QUICKFIRE: Actor Ralph Ineson on being a soccer star lookalike

Ralph Ineson stars in Ready Player One and The Hurricane Heist, which open in cinemas on 29 March and 6 April respectively

Guilty pleasure? Country and western music – and not always the cool stuff. I have a penchant for Tammy Wynette and Dolly Parton.

Where is home? A modern house in Southwest London. I’m from Leeds originally, but have lived in London for 25 years.

Career plan B? After university, I taught in a sixth-form college in York for a year and a half before deciding to try acting.

Who would play you in a movie of your life? The footballer Harry Kane. I keep being told that I look like him.

Biggest bugbear? Rudeness.

As a child you wanted to be… I loved sport and would have liked to play professionally, but deep down I think that I always wanted to be an actor.

Earliest memory? Balancing on the belly of my grandfather, a barrel of a man who weighed about 25 stone.

Secret to a happy relationship? Admit when you’re wrong.

Your best quality? My voice – it’s what pays the bills.

And your worst? I’m bad with money.

Most romantic thing you’ve ever done? Propose to my wife Ali, at the wedding reception for Andy Serkis and Lorraine Ashbourne in Tuscany in 2002.

Last meal on earth? Ribeye steak with chips, creamed spinach and a bottle of malbec.

Dream dinner-party guests? A table of great film-makers – Stanley Kubrick, the Coen brothers, Steven Spielberg and Robert Eggers. I’ve worked with them all, apart from Kubrick.

Advice to teenage self? Nobody knows what they’re doing, so don’t be afraid to try things.

Cat or dog? I have a black lab, Billie, and a great dane, Grayson.

What do you see when you look in the mirror? Someone older than I feel.

Starstruck moment? My first day working with Steven Spielberg on the set of his new film Ready Player One. Whenever he spoke to me, I couldn’t actually take in what he was saying.

Career highlight? Making The Witch in the wilds of northern Ontario, Canada, a few years ago. We were a tightknit group who felt that we were creating something really good.

Favourite tipple? Red wine, cider and a well-kept pint of Guinness.

Hangover cure? Exercise – go for a walk in the fresh air.

Top of your bucket list? To be the father of two Oscar-winners. My son Luc is studying acting at university and my daughter Becky is at performing arts school.

Secret skill? I can still do the splits at the age of 48.

One thing that would make your life better? Leeds United signing Harry Kane.

Philosophy? Take your work seriously, but don’t take yourself too seriously.

Where would you time travel to? Ten years into the future to see if I can still understand the world.

First record you bought? ‘Come On Eileen’ by Dexys Midnight Runners.

Most extravagant purchase? A Belstaff leather jacket. I have this puritan guilt whenever I wear it.

Best present you ever received? A yellow Puch racing bike when I was 11.

Celebrity crush? Rebecca Front.

Happiness is… Enjoying the therapeutic benefits of walking in a forest. Shinrin-yoku is a Japanese concept that means ‘forest bathing’.

Ralph stars in Ready Player One and The Hurricane Heist, which open in cinemas on 29 March and 6 April respectively

 



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