Assassin's Creed actor 'tapped into' Welsh childhood for big role

A man with a dark beard is sitting in pirate-style costume with his white hood up, holding a sword. He is learning against a black background looking at the camera. Another sword can be seen strapped to his back, with a pistol on a harness on his chest.

Image source, UbisoftImage caption,

Swansea-born actor Matt Ryan returns as the playable protagonist Edward Kenway in Assassin's Creed: Black Flag Resynced

ByLeigh BoobyerBBC Wales

Published8 July 2026

The actor who plays the lead character in the new Assassin's Creed video game about pirates has said he "tapped into" his childhood in Wales for the role.

Matt Ryan, from Swansea, was the Welsh-born playable protagonist Edward Kenway in the Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag video game in 2013, and took on the role using motion capture. An updated version of the game will be released on Thursday.

The game follows Kenway, also from Swansea, as he sails to the Caribbean as a privateer looking for wealth, and evolves into a pirate, then assassin.

Ryan said he "invoked his imagination" which he had as a child growing up in Wales running around and playing, while acting as the character.

Matt Ryan is sitting on a chair wearing a hat and glasses, speaking to someone on the other side of the camera. Behind him is promotional material for the upcoming Assassin's Creed Black Flag game.

Image source, UbisoftImage caption,

Ryan said Kenway's English backstory was changed for him

"Doing this game, I was doing a medium I've never worked before...motion capture, where you have the camera in front of your face on a helmet, and all the little dots on you," he told Behnaz Akhgar's BBC Radio Wales show.

"It reminded me of when I was a kid growing up in Wales, running on the village green and down to the old mill.

"You'd pick up a stick and it could be a sword, a gun or anything.

"Your imagination was so vivid back then."

The Welsh voice behind huge hit video game

Matt Ryan explains how his Swansea accent influenced his Assassin's Creed character.

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The original game is among the Assassin's Creed franchise's best sellers, with millions of copies sold worldwide, and was beloved by fans.

Although fictional, the game stars real characters such as the infamous English pirate Blackbeard, and other pirates including Mary Read and Anne Bonny.

Before production took place, Ryan said Kenway's original northern England backstory and accent were changed to match his Welsh accent, as the team preferred it.

He added: "To be revisiting this role 13 or 14 years on is quite a treat.

"It's been quite the experience. I'm excited for all of the players who have played the games before, and all the people to discover it, to jump in."

'I love being back in Wales'

Ryan is also known for his role as Detective John Constantine in the NBC television series Constantine, and voiced the character in various animated series.

The 45-year-old left Swansea after finishing a performing arts course at Gorseinon College, where he said teachers encouraged students to "spread their wings", and then went to Bristol for drama school.

He worked at the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2004 and says it "hasn't stopped since".

He added he tried to get back to Wales "as much as possible" and see friends he made at Penyrheol Comprehensive School as well as his parents.

"I've got an old American camper van in Wales and I take my dog, go down the Gower. I love being back," he said.