Ralph Ineson’s Wildest On-Set Rival: The Goat From The Witch
Ralph Ineson, best known as Finchy from The Office, shares his unforgettable clash with a goat named Charlie during the filming of The Witch. The animal’s antics left a lasting impression on both cast and audience.
Ralph Ineson will always be remembered by many as Finchy from The Office, a role that’s hard to top in British telly. Still, he’s managed to carve out a solid career since then, popping up in everything from big-budget blockbusters to cult TV dramas. Over the past decade, Ineson’s been in demand, landing parts in major films like Guillermo del Toro’s take on Frankenstein, Robert Eggers’ latest horror flick Nosferatu, and even making an appearance in the Marvel universe with Fantastic Four: The First Steps.
It’s been quite the journey since his days as Chris Finch in Gervais’ classic sitcom back in 2001. Ineson’s CV now boasts stints in Game of Thrones and the gripping Chernobyl miniseries, which briefly held the top spot on IMDb. But it wasn’t always smooth sailing. For a good ten years, he struggled to score leading roles. Things started to shift around 2009 when he landed the part of Amycus in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, a gig he reprised in the final two films. He even had a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it role in Guardians of the Galaxy before teaming up with Eggers for The Witch in 2015.
Filming The Witch: A Goat With Attitude
The Witch, set in 17th-century America, is a seriously unsettling film that also gave Anya Taylor-Joy an early break. Eggers’ direction set a new standard for horror, and the film raked in awards from critics everywhere. But for Ineson, playing the stern patriarch of a Puritan family came with an unexpected challenge: working alongside a massive goat named Charlie, cast as Black Phillip. The animal outweighed Ineson by a fair bit and wasn’t exactly easy to handle.
Ineson didn’t mince words about his experience, saying,
“I didn’t have a lot of gas in the tank, really. He was horrible. Really, really horrible. From the moment we set eyes on each other it was just kind of hate at first sight. He had two modes: chilling out and doing nothing, or attacking me.”
Eggers backed him up, noting that Charlie would often do the opposite of what was needed—if he was meant to be calm, he’d act up, and vice versa. Things got so out of hand that the goat once rammed Ineson in the ribs, leaving him with a dislodged tendon.
Charlie’s Scene-Stealing Performance
Despite the chaos, Charlie’s on-screen presence became a highlight for punters, especially the moment when he reared up on his hind legs in a particularly creepy scene. Ineson, though, wasn’t exactly thrilled about the goat’s newfound fame. He joked,
“It’s wonderful that his fantastic performance is bringing notoriety to the film, but there’s a little part of me that’s like, ‘Seriously? That f—er?’”
Charlie’s antics may have made him a star, but for Ineson, the memories were less than fond. The goat’s unpredictable behaviour left a mark—literally and figuratively—on the actor, who had to put up with more than his fair share of animal mischief on set.
Getting Even, The Aussie Way
Ineson eventually found a way to have the last laugh. He recalled a dinner at a well-known London spot, The Smoking Goat, where he and director Eggers shared a goat dish to celebrate his wife’s birthday.
“We remembered Charlie. Not so fondly.”
It was a fitting end to a wild chapter in Ineson’s career, proving that sometimes, revenge is best served with a side of humour.