Likely best known for his starring run in Black Sails, Zach McGowan has also had a string of starring roles in feature films and plenty of guest-starring stints on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Walking Dead, The 100, and Gen V, but he also played the lead in back-to-back direct-to-video – but incredibly solid – sequels to Death Race (Part 4: Anarchy) and The Scorpion King (Part 5: Book of Souls), both from director Don Michael Paul. McGowan is back in Neil Marshall’s erotic thriller Compulsion, which is a reunion for McGowan and Marshall, who worked together on the first few episodes of Black Sails. In Compulsion, McGowan plays a dangerously sexy supporting role opposite Charlotte Kirk and Anna-Maria Sieklucka, and there is a moment involving McGowan’s character in the middle of the film that will etch itself in the viewer’s mind forever after.
You worked with Neil Marshall back in your swarthy pirate Black Sails days. I know you had a stable of directors on that show, but he must’ve stood out to you in some way, I’m assuming.
Oh, of course. Neil was the first director on Black Sails. The way they actually shot the first block, which was actually the first three episodes, they shot three first, and Neil directed 1 and 3. We did the third episode first and then went back and shot 1 and then 2. We shot them out of order. But basically, he directed the first two for me. Part of the show is setting up the show, and part of it is shooting it. He was there from the very beginning. Rehearsals, all that. He was fantastic to work with, and I had a blast on that show, and with him. I think that was the longest lead-time I’ve ever had on anything, on any project. Most of the time, it’s like, “Okay, we’re going!” It was just a week before we started shooting that, Neil and I were up at like four o’clock in the morning, and we were howling at the moon, getting ready to go. That’s the beginning of that. I had a cigar on that show, and I don’t think I would’ve been able to get that cigar if Neil hadn’t been on my side on that one, early on. There was camp cigar, and camp no cigar. I think I won on that, which I’m proud of. It became an important thing for my character.
Talk about reuniting with him for Compulsion. This was very different for him.
It was wild. He called me and asked me if I wanted to come to Malta and make this wild erotic thriller movie. It would have crazy, different characters in it, and he wanted me for it. I looked at it, and I was like, “This is awesome!” We would get to play again. I think it’s a really flashy movie. It looks so nice. I’m not even sure if I’ve ever seen a movie with quite this look to it. It was a pleasure to work with him, as it always is. Sometimes you get to work with multiple people again over the course of your career, and that’s the best. It becomes easy. It was easy in that way for me.
It casts you for your type and also against type because something significant happens to your character. It’s a shock when that happens.
That was the intention. He said, “There’s a sequence that’s going to be pretty difficult.” People don’t realize that stunts in any regard are hard, but stunts without cuts are even harder, right? That sequence is one continuous piece. What I love is that while people are using AI and all that, we just did that 100% old school practical effects. Under the costume I had like 40 tubes. Not everyone is willing to attempt those kinds of things these days. Now you can just type in something for a video generator to make this scene. There’s something about when people are actually doing it that just changes it. That’s a big part of what drew me to this project. It stands out.
Talk a little bit about working with Charlotte Kirk and Anna-Maria.
It was such a pleasure to be a part of this cast. I’d never worked with either of them before this, but I’d known Charlotte through Neil a little bit. We almost worked on another project together that didn’t happen. Anna-Maria was amazing. To get to work with someone of her level in Poland. I have family in Poland and I’ve never been there, but it was really cool for me. They’re such vivacious people, and I was glad to be a part of this. It’s always fun for me, as a make-believe guy, it’s fun to be a part of new worlds. Every role for me is just serving the reality of that world. I’m just having fun with all this.
I’ve got to bring up a movie that I’m a big fan of that you starred in that is totally underrated. I love The Scorpion King: Book of Souls!
Thank you!
It stands apart from the franchise itself, but it’s also just a really charming and wonderful sword and sorcery movie on its own.
There are certain projects that I’m most proud of, and in many ways I’m most proud of The Scorpion King: Book of Souls. In that genre of film and those sequels, and those franchises, we probably had the least amount of time and the least amount of money to make that movie. I think we shot it in four weeks, start to finish. I got to work with the same South African crew that I got to work with on Black Sails. The stunt teams and stuff. We were able to do that just because we … they knew they could throw a giant sword sequence at me with 15 people and just on the day, and Don Michael Paul, the director, worked with me on Death Race 4 before, so we’d already done an action movie together. When you do those, there is some doubling and stuff, but honestly … I have a shirt that says, “I do my own stunts,” and I really do my own stunts. The vast majority of my stuff. In Book of Souls, we worked so hard. I watched that movie and I couldn’t even believe we accomplished that. That whole sequence in, I think it was called Aqaba, we were going through the town and I’m jumping on the rooftops, and into the horse-drawn carriage. We shot all of that in one day. None of it was choreographed prior. We didn’t have time to even see the location. Which was amazing! I’m so proud of it. I can’t show it yet to my five year-old son and daughter, but my older kids have seen it and they love it. They only get to see things that are PG-13, and they think I’m a king because they’ve seen me on The 100 and Book of Souls. Obviously, that’s not true, but they think so.
I love that the spirit of this film is so joyous. It reminded me of the stuff I grew up with. Guys my age grew up on He-Man and Conan, and that’s exactly what this is.
Here I am! When Don had the opportunity to make this movie in that franchise, there were these age-old stories that are part of the fun of moviemaking. It was the most mystical thing I’ve ever done, right? We go through quicksilver and into another realm and find The Book of Souls, which is a person, and we come back with a rock monster! I mean, that movie I did the most horse work I’ve ever done in a project. They let me ride! Sometimes when you come into a thing, they won’t even let you ride a horse! I could just jump on that thing! There’s a certain element on that where I was allowed to do what I’ve been good at. They don’t always let you. On that one, because of the time constraints, at a certain point they just let me do it. There was a moment where I’m on a moving horse, and I pick up another actress and throw her behind me on the horse. We went for it! Practical sword fighting, practical blood. It was shot just like they would’ve shot it in 1987 or whatever.
When I grew up in Hollywood, I would go to Universal Studios and watch the live Conan show. That’s what this felt like.
100%! I’m glad that movie is out there. I know it’s underrated, and I travel all over the world in this business, and I think there are a lot of people like you who watched it and think the same thing. I’m so proud of it. In that movie and in Death Race 4, I did things that people tell me to this day that you can’t do. I did that. I’ve done that already, and I would be happy to do it again. We can shoot an action movie in four weeks, five weeks. I’ve done it. You just need a like-minded group of people to get anything done.
It bums me out that there wasn’t another one because you certainly deserved another Death Race or Scorpion King.
You know, there are scripts for them that Don has. At one point, we were going to get going on them, but there was some moving around at Universal and some people moved out of 1440 at Universal, and then the division has been wrapped up in another division and there’s been a lot of whatever we read about in the trades. I’m always ready to do them and I’m excited for the opportunity when everyone wants to. I know Don wants to. It’s up to Universal.
What’s your all-time fantasy or sword and sorcery film?
The Neverending Story is my favorite movie of all time.
Available in Select Theaters, Digital and On Demand on September 19th
