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Credit: Warner Bros.An actor who previously appeared in Harry Potter has filed a lawsuit against the The Walt Disney Company over an injury sustained on the set of a Disney+ series.
Ralph Ineson starred as Commander Ballantine in three episodes of the Disney+ revival of Willow. The 54-year-old British actor claims that he was injured filming a scene for the fantasy TV show in which he was supposed to fight a nine-foot ogre, leaving him with permanent damage in his shoulder.
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According to The Sun, Ineson is asking the studio for damages of up to £150,000 (USD $190,000). His lawyer, David White, alleges that Ineson was dressed as a knight and fighting a character called The Scourge when he “fell awkwardly” on set in South Wales.
Ineson argues that the fake foam gravel used on set was not raked properly due to heavy pressure to meet tight filming deadlines. This caused him to fall and has since impacted his ability to take on roles that involve “fighting and horse-riding.”
White says: “The claimant [Ineson] caught his right foot on the step, fell and landed awkwardly on his right arm. The claimant felt the immediate onset of pain. He did not want to ruin the shot, so he stoically kept quiet and waited until the end of the shot, another 20 seconds or so, before speaking up and saying he had suffered injury.”
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Ineson is best known for appearing as Chris Finch in the original BBC version of The Office, and as the Death Eater turned Hogwarts professor Amycus Carrow in the last three Harry Potter films. The latter saw him share scenes with Alan Rickman as Severus Snape, Helena Bonham-Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange, and Ralph Fiennes as Lord Voldemort. He has also appeared in The Northman (2022), Brahms: The Boy II (2020), Game of Thrones, and in a deleted scene of Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) as Colonel Ansiv Garmuth.
Disney is yet to submit its defense against Ineson’s claim. In May 2023, Disney removed Willow from Disney+ as part of a cost-cutting initiative implemented by Disney CEO Bob Iger.
Inside the Magic has reached out to Disney for comment but has not heard back by the time of publication.
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