He played one of the most horrible characters in TV history, found his feet as an actor in his 40s and is now a Marvel supervillain. He discusses shame, typecasting and how he appeared in three Harry Potter films without ever saying a line
H
ow do you portray Galactus, a gigantic, amoral, immortal superbeing who thrives by draining planets of their energy? If you’re making a film of any part of Marvel’s Fantastic Four journey, your best bet is probably to depict him as a cloud. That’s what happened in 2007, and even though fans complained about it a bit, it solved a lot of problems.
Matt Shakman, director of the new The Fantastic Four: First Steps, cast Ralph Ineson, who still sounds faintly surprised by the move. “I’ve been working for a long time,” he says. His first role was a small part in Spender, the Jimmy Nail vehicle, in 1991, and he’s in a similar mould to Nail: tall with a handsome, rough-hewn face, a guy who looks as if he knows how to do guy stuff.
“I’ve been a jobbing actor for a long time,” he continues, with the same disbelieving, “how the hell did I wind up in this huge movie?” tone of voice. “There’s no denying it’s really nice to have a huge trailer. And it was huge. Bigger than mine and my wife’s first flat.” (He married Ali Milner, a radio host, in 2003.) “Nice trailers, nice cars, and a paycheck. But it’s a privilege and an honour to be the first person to bring this character to life. Twelve-year-old me wouldn’t have believed some of this shit. I don’t have any snobbery about it. I loved it.”
