Oliver Stark’s Into the Badlands character, Ryder, may not be in charge in season 1, but the actor thinks that might be changing.
In honor of the Into the Badlands season 1 DVD/Blu-ray release, we talked with some of the cast members of the show to discuss their thoughts on the direction of the series and their character’s journeys.
Interview with Oliver Stark — Ryder on ‘Into the Badlands’
In season 1, what would you say is Ryder’s biggest strength and biggest weakness?
I think his biggest strength is his faith and his confidence in himself, and the fact that he truly in his heart of hearts believes that he is worthy of his position and that he is worthy of more than his position. Ironically, I think his biggest weakness is his faith and his confidence in himself. It’s perhaps not justified yet, and by being so sure of his own ability without having proved that yet leads everyone else around him to doubt him and be a little unsure. So, he’s trying to boost himself up, but I think he’s actually pulling himself down from the outside.
Ryder spends a lot of season 1 laying the groundwork to become baron eventually, but do you actually think he’d make a good one?
You know, I do. Maybe I’m a little biased, but I do. I think he has the makings of a good baron, but I don’t think all the pieces have properly fallen into place yet. I do honestly think the potential is there, but he has some growing up to do first. I feel like right now he’s prone to making rash decisions, which is funny talking of our current climate, and that’s not someone you necessarily want in charge.
Do you think Ryder and Jade’s relationship is genuine, or do you think they just find comfort in each other out of rebellion or maybe just because it’s something they’ve always done and because it’s forbidden?
I think it’s a little bit of both. I think it is genuine, part of which is because they find that comfort in each other and they know that they are safe with each other. There probably aren’t many people in the Badlands that they could actually truly trust. Speaking on Ryder’s behalf, I know he absolutely does love her and is beyond hurt that she’s ended up with Quinn, but I think the love is genuine. But I think they’re in a situation right now where it can’t flourish and it can’t become a real thing, which is often the way of love.
In a behind-the-scenes video on the DVD extras, the creators said that Ryder is playing checkers while the Widow is playing chess. Do you think your character will always be as arrogant and naive as he is now, or do you think he will learn and maybe one day he can actually go toe to toe with somebody like the Widow?
I think he will learn. I think he has to make his mistakes, which he spent a lot of season 1 doing. But I think once he makes those mistakes and perhaps if he’s trusted a little bit more, he’ll be able to grow. But in his current situation, absolutely not. I haven’t heard that from the writers. I’m a little offended [laughs], but I think it’s really quite an apt analogy. I think what it is for Ryder is he needs to work out what his strengths are, that he’s not physically as capable as the others, but he does have traits. He is clever and he is conniving, and if he can maybe push those to the forefront of his campaign, I think he’ll be a little more successful.
Speaking of trust, and maybe being a little conniving, he sends his mother on her way at the end of the season. Do you think the trust between them and the bond is broken, or do you think that’s something they could potentially both work on and maybe rely on each other later on?
I think, in the moment, it’s destroyed. It’s his head at that time, and I don’t think there’s any coming back from that. But then you have to think about the fact that this is his mother, this is the person that’s probably been there for him the most and has championed him the most, and it’s hard to actually turn your back on that. So I don’t think they’re done. I think there will be the possibility of tenderness coming back into this relationship. But it is another way he’s been pushed too far, and the kind of last remaining friend he has, she’s turned her back on him. So it’s out of spite, that final scene, between them, where everything has crumbled for him. But that’s his mom, at the end of the day, and I certainly think there’s going to be scope for reconciliation with their relationship.
What aspects of this show did you get to play with in season 1 that you’d like to explore further in season 2?
For me, the growth and the journey across the timeline was really interesting and the fact that it very much started in one place in season 1 and by the end of season 1, every relationship was completely different from how it had started. And I think that’s a very brave thing for a show to do, and I’m hoping the way that plays out across the whole season will shake things up again. I think that’s an interesting way to make TV because it reflects life. Relationships do change as you go ahead and as you move forward as a person, so I’m interested to see if across the second season those relationships continue to shift and change around each other.
With a show like ‘Into the Badlands, which is obviously set in the future but also has a very old world kind of feel to it, what challenges do you you guys run up against in terms of either the fighting styles, or the fact that you have to be true to this old school type of world?
It’s a real mashup of different genres, which absolutely takes some getting used to. When I first signed onto it, I had no idea it was going to be the kind of costumes it ended up being. That definitely took some getting used to. But I think that’s interesting to watch because it’s a kind of eclectic mix of visuals and I think [when we] keep changing things up, it just keeps things interesting for the viewers. You can never get too complacent while you’re watching it because you don’t know where you’re going to be taken next, or you don’t know what you’re going to be looking at next. I think it’s a really brave choice for a TV show to make.
One of my favorite parts about this show is the fight choreography, specifically the weapons. Your character works with a sword a lot, but is there anything else you’d like to see him work with in season 2 to kind of change it up a bit?
It depends on what my abilities allow, I suppose, but I would like Ryder to put down the weapons a little bit. I think his temperament would fit with close quarters, hand-to-hand combat, and that’s something that actually came out a lot during our fight camp. We found that, when we were trying to choreograph these fights that do happen later, there’s a kind of animalistic [style] that came out of the character a little bit more, so it’s not as graceful and it’s not as artistic as watching Sunny fight. It’s more brutal and barbaric, which I think is very true to the character. That was fun to explore, and it’s a different style than what we’ve seen in the rest of the show.
