believe you are only worth something if you are making money, or gaining status, but you are worth so much just being your goofy, wonderful self. Please take care of yourselves this week lovelies. Rest well <3

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by bailey (@anxiety.positive)

Source: Anxiety Positive Instagram

== Daily Darby / Today's Taika ==

Heyyyy been a while since I was able to get one of these in here! There's been so much going on! I know I've used the Taika one before, but it's too good not to apply with Rhys working out. Today's gifs courtesy of the fabulous @daxxlovesrhys and @meluli!

[gentlebeardsbarngrill]

03/30/2024 Daily OFMD Recap

TLDR: Ruibo Qian; Rhys Darby; AdoptOurCrew; CoolPirates/Trans Day of Visibility; Fan Spotlight; Kudoboard Last Call; Watch Party Reminders; Love Notes; Daily Darby/Tonight's Taika

Hope your weekends going well luvs! I know it's almost over for some of you, and others have one more day to go!

== Ruibo Qian ==

Our Pirate Queen is absolutely just slaying today.

Source: Ruibo Qian's Instagram

= Rhys Darby =

Rhys and Finn Darby did an interview at the Whammy Bar in NZ! Wanna see the video? Visit Stuff.co.nz

In addition, Rosie caught them in the newspaper!

Source: Rosie's IG Stories

== Adopt Our Crew ==

Our dear friends at #AdoptOurCrew have posted a lovely letter to all our trans and non-binary cast, crew and fandom!

@adoptourcrew Twitter

＝＝Cool Pirates ==

Lots more trans and non-binary cast, crew and fan crew spotlight today!

= Madeleine Sami =

IMDB Link

The Sami Sisters

= Zayre Ferrer =

Inevitable Foundation

Zayre Imdb

= Zackery Alexzander Stephens =

IMDB Page

Outmuseam

ZackeryStephens.com

== Fan Spotlight ==

= Cast Cards =

Tonight's cast card is Toneey Acevedo! You may remember him as one of the tribal elders in episode 2 of season 1 who was helping Stede cope! So good to see him getting highlighted, thank you darling @melvisik!

= Final Glow Up Bracket! =

Our dear crewmate @thesparklyfkingpirate has been doing the #ofmdglowup for #marchmadness this month. I have been meaning to post about it for a week now and kept getting distracted. Sorry hon! Looks like it's down to the final two! Stede and Izzy! Source: TheSparklyFkingPirate's IG

== Kudoboards Last Call! =

REMINDER! KUDOBOARDS close on the 31st. 

Go send the cast and crew some love folks!

David Jenkins

Nathan Foad

Con O'Neill

Ruibo Qian

Leslie F*cking Jones!

Matthew Maher

Vico Ortiz

Samson Kayo

Alex "Ass Tonight" Sherman!

David Fane

Gypsy Taylor

Kristian "Wee John Wondays" Nairn!

Samba "BTS and Baking King" Schutte!

Fellow OFMD Fan Crew!

== Watch Party Reminders ==

Movie: Boy Date: Sunday March 31st at Time: 10am EST / 2pm GMT. We're watching Boy (2010) Hosted By: @tillychmo & @regg_official Location / Hastags: TBA

== Love Notes ==

Hello my lovelies! How are you holding up? It's almost the end of March, which is pretty darn hard to believe.

I really hope that you're out there having a good day. I hope your heart and burdens are a little less heavy today, even if they're not weightless. I hope you get a chance to take care of yourself even a little bit, whether that's a shower, or a meal, or a walk outside (or raiding the local target for discount chocolate)-- you deserve a break, and to get a chance to feel like you again.

Remember to love yourself my dears, just like we love you. You deserve all the darn love this crazy world has to offer. I hope you can see that, if not today, one day soon.

Src: @allontheboard Instagram

== Daily Darby / Tonight's Taika ==

Tonight's Theme: Video Games! For those of you who ship #Freemanji

Daily Darby Courtesy of @neonpigeons

Tonight's Taika Courtesy of @aanakin