‘The Office’ star says the British version is “nastier” than the US remake

The Fantastic Four: First Steps star Ralph Ineson has said he prefers the UK version of The Office to the American remake, saying the series is “nastier”.

The British actor found fame as Chris Finch, aka Finchy, in Ricky Gervais’ original version of The Office, appearing in seven of the show’s 14 episodes. In a new interview, he revealed he didn’t watch the Steve Carell-starring US remake for years, other than seeing clips and thinking: “No, they’re doing it wrong”.

Speaking to The Guardian, he said that five years ago he watch the American series with his daughter. “It’s different, but it is good” he said. “Because I have a slightly twisted sense of humour, I prefer the British Office, it’s darker. You would actually let Michael Scott (Carell’s character) look after your 18-year-old daughter, whereas I’m not sure you’d let Ricky Gervais’s character look after your 18-year-old daughter.

“Same with my character, he’s a lot darker than Todd Packer, the American version. Whether that makes it better or worse, I don’t know. It’s nastier underneath, which I kind of like”.

Having been a character actor on TV and film for years, Ineson confessed that the character brought him fame that was difficult to shake. “I got Finchy and I couldn’t get rid of him for about 20 years” he said, comparing him to his new Marvel role of supervillain Galactus.

“At least Galactus simply exists, he’s a cosmic force. He doesn’t do it out of malice. You can’t really get much worse than Chris Finch”.

The star has found fame in America in the last 10 years, particularly through his work with director Robert Eggers. Ineson played a major role in the filmmaker’s first film, The Witch, and appeared in both The Northman and last year’s Nosferatu. Galactus is the actor’s biggest role yet, although he has accepted that he has been pigeonholed into villainous roles.

“I think with my size, face and voice, 90 per cent of the time I’ve been on the bad guy side of the line anyway. I would be fighting a losing battle if I was trying to get myself into rom-coms” he said. “Some things are beyond the realms of casting”.

Despite this, last year he spoke about his unexpected status as a sex symbol in the gaming world, due to voicing rebel leader Cidolfus in the popular Final Fantasy franchise.
Elsewhere, last month The Office US spin-off, The Paper, announced its premiere date.