If you told me after season one of Our Flag Means Death that I would love Izzy Hands, I wouldn’t have believed you, but now as we’re a few weeks out after season two, I am proudly a fan of Con O’Neill and his portrayal of Izzy’s arc in the second season of the Max series.
When talking to O’Neill about the character, I shared with him one of my favorite moments about the season: Izzy singing “La Vie En Rose” aboard the Revenge during Calypso’s birthday party. It made for one of the most beautiful moments on television for me, and a really iconic moment for Izzy as a character in an already beautiful arc in season two. Asking about Izzy’s arc as a whole in the second season, I asked O’Neill about that moment in particular and how he felt about Izzy Hands’ journey throughout the season, and how it felt to embark on that with Jenkins and the writers this season.
“I knew he was gonna go on a journey in season two because David had told me and I will be eternally grateful to him and his brilliant writers because they didn’t make it sentimental. They didn’t suddenly turn him overnight,” O’Neill said. “They gave him a journey that I could work through emotionally and not feel like I was jumping out of myself or I was having to cheat. The song itself, had you asked me for a song for Izzy to sing, I would never ever have picked La Vie En Rose. And now I can’t think of any other song Izzy should sing. So, again, that’s down to David. Also to all those people, my partner and Jenna who’s a friend of mine who just played Piaf in London, who helped me learn the French, which was excruciating for everyone involved.”
For whatever pain O’Neill went through to learn the French, it ended up being for our benefit because it was beautiful in the end. Thank you, Con!
You can see our full chat here:
Our Flag Means Death season 2 is on Max.
(featured image: Max)
