Ismael Cruz Cordova Reveals Why The Bluff Is The Pirate Epic We Need Now
The Rings of Power star trades his bow and arrow for a thoughtful revenge fable.
As The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power heads into its third season, every Tolkien fan wants to know what’s next. But don’t look to series star Ismael Cruz Cordova for any answers. When asked about the future of the Prime Video prequel, the actor — who’s played the warrior elf Arondir since Season 1 — is determined not to let anything slip.
“Three seasons, six years so far... I have not swam this long to drown off the shore,” Cordova tells Inverse with a smile. “I can tease that I had a lot of fun. I can tease that it was a page turner, [with] the thrills that you’re already used to seeing and then some. I think the love’s pouring in and impacting all of our work in the show. But yeah... I’m sworn to secrecy.”
His discretion makes a lot of sense: The Rings of Power is one of Prime Video’s biggest, most secretive shows, and its upcoming season is poised to reinvent everything we know about this world. Waiting for its return will be easier said than done — but fans of Cordova will at least have a consolation prize in his latest film, The Bluff.
Cordova may be “sworn to secrecy” about The Rings of Power, but fans won’t have to wait long for his next adventure.
Directed by Frank E. Flowers, The Bluff is a revenge thriller between two dueling pirates in the 19th century. As T.H. Bodden, the stalwart sea merchant who runs afoul of a bloodthirsty pirate crew, Cordova’s a long way from the high fantasy of Middle-earth. Bodden is what Cordova describes as a “damsel in distress,” taking something of a backseat in this female-led thriller. But that pivot was one big part of what convinced him to trade his bow and arrow for a cutlass. The other was Flowers’ goal to show a different side to piracy in the Caribbean, splitting the difference between the blockbusters that glorified the sport and the dramas that reflect the dark reality of the era.
The Bluff follows an unassuming “fish wife,” Ercell (Priyanka Chopra Jonas), who just happens to have been a fearsome pirate in a past life. When her old crew descends on her new home on the island of Cayman Brac, searching for the treasure she allegedly stole from their Captain Connor (Karl Urban), Ercell has to call upon the skills she tried to leave behind to protect her husband (Cordova’s Captain Bodden) and family. In that regard, The Bluff is a little like a John Wick film — but Flowers also draws from the legacy of his native Cayman Islands to inject this story with a shot of historical accuracy.
“A lot of people speak of it as a genre film,” Cordova says. “In reality, it’s a historical film. It’s not a soft thing. It’s pretty gritty, but it is the reality of the Caribbean. We had pirates; that was part of our history.”
The Bluff dives into the “gritty” history of piracy in the Caribbean.
Cordova hails from Puerto Rico, one of the many islands in the Caribbean where pirates ruled unchecked for centuries. He praises The Bluff for shifting the perspective from the perverse fun of pillaging and onto the people who were actually affected by piracy. “Frank explained to me his impetus and his motivation for this film,” Cordova continues. “It was to bring this story forward: our voice inside this part of history, what happened, and who you messed with.”
There’s so much specificity surrounding this cut-and-dry, crowdpleasing narrative, not only when it comes to its historical context, but also in its brief moments of tenderness between Ercell and Bodden. The Bluff isn’t exactly a romance, but depicting the love between these characters was crucial to developing the heart of the film — and making this story feel real.
“What was very important for us was this image of two brown people together,” says Cordova. “You don't see that often... if you do, it kind of gets pushed as ‘the Black film’ or ‘the Latino film.’” The Bluff is a radical departure in that its characters are allowed to exist as they are, exploring an almost post-racial melting pot that’s since been lost to time. It’s just one part of the fabric of this film, but it goes a long way in ensuring that, once Ercell and Connor do get their rematch, we all understand what our anti-heroine is fighting to protect.
