Whatever problems "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" has with its portrayal of Galactus,
none of them come from his actor Ralph Ineson. While Ineson's appearance is completely concealed inside Galactus' armor, his greatest strength as an actor is his deep, Yorkshire accented voice. That voice sounds like it should be coming out of a wrathful cosmic god like Galactus.Ineson has been working as an on-camera actor since 1993, but he's had a career renaissance in the last decade. Before that, he was part
of the cast in the U.K. version of "The Office" as Chris Finch (the counterpart to David Koechner's Todd Packer from the American version). In the late 2000s to early 2010s, he also had minor parts in the "Harry Potter" films (as the Death Eater Amycus Carrow), "Game of Thrones" (the Ironborn Dagmer Cleftjaw), and even the Marvel Cinematic Universe itself! Indeed, in 2014's "Guardians of the Galaxy," Ineson was a background member of Yondu's (Michael Rooker) Ravager crew.
Ineson recently did an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, which highlighted him going from a Marvel extra to a big bad. Asked about his career pick-up since the 2010s, Ineson called it "a joy," adding:
"I've been a jobbing actor for 33 years now, and I've always loved my job. I love making films, and I love being on set. I've never had any huge expectations of getting lead parts in any kind of productions, but I've always enjoyed my work and I've had a good life."
As most others do, Ineson credits his career boost to his starring in Robert Eggers' acclaimed historical horror film, "The Witch." Set in 1630s New England, the film follows a Puritan family as it crumbles apart due to paranoia inflamed by a mostly unseen witch. On top of making Anya Taylor-Joy a rising star, "The Witch" also turned Ineson into Hollywood's new favorite character actor. As he recounted to THR:
"[Eggers] gave me this amazing part in an amazing film with other incredible actors, and that changed everything for me. It gave me a lot of confidence in myself that if it came down to it, I did actually have the chops to be able to play a character with a proper arc and some nuance. It was much more than I'd been given to play with before, and that led to more work with Rob and also Steven Spielberg [in 'Ready Player One'], the Coen brothers [in "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs' and Joel Coen's 'The Tragedy of Macbeth'] and all sorts of amazing filmmakers."
In "The Witch," Ineson plays family patriarch William. At the beginning of the film, William is exiled from a settlement over a religious dispute. He chooses to build a cabin on the edge of a forest — a forest that's home to a witch.
Read more: The 10 Scariest Horror Movies Of 2024, Ranked
The Witch Began Ralph Ineson's Career As A Horror Character Actor
William isn't the villain of "The Witch," per se, but his pride does lead to his family's destruction. Again, Ineson's deep voice is authoritative like a father's should be, but it's foreboding rather than loving. It's the voice of a man who keeps his family in line with sermons of predestination to Heaven or Hell. Ineson's best scene in the movie is when William breaks down praying that his family not suffer for his sins. That prayer goes unanswered.
Remember, too, that witches are often icons of revolt against the patriarchy. No character more literally embodies that system in "The Witch" than William. His daughter Thomasin (Taylor-Joy) embraces the coven at the end of "The Witch," turning her back on her heavenly and earthly father.
Both Ineson and Taylor-Joy later appeared in Eggers' 2022 Viking epic "The Northman," with Ineson playing a minor role as a sea captain who ferries Taylor-Joy's character Olga. Ineson later worked with Eggers a third time in "Nosferatu" as Dr. Wilhelm Sievers, a former student of occultist Prof. Albin Eberhart von Franz (Willem Dafoe).
But it's not just Eggers who keeps casting Ineson in horror projects. Ineson also appeared in David Lowery's "The Green Knight," a surreal Arthurian fable. There, he plays the Green Knight himself, a menacing figure with tree bark for skin who's conjured to teach young Gawain (Dev Patel) a lesson. Like when he plays Galactus, Ineson's physicality is subsumed into the costume but his voice bleeds through. The film may not be a cut and dried horror flick, but the Green Knight himself will leave you chilled.
The same year as "Nosferatu," Ineson further appeared in the surprisingly excellent horror movie prequel, "The First Omen." There, Ineson played Father Brennan, who was portrayed by Patrick Troughton in the original "Omen." The film retcons Brennan's character (in "The Omen," he was a member of the conspiracy to bring forth the antichrist but repented; in "The First Omen," he's a hero from the beginning), but Ineson does justice to Troughton's performance.
Ineson's next horror role will arrive later this year in Guillermo del Toro's "Frankenstein," where he is playing Professor Krempe. In Mary Shelley's original novel, Krempe is a teacher of Victor Frankenstein's who tries to ward him away from alchemy and dreams of reviving the dead. Of course, he fails. That means Ineson probably won't have a huge part in "Frankenstein" but his resume indicates he'll make it memorable.
"The Fantastic Four: First Steps" is now playing in theaters.
If you're looking for the easiest way to keep up with all the major movie and TV news, why not sign up to our free newsletter?
Read the original article on SlashFilm.
