It’s been a few months since Season 2 of Marvel’s Daredevil premiered on Netflix, but the shadow of the House of Ideas continues to loom over pop culture with Joe and Anthony Russo’s Captain America: Civil War (read our review) and the recent Season 3 finale to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on ABC. But no shadow is big enough for actor Stephen Rider, who portrayed attorney Blake Tower this season of Daredevil and is currently hopping onto a new vehicle — quite literally — in Discovery’s upcoming miniseries, Harley and the Davidsons premiering this September.
A three-part miniseries chronicling the beginning of the Wisconsin-based motorcycle brand, Rider portrays William Johnson, the first known African-American motorcycle rider to compete against his white counterparts and eventually have his own dealership. It’s a big story largely ignored, threatening to be forgotten by the withering pages of unwritten history.
“The things they had to go through, struggle they had to face riding and racing to become a brand,” Rider explains of the new miniseries to Geekscape in a phone interview. “They almost lost the businesses. [Harley and the Davidsons] chronicles their lives creating Harley-Davidson.”
After a string of short films since 2005 to TV guest roles in NCIS: Los Angeles, Lucky 7, and Shameless, Stephen Rider caught his first break in 2013 playing Admiral Stephen W. Rochon in Lee Daniel’s emotional historical drama The Butler. On a Monday afternoon just a few months ago, Geekscape spoke to Rider over the phone to talk about his role as a superhero attorney in the Marvel Universe, riding hog motorcycles, advice he gleaned from working with Denzel Washington (in 2012’s Safe House), to whether or not he’s Team Iron Man or Team Captain America.
Geekscape: What can you tell me about William Johnson, in Harley and the Davidsons? He’s got to have a fascinating story, being the first African-American in a generally and culturally white subculture.
Stephen: I’m in the process of still doing my research. One of the challenges is that he wasn’t a very vocal man so there’s a very limited amount of information on him. He did own a blacksmith ship in New York, he used to race in New York. That is how Harley-Davidson caught wind of him. In the process of him racing and riding with them and helping them fix motorcycles, there were opportunities that came so he could actually start his own. Because he was just as great if not better than most of the riders he was racing against back then, but because of his color, he was ostracized and wasn’t given opportunities until Davidson helped him get his own dealership. There were laws that pretty much said he could not be [owning a dealership] but it really didn’t say that through certain avenues. You see how they found a loophole in the system to be able provide and give opportunity to this man that wouldn’t have been afforded him otherwise.
Geekscape: Do you ride motorcycles yourself?
Stephen: I don’t ride Harley-Davidsons. I used to have a bike ten years ago when I was in college. I got into an accident and got back on it, but then I was like “Hmm, I am becoming an accident, I don’t think this is the best thing for me.” I have my motorcycle license and everything. But then Harley-Davidson reached out to my publicists in order for me to get into a class. I have plenty of opportunity to really get back into the flurry of things, it’s coming back [to me] so I am excited about that.
Geekscape: Let’s talk about Blake Tower in Daredevil. For lack of a better word, and pardon my French, he is caught up in some real shit. He is swarmed with Hell’s Kitchen and everything going on there. Talk to me about Blake Tower and what it took to get into the headspace of a guy in over his head, overwhelmed by everything.
Stephen: He knows a lot of superheroes. [laughs] He provides people with a lot of information in the comics that he appears in. Which is cool, because he is not specific like The Punisher. He wasn’t in that many comics like Punisher, but I think he is a really cool character because he can show up in a lot of different ways. He is in the middle of things. I think the challenge and I think the reason he is [who he is] because there is something about him that really stands by the law.
There is also something about him that knows that sometimes, the law can’t achieve certain things. One of the things that I looked at in approaching Blake Tower is that he comes from a place like Harlem. He’s seen the success of how the law works and he’s also seen the other side of it. I think he is willing to change it because he really loves the city he comes from. He is very invested. It is not just about his next career move. It’s about something that is very personal.
Geekscape: I got that impression too. On that note, it feels as though Marvel will flesh out Blake Tower in their film and TV universe. Will you be involved in the next season of Jessica Jones, or Luke Cage or Iron Fist?
Stephen: I hope I am but Marvel and Netflix are extremely secretive. I really don’t know anything unless they let me know. Typically I’m the last one to know. I feel like they have a million things percolating you’ll never know until the film turns into this blurry water and by that time I am probably filming it. I do hope to be a part of everything, the whole Marvel universe, but I really don’t know at this time. I hope like all of us. As an actor [that] can be frustrating but can also be exciting because I feel like nowadays, besides maybe Marvel and maybe Spielberg and maybe Abrams, you know everything. So if there is something secretive it makes me feel like a little kid again. It frustrates me, but it’s exciting at the same time.
Geekscape: I understand you once worked with Denzel Washington and he offered you advice. Would you care to share what that was, or what he’s just like?
Stephen: He is a very spiritual man. His work ethic is second to none. I didn’t know he worked that hard, and I work hard. One of the things he told [me] was, “Stephen, if you fall moving, stick to it. Even if you stumble, keep your eyes focused on what you’re trying to achieve. Brush off the dirt but keep moving.” He said if you look at after what you do and there is a Plan B and C, you’ll never do that. If this is something you want to do, this has to be Plan A. If Plan A is the only thing you could do, you’ll do everything it takes. When he said that to me it resonated. It’s a great evaluation. It allows me to evaluate myself and be like, “Oh, I don’t know why this six happening but for some reason I’m not doing all I can do to make things happen.”
Geekscape: Now that we know you as Blake Tower in Daredevil and we’ll soon see you in Harley and the Davidsons, what can you say about these two men you’re playing? How are they different or similar?
Stephen: William Johnson is a common black man. Blake Tower isn’t. I have start with the fact that one name is Blake Tower and one name is William Johnson. Just start there. That means the world they come from probably are extremely different. I have to look at the fact that Blake Tower might have gone to a private school. I can imagine someone named Blake Tower probably did go to a private school. I think William B. Johnson didn’t. He was born in the early 1900s or late 1800s at a time when picking cotton and working in the field [was normal]. It’s not a surprise he was a mechanic, he learned how to fix motorcycles and cars because that was something, back then, that was a specialized way of making money. I understand why he would do that or work as a waiter or on the railroad because those were the opportunities given to him. Blake Tower had advantages William Johnson never even dreamed of.
William B. Johnson comes from the 18th century. Blake Tower comes from the 20th and 21st. What I love is you get to see how far we have come, in a sense. You have this man who is extremely successful at what he was capable of doing back then. Blake Tower believed the same things in a lot of ways. Like, “Regardless of the fact, this is something I aspire to because I believe in something beyond myself. I believe in our community. I believe in my neighborhood. I believe Hell’s Kitchen has the ability to be greater than what I see it to be, what I see it currently.”
Geekscape: Last question: Are you Team Captain America, or Team Iron Man?
Stephen: You know, I don’t think this is that simple. I understand both sides. It’s so easy to understand both. You understand why Captain America has to support his friend. What happened to Bucky is not something Bucky wanted to happen. He was forced to. It was something that was out of his control. I can’t expect Captain America to go against his friend. I wouldn’t go against my friend. At the same time, from Iron Man’s standpoint, I see how this is affecting the greater good. Shoot. I hope they all get along. You know, if I had to choose one, if you’re saying Stephen, you have to choose, probably Captain America. Because I think of the friendship and loyalty he has. I think that resonates with me.