Even if you don’t immediately recognize the name, there’s a strong chance you’re familiar with at least one of John Pyper-Ferguson’s performances.
With over 140 credits on his IMDb page, the actor's performed in everything from Unforgiven to X-Men: The Last Stand to CSI. He's even starred in two completely different films named Drive — one being Nicolas Winding Refn’s 2011 film starring Ryan Gosling, the other Steve Wang’s 1997 film. But it’s perhaps with his latest role as Tex Nolan on Steven Kane and Hank Steinberg’s hit TNT series The Last Ship where he's received some of his biggest notoriety yet.
Just as season two airs premieres this weekend, the actor sat down for an exclusive interview with the site to talk about his role, as well as other projects he has or is currently working on. In the phone interview, Ferguson talks about his process on the show, what fans can expect in season two, how involved he is with Michael Bay, his music and other future plans, working with Jason Momoa on Wolves and more. Check it out below.
This interview was conducted on April 16.
Image courtesy of Piper Ferguson
TheCelebrityCafe.com: Talking with fans, it seems your character is their favorite, or at least one of their favorites.
John Pyper-Ferguson: This is what I hear. Yeah. It’s exciting.
TCC: So how’s that?
JPF: How is it? It’s … you know, for a guy whose been kicking around the block for a long time, and had a lot of near-misses and a lot of times I’ve been on shows where I’m also very popular and then those shows disappear quite quickly, it’s just a great feeling. You know? To have landed in the right role at the right time, and be on a show that’s really good.
JPF: Sweet, and on that note, the show’s got a lot of great praise and great buzz and has a strong fanbase, to (have that) kind of energy right now, how does that feel as an actor coming into this?
TCC: Well, again, I’ve had a lot of experience, so I’m pretty balanced about these kind of things as they happen. The liberal entertainment industry is a fickle world. So it’s about living in the moment and it’s about being clear with it and understanding that this is another opportunity to step up the staircase a little bit, and create some newer opportunities and get involved in some other projects, as well as possibly creating your own. Because you got a little bit of heat now; a little bit of fire behind you, and the recognition helps with that.
It’s still ssssooo early, having only ten episodes at this point. Which is pretty miraculous, the amount of people that are talking about it after 10, and we’ve got 13 more coming. I think it’s June 21? And then we’ll see where it goes from there. If it keeps rolling out, and people keep digging it, and we meet their expectations, and they still really dig Tex Nolan… there’s certainly something I find, as an actor, is how out of control of the entire process you are of it. You step in and you’re an interpretive artist, and the simple fact of the matter is, you are dictated by what’s in the script, and how you interpret that and how you elevate that. And you’re not always going to get the focus, and you’re not always going to have the scenes. So it’s about elevating other people in the scene…. I think I’m starting to ramble. [ laughs ]
TCC: Oh no, you’re good. [ laughs ]
JPF: Cool.
TCC: Especially now that you have established the character and gotten to work with him, do you feel that you have more creative control with this new upcoming season?
JPF: You know I don’t, no. I actually, honestly felt that, because it was so new last year, I think I had more in the first season, to be quite honest. I wouldn’t call it control; I would call it the ability to inspire the showrunners and the executives with what you’re able to bring to the show, and what elements. As well as how you can, again, elevate a scene, or create a little bit more story just through true intentions in the scene.
And it’s more so, at least on this show, I’m certainly not involved in creating plot or scenarios, missions, anything of that nature. They make all the decisions on that. I can finagle, and I can do my best to compel them to write maybe…. sometimes I’ll get a piece of dialogue, and I’ll say, “Can we Tex this up?” Tex, as in the character. “Can we Tex this up a little bit?” Because maybe the line reads, to me, a little bit flat, a little unoriginal. And you have to be a little bit careful, because you don’t want every line to be all Tex-ed up, and super unique.
But one wants to remain true to the character, and true to the way the character speaks, and follow through to the actions that he has. And sometimes I think, for the purpose of the story, you have to collaborate and find ways to make that work. And when I may think — or they may think — that’s it’s not quite ringing true, that it’s not quite authentic, to some bigger stories to happen, sometimes you’re on that razor blade there. Where you don’t want to fall off on either side. You just want to keep it solid and good.
TCC: With that said, do you often find that you’re surprised or challenged a lot by what you have to do on the show?
JPF: Yeah, absolutely. You know, there’s a whole (thing) dealing with… I wasn’t a big weapons guy coming in. I fired a lot of Colt 45s and some glocks and a lot of handguns, a few shotguns. But I hadn’t dealt with the M-4s and all this other gak that you’re running around with. Dealing with the magazines and whatnot, with a lot of paraphernalia all over your body, you have to learn what that stuff’s about to understand it. We do have a bunch of Navy advisors, some SEAL advisors as well, who really help us out with that, to keep things true. How you’ll enter a room, things of that nature, are completely new and fresh to me. And you want to throw a little bit of character on top of that, if you can, if the opportunity’s there. Given with all the cuts and whatnot, you never know what, and if, could make it into the final cut.
