Warning: Some SPOILERS lie ahead for Manhunt!

Summary

• Manhunt, a thriller on Apple TV+, follows the capture of John Wilkes Booth and his plot to reignite the Civil War.
• The show features an ensemble cast led by Tobias Menzies as Stanton and Anthony Boyle as Booth, garnering critical acclaim.
• Actor Damian O'Hare, who plays Thomas Eckert, praises the show for its blend of dramatization and historical storytelling, and Monica Beletsky's extensive research that helped him find the heart of his character.

Learn about the people behind John Wilkes Booth's capture in Manhunt. Created by Emmy nominee Monica Beletsky and partially based on James L. Swanson's novel of the same name, the Apple TV+ thriller centers on Edwin Stanton as he leads the charge to bring Booth to justice after his infamous assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. The show also explores Booth's efforts to make it to Confederate territory and reignite the Civil War.

Joining Stanton in the hunt for Booth in Manhunt's cast is Thomas Eckert, the Chief of the War Department Telegraph Staff who was a key partner for Lincoln's War Secretary during the titular search. Eckert is brought to life in the show by Damian O'Hare, the Irish actor best known for his roles in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise as Lt. Gillette, the animated world of DC with Constantine: City of Demons and Justice League Action, and Leverage: Redemption.

Alongside O'Hare, the Manhunt cast includes Tobias Menzies as Stanton, Anthony Boyle as Booth, Lovie Simone as Mary Simms, Will Harrison as David Herold, Hamish Linklater as Lincoln, Brandon Flynn as Edwin Stanton Jr., Glenn Morshower as Andrew Johnson, Patton Oswalt as Lafayette C. Baker and Matt Walsh as Samuel Mudd. Across its seven-episode season, the show has garnered widespread acclaim from critics for its blend of dramatization and factual storytelling, and the performances of its cast.

Ahead of the show's finale, Screen Rant interviewed Damian O'Hare to discuss Manhunt, the deep research he did to play Thomas Eckert, exploring his character's relationship with Stanton, and his thoughts on where the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise should go next.

Manhunt's Positive Reception Has Been "Wonderful" For O'Hare

While the story of Abraham Lincoln has been explored a variety of times in the past, Manhunt has set itself apart from many of its predecessors. For O'Hare, critics' reception has proven largely "wonderful", particularly praising Monica Beletsky for having "created such an amazing world" and also giving audiences "a real insight into what was happening at the time":

Damian O'Hare: It's wonderful, Grant. I just caught up on it myself last night. I watched three in a row, and it was great, because I'm in LA, the last one dropped at around 10 p.m., or something, here. So, it's wonderful, and obviously, as an actor, when you do something, you don't know how it's actually going to come across on the screen. You just do your bit within your scenes, and then and then you have to pass it over to the creatives, and the DOP, and the directors at the time, and the editing room. And what I've seen just looks absolutely incredible.

I'm so glad that there's been such a positive response to it, because certainly, we felt that it deserved to be seen, deserves to be talked about. It paints such a wonderful picture of the historical time. It's not just ostensibly a cat-and-mouse, linear thriller of one man's pursuit of another. But Monica Beletsky, the showrunner, she's created such an amazing world, and sort of gives us a real insight into what was happening at the time. I think that really comes across.

And the flashback thing, it was very smart, using the flashback device, so we can see — because it starts off with, obviously, the assassination. But then, you see the relationship Lincoln had with everyone, and what he was trying to do at the time. So, yeah, it's great, and I'm so glad people have seemed to have embraced it. It's engaging them as well.

I'm based in America now, and a lot of American friends who actually, like myself, just thought, "Oh, yeah, Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln, and perhaps just perished." No one knows what sort of happened to him after that. A few people knew that he went on the run for 12 days, and someone would go, "Oh, yes, it was a doctor Mudd, or a Surratt, or something." But a lot of people's history seems quite peppered. So, to actually tell this story was great and fascinating for an actor, as well, for me, personally.

O'Hare Turned To Beletsky For "90%" Of The Research To Play Eckert

With the show blending both fact and fiction to create an engaging thriller, O'Hare had a wide range of options to take to prepare for playing Eckert. Ultimately, however, the star found his research being "90% Monica", though did turn to a local fixture in Los Angeles that had a lot of material for him to pull from:

Damian O'Hare: Oh, yeah, I would say it was 90% Monica, she was just a wonderful sounding board. Actually, in James' book, Eckert's only mentioned three or four times or something. There, obviously, is his relationship there with Stanton and Lincoln. They were quite tight, and actually, I think that Eckert was supposed to go to the theater with Lincoln that night, and then Stanton maybe had disallowed him or something, maybe discouraged Lincoln of going.

