Ralph Ineson – Brahms: The Boy II

By: Jamie Steinberg

Q) What are the recent projects that you are working on?

A) I’m working on Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, which is a film adaptation of a London West End musical that is a bit like “Billy Elliott.” It’s about a young lad growing up in northern England and he wants to be a drag queen. It’s a really great West End show. I’m doing the film version of it with Richard E. Grant and Sarah Lancashire. I was also just in a show with Lena Heady called Gunpowder Milkshake, which is kind of an action movie about a group of female assassins. Right before that was The Green Knight with Dev Patel playing Sir Gawain. It’s an epic historical film with lots of prosthetics. Then, the one before that was Brahms: The Boy II.

Q) What made you want to be a part of Brahms: The Boy II?

A) They sent me the script and plus it was horror. It’s a genre that I don’t tend to watch. My kids are sixteen years old and twenty years old and it is kind of their audience bracket. I tend to listen to them about it. I read the script and I thought it was good and interesting. And the character was a lot of fun. Then, I asked them and they said “yeah” because they loved the first The Boy

Q) How was your character Joseph originally described to you?

A) I had the script first and I looked at it first before speaking to the director or anybody. He developed interestingly in the script. He’s quite a tricky one to discuss without giving away too many spoilers. He’s an interesting, kind of eccentric and a bit of a lonely guy who lives on the grounds of Hillshire Manor. He’s got his guard dog Oz. Then, a new family comes to live in Hillshire Manor and he becomes involved in their lives in ways that will become apparent. He’s there as kind of a guardian and caretaker of Hillshire Manor. He shows them around and lets them know what is going on.

Q) What did you find challenging about your role?

A) He is one of those on lots of different levels at the same time. It’s not quite a split personality, but there is quite a bit going on. So, it was quite a lot to unpack. With those characters, I find as an actor it’s very easy to go through the line and completely overdo it. Psychopathic behavior and odd behavior is always a challenge. Also, just before I left to film, I fell down the stairs. I slipped on some ice in the London Underground and broke my wrist. I went to hospital and had it x-rayed. They said it was just sprain. It was soft tissue and would be fine. So, I went to British Colombia to film for ten weeks with a broken wrist. Shooting a shotgun was difficult. Doing that with a broken wrist was quite challenging.

Q) What advice were you given by director William Brent Bell that you took to heart while filming?

A) I think that we both agree there was a real loneliness to him. He lost his family, but we don’t know how long ago. There is a real yearning and loneliness to him, which I think we both agreed was the more interesting side to the character. It’s easy on one level to be screaming, shouting and waving guns around. But making people feel uncomfortable by the fact that they feel sorry for somebody they know they shouldn’t feel sorry for, there is that kind of confusion with the emotions with the audience. I think that’s what we were going for.

Q) Did you need specific gun shooting training or were you already well versed?

A) It’s kind of old hat. I actually grew up in countryside of North Yorkshire so I’m used to going shooting. I knew my way around all of that. To be honest, I’ve been doing this for over twenty-six years. So, I know most hand gun skills. I’ve been on a lot of driving courses and armory courses. So, over the years I’ve been trained to do most things, I think.

Q) What were some of your favorite scenes to film?

A) I love the days I had with Gunner, the dog. He was a beautiful German Sheppard and I’m a dog nut. I’ve got three of my own. Gunner was gorgeous, well trained and lovely. Being a dog person, it was easy to get the best out of him as a dog actor. So, we got some really nice moments of him looking scared. I actually really love working with children and animals. Everybody says you shouldn’t, but I always enjoy working with kids and kid actors tend to give the most honest and truthful performances. There is one big scene towards the end of the movie that is a very long scene between Joseph and Katie’s character. That was a joy to film. It was just this one day of back and forth between her and I. It was really good fun.

Q) What do you think it is Brahms: The Boy II that will make it a fast fan favorite horror movie?

A) I think it’s really creepy. The doll is so, so creepy. I didn’t get over it the whole time I was filming. It still freaked me out. Even on the last day of filming, I couldn’t quite get over it. It’s genuinely a terrifying piece of God’s work. I think it’s got good actors in it. Christopher, who works with the doll all the way through it, is terrifying in his deadpan looks that he manages to create. The boy is mute by a tragedy before the film starts. So, having him and the doll and no speaking I think it’s going to really creep people out. It is going to be a lot fun because of a lot of good scary moments.

Q) You’ve recently done a lot more with dramas. What is it about the genre that caught your eye?

A) I think because my first kind of big role (in the sense that people really knew me from it) was the UK “The Office.” That was really the first full-on comedy that I’d done. About ninety percent of my career has all been film, drama and TV drama which I kind of naturally prefer. I don’t know why. I just think that comedy is amazing when it’s good. But the kind of experiences I’ve had with doing not so good comedy is kind of gut wrenchingly horrible. When comedy is good, when it’s like “The Office,” you want to do it all the time. It has to be really, really good whereas with drama you can go into it and explore.

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who are fans and supporters of you and the work you do?

A) Thank you for being a supporter of the work I do. I love my job; I always have. I count myself very lucky to do it. If I’m doing it well enough for people to fancy and support it then I’m very happy. Thank you!