But it’s constantly fresh and new. It’s a whole new … I’ve dealt with mega action like this before for such a long period of time, and it’s pretty amazing what the crew can come up with, and what the directors come up with, and what the writers come up with. I mean, they write it, and we have to somehow make it happen. And that’s always an inspiring process. And it’s written down, some great giant event is written down in the script — a la Ben-Hur the chariot race — and you go, “How are we going to do that?” And somehow, it happens.
TCC: And I’m always curious with shows like this, how would you describe the energy of the show and your dynamic with the (rest of the) cast?
JPF: We’re really fortunate. The cast is pretty awesome. I golf regularly with (Adam) Baldwin and Charles Parnell, and the younger cast members, they all hang out together as well. And they’ve got a really strong vibe together. Everyone gets along great. When you have that many —most particularly — young actors who are really getting their careers started, our cast is huge! I’ve never been on a show that had not only a lot of cast members, but they need to be serviced, in some shape or form, to create the Nathan James, to create this machine and how it runs. Something great about The Last Ship is that it employees a lot of actors, and a lot of actors are getting work because of it, and all these people are in here, and all these artists are working together.
And we all want our time in the sun too. We all want to up, up the level for ourselves, and I think that it’s pretty great that, to a man, people are really supportive of one another, and understanding that you’re not always going to get the limelight. That you’re going to be part of that machine, part of moving it forward. And that young energy, that young spirit of the young artist, just being there and happy and inspired and seeing the potential of something greater, I think it’s good for all of us. I think it’s good for —well, myself, because I’ve been around so long —getting that energy again. It’s fantastic.
And for a lot of the crew as well, because they come in and they’re ready to go and they’re happy about it and there’s very little complaining. However, I would say that we were all pretty miserable by the end of the day in the first year, wearing those suits to protect us from the plague. They were basically sauna suits, and then you’re wearing 50 pounds of gak while you’re walking around. And you’re stuck in the middle of the ocean —literally — on some barge that’s unstable because it’s so small. And we were so lucky we didn’t have big waves that day. I mean, it’s almost impossible to get your balance, and you’re sweating. Every. Bit. Of. Hydration that you have in you. We were really happy that we found the cure, because we don’t have to wear those things anymore.
TCC: And how far along are you in production on season two?
JPF: We have two days left of shooting. We’re going to San Diego next week to finish off, and get some of that great production value that we can only get from being on an actual destroyer.
TCC: Sweet, and — without getting into spoilers, of course — what can you tease fans about what’s coming up?
JPF: [ laughs ] Well, that’s a great question. Without any spoilers…. that’s always the tricky bit. You know, I think …. I think what happens this year, we introduce — and again, with an already enormous cast — they introduce a whole new (batch) of characters. There are characters from the first season coming back as well. There’s … the baddies this year. I can’t, gosh, I’m really trying not to spill that I’m not allowed to spill.
I can tell you this: Not everyone’s going to make it through. A lot of heads will roll this season. And it lets us know that we’re in a world where anything can happen, and anything is possible, and that getting a large group of people who have survived in North America together, pack together for a single cause, people are going to have different opinions on how we go about that. And different types of leaders are going to rise to the top, and there’s going to be conflict.
TCC: Just because his name always gets plastered on the promotions and whatnot, have you gotten to interact with Michael Bay?
JPFTCC: Yeah, I was just curious, and speaking of creative control, are you ever interested in extending into producing or directing?
TCC: You know, absolutely. This has created new opportunities for me. I’m definitely looking to get some other roles that keep expanding my vocabulary as an actor. I’m presently pitching a couple of projects to some different production companies. I’m also — well, tonight, I’m getting together for my first rehearsal with a couple of bandmates. I’ve got 20 or so original songs that I put together over a few years that I kinda dig, and want to see if they dig them too. It’s kind of a folky/country kind of stuff. It’s what I’ve always done.
I’m always inspired by (artist like) John Prine. I love it; I love the storytelling aspect of music. So getting that going, and seeing where that goes too. Maybe lay down some tracks, put something together. I may start off with, if this goes well, one of my story songs. I may just turn into a music video. So it’s many things. It’ll be the music, it’ll be storytelling, and it’ll be a short film, but it’ll be a music video. Music video niche. And that could potentially be a calling card to push things further ahead in those other realms.
Directing and writing have become more and more interesting to me, in that you find out, as an actor, how … when I started off as an actor, the thing that really got me going, that got me inspired and enthusiastic and fully engaged in the craft, is that you’re entering these scene-setting classes, or even these plays, at such a young age. Early 20s. And the people involved are giving you kind of carte blanche. They are teaching you, so they’re giving you freedom to create, to bring in your own wardrobe ideas, and you’re bringing in your own thoughts, and you’re creating your own themes in the entire environment. And everything is yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
So this incredible fire happens and this amazing creativity and you can really creating something. And then you learn, when you get in the business, that that’s not only rare, that’s practically impossible. Because someone has to sit at the top, and there are a few other people along the way down, and you learn that everyone’s got ideas and you have to learn to collaborate. And many times you’re there just to serve the script, in the way that the person who had the vision would like to. And the thing I loved in the beginning was the vision, it was that sole creating that world, and I would really like to get back to that. I would really like to get back to have more of a stamp on the greater arc of the story.
TCC: Great, and continuing the future theme, you’ve already gotten to work with a lot of amazing professionals. But are there any actors or directors or musicians in particular that you would really like to work with?
JPF: I’d love to work with (Steven) Soderbergh. A buddy of mine, Eric Johnson, is on The Knick right now, and he just really… he just doesn’t stop talking about what an amazing process it is over there. So that would be pretty great. There’s a slew of actors that I’d love to work with. I’d love to work with Gary Oldman. He seems like not only a solid dude and a good man, but a pretty inspired actor.
You know, I dig … gosh, there all sort of falling from my head right now that I’m thinking of them…. Ed Harris is another guy I’d love to work with. He’s has really interesting career, and I don’t know if you ever saw Appaloosa, but it’s just this beautiful movie. Beautiful western, beautiful performances. Viggo Mortensen is in it. He’s another guy I’d love to work with. There’s — in terms of actors — Michael Keaton. Birdman was pretty great. It’s just kind of a mega list. There’s so many talented, amazing creative artists. You just want to get into that pool, where anything’s possible, and dive into that and see where you can go with it.
TCC: And one project I saw (you’re in) that I was really curious to talk about was Wolves.
JPF: [ laughs ] Yeah!
JPF: I, unfortunately, haven’t gotten to see it yet, but from what I’ve seen it looks like it was a lot of fun to make. What was it like making that movie?
TCC: You know, that’s so funny. Making Wolves was, for me, somewhere — and very similar to the suits we had to wear in The Last Ship — it was somewhere between absolutely, utterly one of the most miserable experiences because, I don’t like this make-up stuff. I don’t like having to sit there for four hours while they paint stuff on you with glue, and shove stuff up your nose, and just poke and prod at you, which is their job. You know, you’re the piece that their sculpting this wolf on. And you’re completely enclosed, your head — and my body wasn’t, but in some circumstances, other actors’ bodies were— and it’s really, it’s really tough. It takes a certain personality type to do it. I mean, you look at … there are actors out there who ... that’s their calling card. And they’re really, really great about that process.
So that part is incredibly difficult for me, to sit still, to get through that, (you) have to get through that to do it — but once it’s done, it was a-maz-ing! Because it rams in this … you look in the mirror and you see how you can create in these new ways, because you have this sculpture on you that is movable. And that was amazing. So, it’s just really about getting through that. And then you finish the day, and then you have to sit in the chair and they can’t just rip the face off. They’ve got to slowly take it off. So that’s like another hour-and-a-half, just dabbing these brushes and stuff, and slowly peeling off the pieces. It’s a heck of a process. Completely rewarding in the end, but getting through those moments, that was tough for me.
The script was awesome. It was a David Hayter script. He also directed it. And I really enjoyed working with Hayter, because he was also an actor and he was really open to everyone’s separate process. And he gave me a lot of freedom that I talked to you earlier about. He entrusted me, and allowed for me to do a lot of improv before a take, which I love to do. Just to get things rolling, to get my mind right to get the person right that I’m working with if they’re into that kind of thing. It helps get everything moving in a direction, and get the intentions clear and the spirit moving. And some of that stuff ended up staying in the movie, which was pretty cool. And some of it ended up on the gag reel, I think. Something like that. Because I can get pretty ridiculous in it. But he was wide open to that, so I had no sense of having to edit myself. I could give him everything I had, and he gets to chop it up and figure out what to do after that.
TCC: Sweet.
JPF: That was a long answer to the question you asked. [ laughs ]
TCC: Oh no, I like hearing about that. I’m always curious about that process, with make-up and what that’s like. You only get to see some of the behind-the-scenes stuff, and it’s abridged. So it’s cool to hear what that’s like. But you did also get to work with Jason Momoa on that film.
JPF: I did, yeah!
TCC: And you got to work with him sort of before his big kicking off point, especially now that he’s going to be Aquaman. So what was that like?
JPF: You know, I love Jay. We had a great time. There’s no doubt about it. He’s as big in life as he is as a human being, structurally. He’s a blast to work with. Great natured. A real artist, you know, he’s out there trying to make stuff happen. He’s constantly promoting his own scripts that he’s written, and I think he’s just directed and completed a film. Road to Paloma. The guy’s really going after it. And I tip my hat off to him. It’s good to see someone take advantage of their opportunities, and using everything that they have to get their own creativity going.
The Last Ship season two premieres June 21 on TNT at 9/8c. You can buy season one here, or watch it through Hulu Plus here.