But I think Lincoln offered the Eckerts the tickets, as well, maybe after Stanton turned them down. So, as an actor, you know, there wasn't that much to go on from the book, from the source material. But reading around, Wikipedia was great, and the Huntington Museum here in LA has a lot of his original papers and correspondence from the time, so I went down, and I had a look at them to get some feel for what was actually done. Because the whole telegraph thing was actually so important at that time, because I was reading it was sort of one of the first modern warfare [tactics], the American Civil War, and the telegraph.

Stanton himself said, I think it's something like, "The telegraph system is my right hand" or something like that. So, he actually moved Eckert's telegraph room right beside his room. In the show, you see there's those sort of interlocking doors. I was sort of Chief of Staff, basically. Eckert actually devised the ciphers and codes to help Stanton and Lincoln speak to each other in code and stuff like that. So, there was a great bond between the three men, which Monica really explored in the script. She put such a wonderful character in there, and he's got a lovely arc.

You really see, especially in these latter episodes, the companionship between him and Stanton, and in Stanton's quieter moments, when he might have that bit of doubt, because as the public face, he has to be very definite, and he will turn to Eckert for some sage words or advice. Those scenes were lovely to play, it felt like there was a real character there. So yeah, mostly came from Monica, but I like to do some research myself around it. She was wonderful for writing for him, as well, she really cares for his character. So it was wonderful to hear that from her.

One of the biggest keys for O'Hare to find the core of Eckert's character came from his first day on the Manhunt set, in which he filmed the scene of arresting Spencer Treat Clark's Lewis Powell at the Surratt boarding house. Though the initial script didn't indicate much about the scene, director Carl Franklin and O'Hare pivoted to create more of a fight scene out of it, which Beletsky also appreciated in adding an extra edge to Eckert:

Damian O'Hare: Yeah, well, we've taken a lot of dramatic license on a lot, but bits and pieces are from the actual source material, just to make it as dramatic as possible, and to be entertaining as a television show. So, on my first day, there was a very physical scene I had to do directed by the great Carl Franklin, who directed the first two episodes. It was when I caught, and I arrested, Lewis Powell at the Surratt boarding house. Spencer, who plays Lewis Powell, is actually quite a big fella, so we had a bit of a wrestle.

I think, in the script, there was a call to Tom, or something, and then he's arrested. But we ended up jumping into it, crashing into these walls, coming down. It's great as an actor to get in on your first day and have to do that sort of physical stuff, because it takes your mind away from what else you're doing. But I remember Monica, because she was developing a lot of these characters, not on the hoof, but I remember her saying that was great to see, because then she could put the physical foil beside Stanton's more cerebral character.

So, it gave Stanton a bit of muscle, as well, which was great, because not only am I a confidante, but he could actually handle himself in certain situations. So, that was a great sort of thing to bring to the character, not only is he obviously intelligent, he was the boss of the telegraph room, and Morse code itself. It was a brand-new technology, basically, Morse had only come out about 10 or 15 years beforehand. I actually learned Morse code for the show, which was surprisingly easy, but surprisingly difficult to be able to do as fast as those guys did.

I think I could do maybe two words a minute, or something, where these guys were doing two words every second, but yeah, it was great. I mean, I can't remember any of it now. They had props give me something, and it was like Morse Code for Dummies, or something. It was like, "An A is like two ducks, or something, or a dog." There was a little diagram where it was like, "Dot-dot-dash, and a dog's tail." But yeah, it was quite phenomenal what these guys were doing. There was a lot to put into the character, but it all comes from the page.

Certainly, that first physical thing was a great way into the character, as well, but Monica just made him feel so alive, and I just loved playing with Tobias, as well. An actor I admired for years. I used to see him in the stage in the UK. We've met socially a couple of times, but it's so much easier when you know people are coming from the source material, and interested in telling the story, because it's such an incredible part of history, our history.

Exploring Eckert & Stanton's Relationship Was Key To Keeping The Show From Feeling "So Dry"

While a smaller player in the early episodes of the show, Eckert becomes a more prominent figure in the hunt for Booth near the end of Manhunt, particularly as Stanton's health problems worsen. For O'Hare, he found these "tender" moments between the two friends to be "little gifts" and helped the period piece from feeling "so dry":

Damian O'Hare: Yeah, I only caught up on the last three episodes, and I actually watched three in the spin last night. I actually forgot, because we actually filmed it quite a while ago, they're tender, a lot of the scenes are. I've done a lot of period TV and film and stuff before, and it's very easy just to think that these people are sort of two-dimensional when you play the period at the time. But these people had a laugh, and they went out and had a drink.

So, if you're working so close by and talking about the characters, there has to be some kind of mutual respect or admiration. The moments we find to show their humanity or their appreciation for each other, and the tenderness or the charisma that both could have with each other, I think were just little gifts, and you just need to throw them in every so often. But I was really pleased to see, and certainly last night, like when they're talking about Jefferson Davis being caught in his wife's clothes. You actually see a little bit of Stanton's humor there, as well.

