Daniel Ings (‘The Gentlemen’) on his chicken suit, Guy Ritchie and trying to break Theo James: ‘I’m kind of a comedy hack’ [Exclusive Video Interview]

Denton Davidson
·3 min read
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“It was a blast in more ways than one, but it’s fun to play someone whose id is driving the ship to such a huge extent,” says Daniel Ings, who plays Freddy Horniman in the Netflix comedy series “The Gentlemen.” “In a way, his guiding principle is so much about trying to reclaim status. That sort of navigation system can find so many different pathways. And I think I’m kind of like a comedy hack really. So I’m always walking onto set, having a little look around to see like, ‘That antique clock over there looks kind of fun. Maybe I can f*** with that.'” Watch our full video interview above. 

In Guy Ritchie‘s spin-off series based on his 2019 film of the same name, Ings’ character Freddy is passed over as the rightful heir to the Hornimen estate, breaking with hundreds of years of tradition. It sends him into a tailspin, resulting in chaos when Freddy’s brother Eddie (Theo James) realizes he’s seriously in debt.

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“I had to relinquish a lot of trust over to Guy, but I felt like he gave me a lot of freedom and license as well, not least of all, with the chicken scene, which was something that was… I mean, that entire sequence was sort of fairly well put together on the day,” Ings explains. “We pretty much just threw the script out of the window because it was a much more high jinx scene on the page. It was just funny. That was all it was. It was just kind of played for laughs. But then you’re like, ‘Why does he do what he ends up doing?’ It was nerve wrecking and kind of intense, but to be honest, I’m a sucker for that stuff. I love it.”

While the crime series has dark undertones that balances comedy, drama and action, Ings found a particular satisfaction in trying to bring co-stars out of character, particularly James. “I’m just a big old ham,” he admits. “When I see [certain] things I’m like, ‘I know that I’m going to be able to make Theo break on that day. I know that I’m going to be able to wait till his close up and then just say something ridiculous and make him break.’ And I guess I just have a sort of pathological desire to dial everything up to 11.”

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