Matt Ryan
Matthew Darren Evans (born 11 April 1981), known professionally as Matt Ryan, is a Welsh actor. He portrays Edward Kenway in Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag and its remake, Assassin's Creed: Black Flag Resynced.
Biography[edit | edit source]
Career[edit | edit source]
A member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Matt Ryan was best known for playing Mick Rawson in the crime drama series Criminal Minds and its spin-off, Suspect Behavior.[1]
He has also partaken in minor roles such as the films Layer Cake, Flypaper, and Armistice, and the TV series The Tudors and Torchwood, before going on to be cast in the DC Comics television series Constantine as its titular character. After Constantine's cancelation, Ryan went on to reprise the role in The CW's Arrow, and later Legends of Tomorrow.[1]
Assassin's Creed work[edit | edit source]
In 2013, Ryan was cast as Edward Kenway, a Welsh pirate-turned-Assassin and the main protagonist of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. His casting directly influenced aspects of the character's story, most notably his background as a Swansea native.
While auditoning for the part of Edward, Ryan initially chose to portray him with a Mancunian accent during casting calls. However, after the developers heard Ryan's natural Welsh accent, they asked him to voice Edward with a South-Welsh English accent instead. They then rewrote the character's backstory to fit Ryan's accent.[2] Black Flag's lead writer, Darby McDevitt, had initially envisioned Edward as originating from an English port town, but Ryan's casting led him to incorporate more elements of Welsh culture into Edward's story, eventually rewriting him as a Welsh character from Swansea to match the actor's cultural background.[3]
To prepare for the role, Ryan was asked to read books recommended by McDevitt as part of their research of the time period, as the game's developmental team wanted to avoid the usual tropes and archetypes associated with the depiction of pirates in fiction and pop culture.[4]
In 2026, Ryan returned to record new lines and do performance capture for Edward in Assassin's Creed: Black Flag Resynced, a remake of the 2013 video game. He also hosted the game's worldwide reveal showcase on 23 April.[5]
Assassin's Creed credits[edit | edit source]
- Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (2013) – Edward Kenway
- Assassin's Creed: Black Flag Resynced (2026) – Edward Kenway
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1
Matt Ryan at the Internet Movie Database
- ↑ Hartup, Andy (29 October 2013). Creating Edward Kenway in Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on 6 November 2013. Retrieved on 5 August 2013.
- ↑ Williams, Kathryn (22 September 2013). Shiver me timbers! Pirate hero in new Assassin's Creed is a Welshman!. Wales Online. Archived from the original on 2 February 2021. Retrieved on 25 April 2026.
- ↑ Campbell, Colin (22 July 2013). Truth and fantasy in Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag. Polygon. Archived from the original on 27 June 2020. Retrieved on 25 April 2026.
- ↑ O'Connor, Daniel (23 April 2026). Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced Out July 9: Everything You Need to Know. Ubisoft. Archived from the original on 23 April 2026. Retrieved on 25 April 2026.