They shamed Lincoln when they caught him in Baltimore or something, "So we'll say he was caught in a dress." And you see a twinkle in Eckert's eye, as well, "Let's do that. Can you just imagine?" Those little moments helped to just humanize the story, as well as bring the audience in, because you don't want a period piece to be so dry. You need the flavor, it was stuff like that that was great. And Tobias is just such a joy, and everything from him comes from telling the story in the best way possible.

So, it's easy to work with people like that, and I must say, ostensibly, most of my scenes were with Tobias, and the world that he goes into in pursuit of Booth. But everyone in this show was just like that, we wanted to tell the story in the best way possible, since it's such an amazing part of the history in this country. We'd probably been filming for a month or something, and I don't know if it was Tobias' first time, but it was certainly mine of seeing — I think it actually was his, as well.

We had a scene with the three of us, I think it's in episode 2 or 3, where Hamish comes in for the first time, and he's got a baseball, and he's pitching it around. I just thought, "Oh my god, here's our show." It was very easy to forget that the show is about Lincoln, and the sort of grief that can be felt about this guy who would have been, hopefully, the sort of unifier.

The country was in such a state of chaos at the time, but for him to play the man, and not the idea of the president, and for him to find that sort of beautiful lightness of touch as well. That was like, "Ah, he's playing a man here." I think what he did with Lincoln was incredible and very humanizing. The amount of times you can put those little moments of levity or humor in there is just the best, I think.

O'Hare Isn't Sure Where Pirates Of The Caribbean Should Go Next (But Trusts Jerry Bruckheimer)

While only having starred in two of the five movies, O'Hare remains proud of his time in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, having even recently watched the original for the first time in years with his daughter while on a flight. In looking at where the franchise should go next, the star feels a reboot may be the best choice, but whether they do that or bring Johnny Depp back, O'Hare has plenty of faith in producer Jerry Bruckheimer:

Damian O'Hare: You know, funnily enough, I hadn't seen the original picture in years, and I was flying back from London with my five-year-old daughter three nights ago, and it was on the screen on the airplane. I hadn't got my headphones, she was using my headphones at the time, so I actually just whizzed through it, and it's great. It was such a wonderful time doing that first picture, and Johnny Depp wasn't Johnny Depp at the time. I mean, he was a success, but that turned him into a superstar.

I actually just live round down the road from the Hilton Hotel in Universal City, where I was sequestered for about four months there with Mackenzie Crook and all the Brits. But we all knew we were on something special, because, again, that was quite an ensemble piece. And what Johnny was doing was completely mad and out of the box, so it just didn't feel like an Errol Flynn, which I think the studio and Jerry Bruckheimer wanted at the time, it was a very straight down the line.

I remember Johnny actually saying that he went into the first meeting with 20 black teeth and scars everywhere, and they were like, "What are you doing? We want to see that face, it's the moneymaker!" [Chuckles] So he said, "Okay, I'll cut it down, I'll have one snaggletooth, and only have one scar and thing." And then he said, "But that's all I wanted, but I knew if I'd went in there with that, they would have said, 'No,' and they would have put me down. So I had to go so big."

But where it goes, I don't know. I've just seen briefly they're talking about rebooting the whole franchise, which sort of makes sense to me. I mean, there's been, what, five now? So, I was in the first one, and then they forgot about me in 2 and 3. [Chuckles] And then randomly, I got a call, and they wanted to bring Gillette back for the fourth one, so I went and met up with a few of the guys for, I think I had four months in Hawaii. That was a hard decision to make.

It was great to reunite with Geoffrey Rush, who was an absolute dream, and I think there was only two or three from the original picture that were still in there. But, obviously, it was just wonderful. That was only my second screen job, I think I'd just done one TV show before that, and then the next thing, I was in Hollywood making that picture.

It's such a cinematic sort of royalty, that picture, certainly the first one. When people talk about it, they talk about it with a lot of love, so I hope they have success with whatever they do. Jerry is a good, steady hand on the tiller, I think, so whatever he does, I'm sure it will be a success. I want a spinoff of Gillette. Why not? I'm up for it.

About Manhunt

Based on the New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award-winning nonfiction book from author James L. Swanson, “Manhunt” is a conspiracy thriller about one of the best-known but least understood crimes in history, the astonishing story of the hunt for John Wilkes Booth in the aftermath of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination.

Check out our previous Manhunt interviews with:

• Monica Beletsky (Pre-Release)
• Hamish Linklater (Pre-Release)
• Matt Walsh
• Monica Beletsky (Finale)

Manhunt is available to stream in its entirety on Apple TV+.