Haunted house film Blackwood script was so scary I couldn’t read it at night, says Russell Tovey

 
Unhinged: Russell Tovey plays a scarred and damaged gamekeeper in new haunted house movie Blackwood
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Actor Russell Tovey said his new haunted house movie made him so jumpy he had to stop reading the script at night.

The Being Human star is transformed into a scarred war veteran with a prosthetic leg to play a gamekeeper in Blackwood, which co-stars Ed Stoppard, Sophia Myles, Paul Kaye, Joanna Vanderham and Greg Wise.

As the film was released today, he said: “I had to stop reading it at night because I kept thinking someone was out on my balcony. I’ve never, ever had that with a script before. It did what you want it to do. I couldn’t put it down.”

The film sees a college professor, Ben Marshall (Stoppard), move to the countryside with his wife (Myles) and young son for a fresh start. But he feels something is not right and becomes obsessed with uncovering a local mystery — and suspicious of the disturbed gamekeeper Jack. Matters are complicated by the arrival of an old friend (Wise) and his girlfriend (Vanderham). Tovey said he loved playing against type. “In the past I’ve played mum’s favourites and lovable dickheads. This guy is not lovable. There’s some sex appeal to him but he’s definitely not cuddly.

Complications: Sophia Myles (Picture: Rebecca Reid)
Rebecca Reid

“He’s very unhinged. He’s gone off to war and seen a lot of tragedy and come back a damaged man. He’s a respected loner but then this family come in and see him as a threat.”

He also loved his scar. “I always think that kind of stuff is quite hot,” he said. “He’s a hyper-masculine man.”

Yet although the actor likes thrillers he cannot stand violence. “I don’t like gore, I don’t like torture and people getting bits blown off. I can’t watch them. I like criminology, psychology and send-ups — I like Scream and Scary Movie.”

The project reunites Tovey with the young British team of director Adam Wimpenny, producer Adam Morane-Griffiths and writer Joe Hill, with whom he worked on a short film, Roar, five years ago.

Tovey is finishing filming Banished by Jimmy McGovern for BBC2 in which he plays a “cheeky chappie” pickpocket exiled to Australia, where the seven-part series was partly shot. He then returns to San Francisco to shoot the second series of HBO’s gay friends’ drama, Looking.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT