Trivia / Our Flag Means Death

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• Actor-Inspired Element:
  • All the actors were allowed to help shape their characters in order to give them more distinct personalities. For example, Samba Schutte suggested giving Roach particular ancient Berber tattoos that symbolize protection, awareness, and survival.
  • The scripts originally didn't feature any Spanish dialogue for Jim until Vico Ortiz suggested it.
• The Cast Show Off: Two in "Calypso's Birthday:"
  • Con O'Neill is a professional musical actor (he won an Olivier and was nominated for a Tony for his role as Mickey in Blood Brothers), and gets to sing "La Vie En Rose."
  • Kristian Nairn has done drag as "DJ Revlon," and gets to do drag as Calypso.
• Creator Cameo: David Jenkins plays the English naval officer who has to row back to the ship with his hands tied to the oars.
• Dawson Casting: Taken to an extreme with some of the historical characters. Fans and critics have noted that casting older actors in a story about discovering oneself and finding love for the first time can be read as an allegory for navigating midlife identity crises.
  • Stede Bonnet (who has apparently not been age lifted as we see his year of birth on his wedding present) was only 29 in 1717, but is played by the 47-year-old Rhys Darby.
  • Edward Teach was 38 and is played by the 46-year-old Taika Waititi.
  • Taking the cake has got to be Israel "Izzy" Hands, played by 55-year-old Con O'Neill, who was only 16 at the time in real life.
  • Mary Bonnet is 27 in the show according to the birth year on her wedding present, and was 24 in 1717 in real life, but is played by 38-year-old Claudia O'Doherty.
  • Used for a gag with Spanish Jackie, played by the 55-year-old Leslie Jones. When she and Jim talk, she says she's actually 25, but living with anger ages you fast.
  • Anne Bonny, who was thought to be at most 24 when she disappeared, and Mary Read, who had such an ambiguous early life and appearance that she was anywhere from her late twenties to her early forties at the time of her death, are respectively played by the 53-year-old Minnie Driver and 52-year-old Rachel House.
• Defictionalization: Samba Schutte, Roach’s actor, posted the recipe for a real “Forty Orange Cake” on his Instagram, though it doesn’t call for that many oranges.
• Directed by Cast Member: Taika Waititi directed the pilot episode.
• Meaningful Release Date: HBO announced that it had been renewed for a second season on June 1st, 2022 otherwise known as the first day of pride month, appropriate for a show that has an abundance of queer representation.
• Playing Against Type:
  • Tim Heidecker is most known for playing smarmy egomaniacs that lack anything in the way of compassion or artistic scruples, but here he plays Doug, Mary Bonnet's kind and considerate lover and mentor in painting who despite having some comedic moments is still played mostly straight.
  • While Spanish Jackie is still a somewhat comedic role, she also gives Leslie Jones a chance to pull off some very unexpected dramatic menace.
  • Bronson Pinchot has played many kinds of roles, but is best known for comedy. Here, he plays the sinister and psychotic Ned Low.
• Playing Their Own Twin: Rory Kinnear plays Nigel and Chauncey Badminton, twin brothers who are both officers in the British navy.
• Queer Character, Queer Actor:
  • Nathan Foad is openly gay, and so is his character, Lucius.
  • Vico Ortiz is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, just like their character, Jim.
  • Con O'Neill came out as queer (after being more or less in the closet his entire career) at an OFMD fan panel. His character, Izzy, is also a queer man who only publicly embraces that side of himself later in life.
• Real-Life Relative:
  • The young version of Stede is played by Rhys Darby’s son Theo.
  • The two girls Ed meets in "Calypso's Birthday" are played by Taika Waititi's daughters TK and Matewa.
  • Also in "Calypso's Birthday," Hellkat Maggie is played by Josie Whittlesley, who is David Jenkins's wife and the one who gave him the idea for the show.
• The Red Stapler:
  • The "breakup tea cup" (an orangey-pink tea cup with a tropical pattern available at Target) has sold out repeatedly, not because it was featured in the show directly but because it has a similar color and pattern to the "breakup robe" worn by Ed and Stede, and there's no official merchandise to compete with it.
  • Similarly, fans have latched onto a certain oranges-patterned shirt from Old Navy thanks to the prominent and recurring symbolism of oranges in the show.
• Screwed by the Network: Despite the show receiving high audience ratings and critical acclaim in its first season, HBO Max cut the second season's budget by forty percent, forcibly reducing the number of episodes from ten to eight. They then Cancelled it, citing low viewership numbers. Fans immediately began a campaign to renew the show, with efforts ranging from an online petition, bombarding the studio with phone calls, mailing out letters with scraps of red silk, and even raising money for a billboard in Times Square and a plane with a banner to fly over the studio's headquarters.
• Sleeper Hit: The show received very little marketing from HBO, combined with an unusual release schedule (it was released over four weeks across March 2022, three episodes at a time in the first two weeks, and two in the second), suggesting that there wasn't much faith in it from the execs. Interest in the show spread almost entirely by word of mouth, particularly during and after its last two weeks — and by the end of its first month, it was not only HBO's most in-demand show, but the biggest new series in the US. On June 1st, 2022, less than three months after its debut, it was confirmed for a second season.
• Stunt Casting: The show's minor characters are mostly played by extremely famous comedians, with Leslie Jones and Fred Armisen in recurring roles and Will Arnett, Kristen Schaal, Nick Kroll, and Tim Heidecker all guest starring at some point.
• Throw It In!: Many of the most iconic moments were improvised, including:
  • The “Blackbeard’s Bar and Grill” bit.
  • The foot touch at the end of Episode 8.
  • "A dollop of milk and seven sugars." "It wouldn't be the same with six."
  • According to Nathan Foad (and later confirmed by Con O'Neill), Izzy's "Oh, Daddy" scene was not only improvised, but originally ran much longer than what ended up in the final cut.
  • Lucius's wooden boy voice.
  • "We have been exercising together because we want our bodies to be... smaller."
  • Ed and Stede discussing the Act of Grace before signing it.
  • Will Arnett's stunt double revealed on Instagram that Taika Waititi improvised the "Whip my balls!" line, requiring him to then whip as closely as possible without actually hitting him.
  • Roach's screaming at Jim's fake beard and nose being ripped off.
  • "Ten human years?"
  • David Fane admitted that he improvised Fang's menacing hiss when Izzy orders the crew back to work, because he forgot his line.
  • Rhys Darby improvised Stede's affectionate "thumb war" with Ed in "The Curse of the Seafaring Life".
    • He also twirled so comically during his fitting for the 'cursed' suit that the costumer insisted he repeat that move on camera.
• What Could Have Been: David Jenkins imagined Pedro Pascal portraying Blackbeard while writing the first season, although filming ended up overlapping with that of The Last of Us (2023) Season 1.

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